Match Results
- Ohio State def. #12 Wisconsin 3-2, (14-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-13)
- Ohio State improves to 13-11, 6-7 Big Ten, Wisconsin falls to 15-7, 6-7 Big Ten
- UW Field House – Madison, Wisconsin
- Attendance: 6,012
- Match Stats
For the first time in over two years, Ohio State took down Wisconsin in a gritty five-set match that posed one of the biggest comebacks in a few weeks of play. The Badgers are just one of two AVCA top-10 teams that the Buckeyes will be facing this weekend.
It was a rough start for the Buckeyes, as they quickly fell 13-4, against the strong Badgers squad. Tionna Williams began the game with a bang, putting down a tremendous 6-7 on a .857 hitting clip to start things off in the first set. Kelli Bates, on the other hand, struggled at the net to start things off with two errors on five swings. Bates needs just two more kills to put herself among an elite group that has 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her collegiate career.
Ohio State couldn’t find a groove or a player to stand out in the first set, with Taylor Hughes leading the team with three kills on six attempts with five set assists. In total, the Buckeyes put down 11 kills to Wisconsin’s 15.
.@gv11loberg hit a ? to end the first set pic.twitter.com/bqnxKPR0EZ
— Wisconsin Volleyball (@BadgerVB) November 4, 2017
Bates recorded her 1,000th kill to bring the Badgers to a 9-8 lead in the second set. The Buckeyes held strong in the second up until 13-13, when the Badgers pulled ahead on an Ohio State service error and Madison Duello kill. Wisconsin continued the pad their lead over the Buckeyes, before taking the set 25-16 as Williams threw down the final kill of the set.
In the third, Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead over Ohio State, but the Buckeyes fought to tie things up at 10 all then 11 all. A kill from Ashley Wenz and a bad set from Sydney Hilley brought the Buckeyes to a 13-11 lead. After a Badger timeout, Dana Rettke came out to post a kill and service ace to tie things back up. Ohio State, in turn, came out of their own timeout to go on a 3-0 run on kills from Madison Smeathers, Ayanna Swan and Wenz. The Buckeyes continued to hold onto this lead late into the set at 22-18. Strong defense from the Buckeyes brings us to a fourth set as they took the third 25-21.
It was Ohio State that started things off in the fourth set with a 5-2 lead over the Badgers. The Buckeyes were able to hold onto this lead throughout the set to take a late 18-14 lead that was a part of a 5-1 run. Williams first hitting error came late in the fourth set to help the Buckeyes to a 22-19 lead but quickly made it up with a kill. A Luisa Schirmer kill ends the fourth 25-23, with Ohio State forcing a fifth and deciding set.
Ohio State holding on strong to begin the fifth set with a 3-2 lead early on kills from Schirmer and Swan along with Wisconsin errors. Late the Buckeyes went up 12-9 but the Badgers fought back to tie things up at 12 all and against at 13-13 before a kill from Wenz and a block from Lauren Witte/Wenz ended the match 15-13.
Wenz led the way for the Buckeyes with 15 kills and five blocks while Schirmer added in another 14 kills and 10 digs for a double-double. Swan contributed another 11 kills while Witte posted a match-best nine blocks. Setter Hughes dished out 43 assists and 10 digs for a double-double along with five blocks. Bia Franklin led the backcourt with 15 digs.
For the Badgers, Williams posted a career-best 19 kills along with six blocks. Rettke posted 13 kills and three aces while Bates contributed 12 kills and 15 digs for a double-double. Tiffany Clark led all players with 24 digs while ME Dodge picking up another 15.
Press Release
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
The Ohio State women’s volleyball team erased a 2-0 deficit and rallied to take down No. 8 Wisconsin in a heart-pounding five-set thriller (14-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-13) at UW Field House on Friday night. The Buckeyes (13-11, 6-7 B1G) knocked off the Badgers (15-7, 6-7 B1G) for the first time since 2015.
Luisa Schirmer posted her seventh double-double of the season (14 kills, 10 digs). Ashley Wenz had 15 kills and seven digs. The outside hitter attacked .325 overall and .428 during the Buckeyes’ three-set comeback. Ayanna Swan chipped in 11 kills. Taylor Hughes handed out 43 assists and paired it with 10 digs for her ninth double-double.
Defensively, middle blocker Lauren Witte tied her career-high of nine blocks (8a, 1s) while Hughes and Wenz had five blocks apiece. Ana Beatriz Franklin set new career marks with 15 digs and five assists.
Press Release
Courtesy of Wisconsin Athletics
With her second kill of the match, senior Kelli Bates joined the 1,000-career kill club, becoming just the sixth Badger in program history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
Her milestone wasn’t enough as the eighth-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team was upset by Ohio State, 14-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-13, on Friday night in the UW Field House.
Tionna Williams led all hitters with a career-high 19 kills while hitting .621 (19 kills – 1 error – 29 attempts). Three more Badgers collected double-digit kills, including Dana Rettke (13), Bates (12) and Madison Duello (10).
Wisconsin (15-7 overall, 6-7 Big Ten) hit .256 (68 – 24 – 172) for the match while Ohio State hit .249 (59-17-169).
The Cardinal and White recorded seven service aces to OSU’s (13-11, 6-7) one. Rettke led the charge with three aces on the night.
The Badgers’ back row outdug the Buckeyes 80-62 thanks to four players earning double-digit digs. Libero Tiffany Clark notched a match-high 24 digs with Bates and M.E. Dodge adding 15 apiece, and Lauryn Gillis saving 11 balls.
Ohio State outblocked Wisconsin 13-7, only the sixth opponent to outblock the Badgers this season. Williams had a team-high six stops for UW.
Notables
- Middle blocker Tionna Williams put down a career-high 19 kills.
- Senior Kelli Bates earned her fifth double-double of the season with 15 digs and 12 kills.
- Libero Tiffany Clark had 20-or-more digs for the fifth match this season with a match-high 24 saves.
- Setter Sydney Hilley notched 55 assists, one away from her career high.
- Freshman Riley Bell tied her career high of one ace, the third time this season she’s earned an ace.
Quotable
“(It was) kind of two different matches, you had the first two sets and then you had the last three (sets) that were a heck of a battle. We lost three really close sets and the first two sets we thought we were playing at a pretty high level and then I thought we took our foot off the pedal coming out of the locker room defensively. I thought Ohio State did a great job at just staying gritty and fighting and giving themselves a chance and sneaking out of here with a good win.”
-Head coach Kelly Sheffield
“It hurts when those are games that you need to win, and you knew Ohio State was going to be licking their chops at us this time. Last time they came here, we kicked them out of the (NCAA) tournament.
“It’s not easy right now, and especially when we need to find a little more toughness within ourselves. How many five-setters are we going to go losing 13-15? That’s frustrating, and you always think you can do more, but we just need to move on and we need to take away really specific things from this match. Like Kelly said, our defensive intensity dropped, and that is what this program is great at. When we suffer with that, then that’s what takes advantage of us, just like Ohio State did tonight.”
– Senior Kelli Bates
It was over when
After the Badgers dominated play in the first two sets, Ohio State came back in the third and fourth frames to tie the match at 2-2. In the fifth set the Badgers and the Buckeyes traded points for the majority of the set for a total of eight ties. The final tie of the set occurred at 13-13, before OSU’s Ashley Wenz tallied a kill and teamed with Lauren Witte for the match-winning block.
Up next
The Badgers are back in action Saturday night, hosting Maryland at 7 p.m.
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