Volleyball Hosts #6 Wisconsin and Iowa – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/6/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
October 6, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State (8-5 overall, 1-3 Big Ten), ranked 20th in the USA TODAY/AVCA Coaches Poll, will face sixth-ranked Wisconsin (14-1, 4-0) on Friday and Iowa (6-7, 0-4) Saturday in St. John Arena. The matches begin a four-match home stand for the Buckeyes with Michigan State (Friday) and Michigan (Saturday) coming to town next week.
%^$Saturday’s match against Iowa is “Raise the Roof” night, an attempt to break the Ohio State home attendance record of 5,402.
%^$OHIO STATE LAST WEEK
%^$The Buckeyes split road matches last week defeating Purdue 3-0 (16-14, 15-12, 18-16) Friday night in West Lafayette and dropping a 3-1 (15-17, 14-16, 16-14, 4-15) decision to Illinois in Champaign.
%^$THE BEST OF THE BUCKEYES
%^$Rosie Snowleads the Buckeyes in kills with 191 for a 4.34 per game average. Three additional players are averaging two or more kills per game. They are Angelee Abbring (3.53), Dana Stearns (2.95), and injured Brianne Spiers (2.00). Stearns has a team high .355 hitting percentage with Spiers at .293, Abbring at .272 and Snow at .251. Top servers on the squad are Stearns with 18 ace serves and Jen Flynn with 16. Flynn leads the team in digs with 96 (2.13 per game) with Snow second with 77 (1.75). Stearns has a team high 35 blocks (four solo, 31 assists) for a .80 per game average. Abbring is second in blocks with 25 (two solo and 23 assists) for a .55 average. Flynn (382 assists) and Carey Cavanaugh (200 assists) have shared the setting duties. Flynn has a 8.49 per game average to 4.65 for Cavanaugh.
%^$The Buckeyes are averaging 15.73 kills, 2.17 blocks, 10.67 digs and 1.91 aces per game and is hitting .241 for the season. Ohio State opponents average 13.93 kills, 2.41 blocks, 11.00 digs and 1.36 aces per game. Opponents are hitting .253.
%^$ABBRING ON A HOT STREAK
%^$Angelee Abbring had 23 kills at Purdue and 20 against Illinois to extend her streak of matches with 20 or more kills to three. Her previous match in the string was a career high 23 at Minnesota. At Purdue, Abbring had a season high hitting percentage of .528 and against Illinois equalled her career high of five assist blocks.
%^$SNOW TIES CAREER HIGH IN BLOCKS
%^$Rosie Snow had three solo blocks at Purdue to tie her career high. She previously had three solo blocks at Iowa in 1997. She also equalled her career high in hitting attempts at Illinois with 56. She set that high at Minnesota.
%^$STEARNS STEPS UP HER PLAY
%^$Dana Stearns came to play last weekend. After producing only 11 kills, seven digs and two assist blocks the previous week against Penn State and Minnesota, Stearns had back-to-back 17 kill performances at Purdue and Minnesota. At Purdue she hit .371 and had 11 digs and two blocks. Against Minnesota Stearns hit .400, scored on three ace serves, recorded six digs and collected a season high eight blocks (one solo, seven assists). She hit a combined .386 for the weekend, averaging 4.86 kills per game. Stearns is the team leader in hitting percentage at .355 and tops the squad with 35 blocks for a .80 per game average.
%^$DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST HELPING OUT
%^$Carey Cavanaugh and Nikki Cisco have seen considerable playing time in the back row. Cavanaugh, who has played setter in several matches, picked up a career high nine digs at Illinois. Cisco equalled her career high of eight digs at Purdue and scored her first kill against the Boilermakers.
%^$BOTICA RETURNS TO ACTION
%^$Anne Botica returned to action last weekend after missing the Minnesota match with a knee problem. Against Purdue she had four kills, eight digs and two blocks. At Illinois Botica set four career highs and tied two others. Her seven kills, 26 attempts, two assist blocks and three total blocks were career highs while her eight digs and a solo block equalled previous highs.
%^$SPIERS INJURY SAGA CONTINUES
%^$Brianne Spiers was to be a force on the court and provide leadership to a young Buckeye squad this season. Her leadership will prove invaluable, now that her playing status is again on hold. Spiers has suffered a stress fracture that could keep her out of action for the next six to eight weeks. She saw action in the first six matches of the season after missing all of last year with a knee injury. Her on-court presence against No. 6 Florida with 15 kills, 16 digs and three blocks helped OSU to a 3-2 win over the Gators.
%^$OHIO STATE VS. WISCONSIN
%^$Ohio State leads the series with the Badgers, 25-11. The Buckeyes are 12-3 in matches played in Columbus and have won five of the last seven. The Badgers won both meeting last season, 3-1 (11-15, 15-2, 15-4, 15-9) in Madison and 3-1 (1-15, 15-3, 15-4, 15-3) in Columbus. The Buckeyes last won in 1996, in Columbus, a 3-0 (15-3, 15-8, 15-7) victory. OSU has won 11 of 17 matches in Madison and is 2-2 at neutral sites.
%^$OHIO STATE VS. IOWA
%^$Ohio State leads the series with the Hawkeyes, 31-4. The Buckeyes are 16-2 in matches played in Columbus. OSU has won the last 10 matches in St. John Arena. Last year Ohio State won 3-0 (15-2, 15-11, 15-13) in Iowa City and 3-1 (15-4, 15-7, 10-15, 15-12) in Columbus. Overall, the Buckeyes have won the last 20 matches with the Hawkeyes. The last Iowa win came in 1988, in Columbus, a 3-1 (5-15, 15-10, 15-9, 15-5) Hawkeye victory. OSU has won 22 of 24 matches in Iowa City and all three neutral court matches.
%^$OSU VS. RANKED TEAMS
%^$Against nationally ranked teams this season, Ohio State has a 2-5 record. The Buckeyes defeated No. 6 Florida and No. 18 UCLA. OSU has lost to No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 14 Hawaii No. 20 Illinois and No. 24 Minnesota.
%^$HEAD COACH JIM STONE
%^$Jim Stone is in his 17th year at Ohio State. He has a 372-160 (.699) record with the Buckeyes and is 210-81 (.722) in Big Ten play. His squads have won Big Ten championships in 1989, 1991 and 1994 and in the last nine years have never finished below third. In the championship years, he was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year and in 1991 was the Volleyball Monthly Coach of the Year. For the last nine years, OSU has participated in the NCAA Championships, advancing to the national semifinals in 1991 and 1994. Stone’s coach career record includes three years at Wyoming (1979-1981). His 19-year career record is 422-202 (.676).
%^$REGIONAL AND LOCAL TV MATCHES SET
%^$The Buckeyes will have six matches broadcast locally, two regionally and one nationally during the season. Columbus Sports Network will broadcast two matches a month on tape delay with broadcast times to be determined. These matches include Marshall, Pittsburgh, Iowa (Oct. 10, replayed Oct. 11 & 13, 7 p.m.), Michigan (Oct. 17, replayed Oct. 18 & 20, 7 p.m.), Penn State (Nov. 11, replayed Nov. 12 & 13, 7 p.m.) and Indiana (Nov. 27, replayed Nov. 30 & Dec. 1, 7 p.m.). Fox Sports Chicago will broadcast OSU’s matches at Northwestern (Oct. 23) and vs. Purdue (Oct. 31) on tape delay the following Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern. ESPN2 will carry the Ohio State at Michigan State match, moved to Sunday, Nov. 22, live that afternoon. Broadcast time is scheduled at 1:30 p.m.
%^$BUCKEYES RETURN HOME NEXT WEEK
%^$Ohio State will complete a four-match home stand with two Big Ten matches next week. The Buckeyes will host No. 18 Michigan State on Friday and Michigan Saturday.
