Volleyball to host Buckeye Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/10/1998 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
September 10, 1998
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State returns to St. John Arena after a week-long trip to Hawaii that produced wins over No. 6 Florida and No. 18 UCLA. The Buckeyes ranked 14th this week in the USA TODAY/AVCA Poll and 20th by Volleyball Magazine. OSU hosts the Buckeye Invitational Friday and Saturday featuring Xavier, Oregon State and fourth-ranked Nebraska.
%^$Friday’s action begins with Nebraska facing Oregon State at 5 p.m. with Ohio State hosting Xavier at 7 p.m. Saturday has the Friday’s losers playing at 5 p.m. and the winners meeting at 7 p.m.
%^$In last years Invitational, Ohio State defeated Seton Hall, Rice and Akron to win the championship, its 16th title in 22 home tournaments.
%^$OSU WINS THREE OF FOUR%^$In the opening week of the season, Ohio State won three of four matches. The Buckeyes opened the season with a 3-0 win over Indiana State. OSU then traveled to Hawaii to play No. 6 Florida (3-2 win), No. 14 Hawaii (0-3 loss) and No. 18 UCLA (3-2 win). Jen Flynn and Rosie Snow were named to the all-tournament team.
%^$SNOW BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK%^$Outside hitter Rosie Snow was named the Big Ten Player of the Week for her outstanding play last week. In winning three of four matches, Snow totaled 80 kills in 16 games for a 5.0 kills per game average and a .340 attack percentage. She also collected 23 digs (1.43 digs per game). She set a personal career-high in kills twice, totaling 26 kills and a .417 hitting percentage against Florida and then 27 kills and a .365 hitting percentage against UCLA.
%^$FLYNN PLAYS ON THE OUTSIDE%^$Jen Flynn will do just about anything she can to help her team. During the 1996 season, she was called upon to play setter for three matches when the starting setter was injured. More than a year ago, she was asked to play setter when the position needed to be filled. She trained and played the entire 1997 season earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors. With Ohio State losing the first game to UCLA last week, Flynn was called upon to switch back to her freshman position of outside hitter. She took the switch in stride, producing 14 kills, 16 digs and two block assists in helping her team come back to defeat UCLA 3-2.
%^$CAVANAUGH STEPS UP HER GAME%^$With the move of Jen Flynn to the outside, Carey Cavanaugh moved to the setter position for the rest of the match. Cavanaugh responded with 44 assists, two kills, three ace serves and two block assists. The 5-8 Munroe Falls, Ohio native had previously seen limited action in the back row with only a few short stints at setter.
%^$OHIO STATE AGAINST THE FIELD%^$Ohio State is 3-0 against Xavier, 1-1 vs. Oregon State and 3-4 facing Nebraska. Ohio State last faced Xavier in the home opener in 1993. The Buckeyes won 15-8, 15-5, 15-12. The other wins include a 2-0 victory in 1973 played at the OSU Newark Branch and a 15-2, 15-11 win in 1981 at the Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati.
%^$Ohio State faced Oregon State for the first time in the 1983 Western State Invitational at Davis, Calif. Oregon State won 6-15, 15-9, 15-12. The Buckeyes defeated Oregon State 9-15, 15-8, 12-15, 17-15, 18-16 in the 1997 Oregon State Tournament to even the series.
%^$This marks the first visit to Columbus for Nebraska. The Buckeyes have one win in three attempts in Lincoln, and are 2-2 in neutral site matches. The teams first played in 1978 at the AIAW Championship at Alabama. Ohio State won 15-2, 16-14. OSU won again in 1980 at the Cincinnati Invitational, 15-10, 15-13. In OSU’s first trip to Lincoln in 1984, Nebraska won 15-13, 15-10, 15-7. In 1990, in the Wahine Invitational in Honolulu, Nebraska defeated OSU 15-9, 8-15, 16-14, 15-9. In the 1991 NCAA Mideast Regional Championship, held in Lincoln, Ohio State defeated Nebraska 9-15, 15-9, 17-16, 15-7. The next meeting came in 1992 at the Illini Classic with Nebraska winning 15-12, 15-8, 15-2. The last meeting came last season at the Arby’s Invitational in Lincoln. Nebraska defeated Ohio State 15-5, 15-13, 15-11.
%^$HEAD COACH JIM STONE%^$Jim Stone is in his 17th year at Ohio State. He has a 367-155 (.702) record with the Buckeyes and is 210-78 (.728) 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 417-197 (.679).
%^$REGIONAL AND LOCAL TV MATCHES SET%^$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 (Sept. 15), Pittsburgh (Sept. 16), Iowa (Oct. 10), Michigan (Oct. 17), Penn State (Nov. 11) and Indiana (Nov. 27). 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 or 1:30 p.m.
%^$THIRD GENERATION BUCKEYE SEES ACTION%^$Nikki Cisco made the Ohio State women’s volleyball team as a walk-on and saw her first action of her career against Indiana State. She recorded three assists in backrow action in two of the three games. Cisco comes from a family line that bleeds Scarlet and Gray. Her father, Galen Cisco, Jr., was an all Big Ten baseball player. Her uncle, Jeff Cisco played football and baseball for the Buckeyes. Her grandfather, Galen Cisco, Sr., was a two-sport star for OSU. He captained the 1957 national championship football team and was an all-American baseball player. He is a member of the Ohio State Sports Hall of Fame. Cisco, Sr. is the pitching coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.
%^$MEET NIKKI CISCO%^$Nikki played volleyball and softball at Dublin Coffman High School. She was a two-time all-league and team most valuable player in volleyball, coached by Tim Caldwell, and an all-league selection in baseball, coached by Nippy Prease. The high school scholar athlete graduated with honors and was a National High School Student-Athlete Award from the NCAA.
%^$She played for the Dublin Youth Volleyball Club for coach Rob Heiney. Nikki enjoys rollerblading, sand volleyball and most other sports. She is considering Sports Marketing as her major and would like to work for a professional sports team or be an elementary teacher and coach.
%^$Cisco’s Favorite…
%^$Musican: Garth Brooks
%^$TV Show: Real World
%^$Movie: Major League
%^$Line From Movie: “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”%^$Actress: Julia Roberts
%^$Actor: Matt Damon
%^$Song: The Dance
%^$Concert: Jimmy Buffet, ’98
%^$Hobby: rollerbalding/all sports
%^$An interesting fact most people don’t know about me: My grandpa is pitching coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.
%^$My craziest ambition: To sing the Star Spangled Banner at the World Series.
%^$The people on this year’s team who will surprise people the most: Angelee Abbring
%^$If I could trace places with one person for one day, it would be: Michael Jordan
%^$The person in history that I would most like to meet: Woody Hayes
%^$The title of my autobiography would be: “Never let anyone tell you, you are too small”
%^$My goal in life: To be happy!
%^$My greatest moment in sports was: Being in the locker room after Toronto won the World Series in 1993, my grandpa was the pitching coach for the Blue Jays at the time
%^$Favorite moment from my 1997 season: winning the Asics Invitational and being named MVP
%^$Most impressive person I ever met is: My grandpa, Galen Cisco, Sr.
%^$My favorite aspect about playing volleyball is: The competitiveness
%^$If I could change one thing in my life, it would be: I’d be taller!
%^$Best advise anyone has given to me: Reach for your dreams
%^$Chose Ohio State over: Florida State
