18th-Ranked Women’s Volleyball Falls to No. 20 Michigan In Five Games – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/24/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 24, 1999
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The 18th ranked Ohio State (6-2, 0-1 Big Ten) women’s volleyball team battled for two hours and 20 minutes before falling 3-2 to 20th-ranked Michigan (8-1, 1-0). The Wolverine 15-7, 13-15, 15-10, 13-15, 20-18 win in Cliff Keen Arena was seen by 776 fans.
OSU’s Rosie Snow scored a match-high 32 kills and Shelly Draeger had a career-high 18 kills in the match. Dana Stearns added 14 kills and equaled her career-high of 10 digs. Katie Virtue had 25 assists in two-plus games at setter before Jen Flynn finished the match recording 48 assists. Alija Pittenger had a team-high 20 kills for Michigan with Joanna Fielder adding 17 and Nicole Kacor 16. Fielder also recorded a match-high 10 assist blocks. Shannon Melka had 53 assists for the Wolverines.
In game one Michigan broke a 4-4 tie to take an 8-4 lead, extending it to 13-5. The Wolverines won game one 15-7, hitting .306 to .083 for OSU.
Michigan had a 3-0 lead in game two, but the Buckeyes responded to take a 6-3 lead. The Wolverines tied the game at six and went ahead 8-6. A UM attack error and an ace serve by Suzie Stiling tied the game at eight. After ties at nine, 10 and 11, an OSU attack error and an ace serve by UM’s Nicole Kacor put the Wolverines up 13-11. After setter Katie Virtue’s kill for side out the Buckeyes ran four straight points on an ace by Virtue (point 12), a UM error (point 13), an ace by Virtue (point 14) and a UM error (point 15). The Buckeyes tied the match at one game each with the 15-13 game two win. OSU hit .140 for the game to .030 for the Wolverines.
The Buckeyes held a 5-2 lead in game three before Michigan scored seven straight points to take a 9-5 lead. UM held a four or five point lead as the game progressed with the final score ending up 15-10 for the Wolverines. Michigan hit .277 in the game to .172 for OSU.
Down two games to one, Ohio State opened game four with a 5-0 lead. The Buckeyes held a 13-12 lead before an ace serve by UM’s Alija Pittenger tied the game at 13. After an OSU side out a Wolverine error for point put OSU at game point, 14-13. An OSU service error for sideout returned the serve to Michigan, but a Suzie Stiling kill gave OSU it’s second game point attempt. Another OSU service error sided the ball back to the Wolverines, but a kill by Anne Botica for the side out set the stage for a Dana Stearns kill for the game at 15-13, tying the match at two games each. The Buckeyes hit .263 in the game to .143 for Michigan. In the close, rallying scoring fifth game, neither team could build a lead. Ohio State held a lead 11 times, Michigan five and the score was tied 14 times. With the game at 15-15, OSU’s Jen Flynn’s kill put Ohio State ahead 16-15 and serving match point 1. UM’s Alija Pittenger scored a kill to tie the game at 16. The Buckeyes went up 17-16 on a kill by Dana Stearns to set up its second match point. Pittenger responded with a kill to tie the game at 17. The Wolverines took an 18-17 lead on a Nicole Kacor kill, but Rosie Snow responded with a kill to stop UM’s first match point and tie the game at 18. An OSU service error for point put Michigan up 19-18. The Wolverines finished the game on a block by Joanna Fielder and Shannon Melka to win 20-18 on its second match point. In the game Michigan hit .261 to .214 for OSU.
For the match, Michigan outhit Ohio State .202 to .180. The Wolverines had a 15 to six advantage in blocks and a 10 to six margin in ace serves. The Buckeyes outdug Michigan 74 to 64.
Ohio State now travels to Michigan State (10-3, 0-1) to face the Spartans Saturday night. The Spartans lost in five games to No. 2 Penn State Friday.
