No. 11 Women’s Volleyball Falls at No. 8 Minnesota In Five Games – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 13, 2000
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 11th-ranked Ohio State women’s volleyball team fell in five games to Minnesota (18-1, 7-1 Big Ten) in Minneapolis Friday. The Buckeyes (16-1, 6-1) held a two games to one lead but lost the final two games. The 15-7, 7-15, 15-4, 7-15, 9-15 loss ends Ohio State’s 16-match winning streak. Gopher Nicole Branagh scored a match-high 21 kills for Minnesota with Stephanie Hagen adding 11 and Lisa Aschenbrenner 10. OSU’s Anne Botica (Jr., Windsor, Ont./St. Joseph) and Sue Calligaris (So., Palermo, Italy/Liceo Linguistico) had a team-high 14 kills each with Dana Stearns (Sr., Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) adding 13 and Suzie Stiling (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) 10.
Ohio State opened a 4-1 lead in game one, expanding it to an eight-point lead at 13-5. Two OSU errors cut the lead to 13-7. A kill by Botica and an ace serve by Katie Virtue (So., St. Charles, Ill./St. Francis) closed the game at 15-7. Ohio State hit .273 in the game to .151 for Minnesota.
Game two saw ties at one, two, four, five and six before a Gopher ace by Lisa Axel gave Minnesota a 7-6 lead. Kills by Aschenbrenner, Yvonne Van Oort and Hagen put Minnesota ahead 10-6. A Gopher error cut the lead to 10-7. An ace serve by Branagh and a kill by Lindsey Berg made it a 12-7 Minnesota lead. Three Buckeye errors ended the game at 15-7. Minnesota hit .316 for the game to .167 for Ohio State.
Two ace serves by Shelly Draeger (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran), a kill by Botica, a block by Virtue and Stearns and a Gopher error opened up a 5-0 lead for Ohio State. Minnesota got on the scoreboard with a kill by Charnette Fair, but a block by Stearns and Draeger made it 6-1. Back-to-back aces by VanOort cut the lead to 6-3, but a kill by Botica, another ace by Draeger and a Gopher error put the lead at 9-3. An OSU error made it 9-4, but six consecutive points for Ohio State ended the game at 15-4. The run included three kills by Calligaris, a block by Calligaris and Stearns and two Minnesota errors, one for game point. Ohio State hit .217 for the game to -.029 for Minnesota.
Four Ohio State errors gave Minnesota a 4-0 lead in game four. A ace serve by Stearns and a Gopher error cut the lead to 4-2. A Buckeye error made it 5-2 but a Virtue ace and kills by Calligaris and Stearns tied the game at five. Minnesota regained the lead on a Branagh kill at 6-5. The Gophers put together four consecutive blocks for points and open a 10-5 lead. Two more blocks and a kill by Branagh expand the lead to 13-5. OSU’s Angelee Abbring (Sr., Wheatfield, Indiana) scored a kill and an ace serve by Nikki Cisco (Jr., Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) cut the lead to 13-7. After a Minnesota side out kill by VanOort, back-to-back kills by Branagh and Berg ended the game at 15-7, tying the match at two games each. Minnesota hit .371 for the game to .024 for Ohio State.
In the rally scoring fifth game, Minnesota had a 2-0 lead on a Berg kill and an OSU error. A Gopher service error made it 2-1. A Branagh kill set the score at 3-1 but a Stiling kill made it 3-2. A Branagh kill put the lead at 4-2 but a Gopher service error cut the lead to 4-3. Two OSU errors pushed the lead to 6-3. A Hagen kill made it 7-3 but a Stearns kill, a block by Stearns and Botica and a Virtue ace serve cut the margin to 7-6. Minnesota blocks by Aschenbrenner and Hagen and a solo block VanOort, a kill by VanOort and two OSU errors put Minnesota ahead 12-6. The Buckeyes cut the lead to 12-7 with a kill by Stearns. A Minnesota error cut the lead to four at 12-8. A Buckeye service error expanded the lead to five at 13-8. Calligaris cut the lead to 13-9 with a kill but two Gopher kills by Branagh closed the game at 15-9. Minnesota hit .313 for the game to -.100 for Ohio State.
Minnesota hit .209 for the match to .132 for Ohio State. The Gophers had a 19-11 margin in blocks and 63-61 in kills. Ohio State outdug the Gophers 70-52 and had a 10-5 advantage in ace serves.
Ohio State concludes the two-match road trip at Iowa (8-7, 4-3) Saturday.
