Women’s Volleyball, now 16-0, Defeats Illinois 15-8, 15-5, 15-10 – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2000
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 11th-ranked Ohio State women’s volleyball team needed only eighty minutes to pick up its 16th consecutive win of the season with a 3-0 (15-8, 15-5, 15-10) victory over Illinois (10-7, 1-5 Big Ten). The Buckeyes (16-0, 6-0) spread the offense out with four players reaching double-figure kills tonight. Anne Botica (Jr., Windsor, Ont./St. Joseph) had a match-high 17 kills for Ohio State with Dana Stearns (Sr., Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) adding 13, Shelly Draeger (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) 12 and Suzie Stiling (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) 10. For Illinois Betsy Spicer produced a team-high 16 kills with Melissa Vandrey and Shadia Haddad contributing seven kills each.
Ohio State took an early 4-1 lead in game one. With the Buckeyes ahead 7-4, Illinois cut into the lead and closed to within one (8-7) on an ace serve by Spicer. An OSU kill by Botica and two by Stearns made the lead to 11-7. An ace serve by Amber Lindner cut the lead to 11-8. Kills by Stearns and Draeger and a block by Draeger and Stearns put the score at 14-8. OSU closed the game with a Draeger kill at 15-8. Ohio State hit .524 for the game to .267 for Illinois.
OSU opened a 3-0 lead in game two before a Buckeye error made it 3-1. The Buckeyes built an 8-1 lead with the help of two aces by Stearns, a Stiling kill and two Illini errors. A Buckeye error and an ace serve by Vandrey cut the margin to 8-3. Two Illinois errors and a Draeger kill gave OSU a 11-3 lead. The Illini, off a kill by Spicer, and an OSU error made the score 11-5. A kill by Stearns and two Illini errors set game point at 14-5. OSU took the game at 15-5 with an Illinois error. The Buckeyes hit .321 for the game to -.033 for Illinois. Game four saw OSU take a 4-0 lead off an Illinois error and kills by Botica, Calligaris and Stearns. An Illini ace by Sarah Pomeroy and two OSU errors made it 4-3. Two kills by Draeger along with scores by Stiling and Botica put Ohio State ahead 8-3. Anne Koester responded with a kill to cut the margin to 8-4. A Stearns kill made it 9-4 but two OSU errors cut the lead to 9-6. Kills by Stiling, Botica and Stearns put the score at 12-6. Illinois then scored four consecutive points with three kills by Spicer and an ace by Pomeroy to close the lead to 12-10. A Calligaris kill expanded the OSU lead to 13-10. Back-to-back points off a Draeger kill and Stearns’ third ace of the match closed the game at 15-10. Ohio State hit .432 for the game to .273 for Illinois.
For the match, Ohio State hit .439 to .185 for the Illini. OSU’s hitting percentage is its second highest of the season. The Buckeyes had a 60-39 margin in kills and a 42-27 advantage in digs. The Illini had a six to three margin in ace serves and outblocked Ohio State seven to six.
Four Ohio State players hit .435 or better for the match. With a new career high, Stiling hit .615 (10-2-13) with Sue Calligaris (So., Palermo, Italy/Liceo Linguistico) at .500 (8-1-14). Botica’s .452 (17-3-31) was a season-high, while Stearns hit .435 (13-3-23).
OSU setter Katie Virtue (So., St. Charles, Ill./St. Francis) had 49 assists in the match in running the offense and picked up six digs and an assist block.
Ohio State, with sole possession of first place in the Big Ten Conference will travel next week to play Friday at Minnesota (16-1, 5-1) and Saturday at Iowa (8-6, 4-2).
