No. 17 Women’s Volleyball Travels To Indiana and Penn State – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 15, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State (21-5, 11-5 Big Ten) completes a four-match road swing with contests at Indiana (15-11, 6-10) Friday, Nov. 17 and Penn State (23-5, 12-4) Saturday, Nov. 18.
Last week Ohio State lost road matches at Michigan 0-3 (13-15, 9-15, 9-15) and Michigan State (1-3) 15-9, 6-15, 4-15, 12-15).
OSU RANKS 17/16 IN POLLS
Ohio State dropped to 17th in the USA TODAY/AVCA Top 25 Poll after three weeks at No. 13. The Buckeyes also fell to No. 16 in the Volleyball Magazine Poll after three weeks at No. 13.
LOOKING AT THE BUCKEYES
Offensively, Ohio State is showing great balance with five players averaging 3.15 or more kills per game. Dana Stearns (Sr., Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) averages 3.34 (297) and Suzie Stiling (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) is second at 3.32 (203). Anne Botica (Jr., Windsor, Ont./St. Joseph) is third with 3.30 (287). Shelly Draeger (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) averages 3.23 (291) and Sue Calligaris (So., Palermo, Italy/Liceo Linguistico) 3.15 (287). Stearns is the squad’s top percentage hitter at .385 with Calligaris second at .369. Katie Virtue (So., St. Charles, Ill./St. Francis), the starting setter for the first 25 matches, is averaging 14.06 assists per game (1,223). Heather Whalen has seen action in 12 matches (24 games) and has one start at setter. She has a 3.46 assist per game average (83). Botica is the team leader in ace serves with 37 (.43) with Draeger second with 31 (.34). Defensively, Botica leads the team in digs with a 3.10 average (270 digs), one of six players with averages of 1.87 or more digs per game. Stearns is second at 2.56 (228) and Virtue third with 2.52 (215). Calligaris averages 2.38 digs per game (217) with Draeger 2.34 (211) and Nikki Cisco (Jr., Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) 1.87 (170). At the net, Stiling leads the team in blocking with a 1.13 per game average on 103 blocks (12 solo, 91 assists) and Stearns is second at 1.07 (95 blocks, 8-87). As a team, Ohio State is hitting .264 and averages 17.56 kills per game. The Buckeyes are averaging 2.53 blocks, 15.86 digs and 1.78 aces per game. OSU opponents are hitting .169 and average 13.86 kills per game. Opponents average 2.55 blocks, 13.04 digs and 1.15 aces per game.
OSU 3-4 VS. RANKED TEAMS
OSU has won three of seven matches against teams ranked in the USA TODAY/AVCA Top 25 Poll. The Buckeyes have home wins over No. 17 Michigan State, No. 21 Michigan and a road victory at No. 10 Wisconsin. OSU’s losses have come at No. 8 Minnesota, at home to No. 13 Penn State, No. 5 Wisconsin and at No. 25 Michigan State.
BUCKEYES ADD TELEVISION COVERAGE
Ohio State’s match against Northwestern has been added to the Fox Sports TV-package. The match was selected as the Big Ten “wildcard” match. Fox Sports-Chicago will air the match on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 11:30 a.m. Central.
THREE LOSSES IN A ROW
The Buckeyes have lost its last three matches over the last two weeks. The Buckeyes lost to No. 5 Wisconsin 1-3 at home and lost road matches last week at Michigan (0-3) and Michigan State (1-3). The Buckeyes had not lost three-consecutive matches since midway in the 1998 season when OSU lost at Northwestern (2-3), at Indiana (0-3) and at home to Illinois (1-3). Ohio State also lost three straight in 1990 and 1997. The Buckeye have not lost more than three matches since the 1988 season when they lost the final six matches of the season.
VIRTUE BEING HELD OUT
After playing three weeks with a stress fracture in her left foot, Katie Virtue was held out of Saturday’s match at Michigan State last week. Over the last three weeks she had played in every match but did not practice. No determination of her playing status has been made at this time.
WHALEN STEPS INTO THE LIMELIGHT
With Katie Virtue held out of the Michigan State match, freshman Heather Whalen (Kalamazoo, Mich./Parchment) was given the start against the Spartans. In the 3-1 loss, Whalen had a career-high 49 assists, adding five kills, six digs, three assist blocks and two ace serves.
DRAEGER DIGS CAREER HIGH
A 20-dig performance by Shelly Draeger at Michigan was a career high. Her previous high was 16 at Wisconsin.
STEARNS No. 7 IN CAREER KILLS
With 10 kills against Michigan and Michigan State, Dana Stearns moved to seventh on the OSU career kills list with 1,257. She passed Kristi Neuman (1983-86) with 1,242.
STEARNS TIED AT No. 15 IN ACES
With two aces against Michigan State, Dana Stearns moved to a tie for 15th on the OSU career aces list with 101. She is currently tied with Margie Meyers (1984-87). Stearns needs two aces to pass No. 14 Jenn Flynn (1996-99) who has 102.
STEARNS No. 2 IN ASSIST BLOCKS
With seven assist blocks on the weekend (six at Michigan, one at Michigan State), Dana Stearns has moved to second on the OSU career list with 361. She passed Sherri Helman (1993-96) with 360.
STEARNS No. 3 IN TOTAL BLOCKS
With eight total blocks (1-7) on the weekend, Dana Stearns moved from sixth to third on OSU’s career total blocks list. She has 392 total blocks with 31 solos and 361 assists. Stearns passes Leisa Wissler (1988-91) and Sherri Rinker (1984-87) with 385 each and Jenny Jackson (1992-95) with 389.
STILING No. 16 IN ASSIST BLOCKS
With eight assist blocks on the weekend (three at Michigan and five at Michigan State), Suzie Stiling has moved to 16th on the OSU career assist block list with 170. Stiling passed Shellye Sills (1997-99) with 168. She needs eight assists to pass No. 15 Lisa Vitali (1986-89) with 177.
DIVISION I NATIONAL STATISTICS
In the NCAA national statistics released Oct. 24, Katie Virtue was ranked 11th in assists at 14.07. In team statistics, the Buckeyes are 12th in kills per game at 17.56 and 16th in assists at 15.67.
BUCKEYES 9-3 IN TELEVISED MATCHES
Ohio State has had 11 matches televised on a state, regional or national level this season and has won nine of those. The Buckeyes are 6-1 on the Ohio News Network (ONN) which covers the state of Ohio. OSU split road matches on Midwest Sports Channel (MSC), a regional cable network, defeated Iowa in a match carried by Fox Sports and won its national cable appearance on ESPN2. The Buckeyes lost to Michigan State in a match carried by AT&T Cable. OSU plays at Penn State Saturday, Nov. 18 in a match televised by Fox Sports Sunday, Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. Central and hosts Minnesota in the Fox Sports Big Ten “wildcard” match Saturday, Nov. 25 That match will be replayed on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 11:30 a.m. Central.
OHIO STATE TELEVISED MATCHES
Date Opponent Score TV 9- 5 at Marshall W, 3-0 ONN 9- 9 Toledo W, 3-1 ON 9-10 Illinois State W, 3-1 ONN 9-12 Cincinnati W, 3-0 ONN 9-24 Michigan W, 3-1 ONN 9-29 at Wisconsin W, 3-2 MSC 10- 7 Illinois W, 3-0 ONN 10-13 at Minnesota L, 2-3 MSC 10-14 at Iowa W, 3-0 FOX 10-21 Indiana W, 3-0 ESPN2 11- 5 Wisconsin L, 1-3 ONN 11-11 at Michigan State L, 1-3 ATT 11-18 at Penn State 7:30 p.m. FOX 11-25 Minnesota 7 p.m. FOX
LOOKING AT INDIANA
The Hoosiers are 15-11 overall and 6-10 in the Big Ten. They split home matches last weekend losing to Wisconsin 1-3 (11-15, 15-11, 1-15, 8-15) and defeating Northwestern 3-0 (15-12, 15-6, 15-7). Indiana hosts Penn State Wednesday night.
Ohio State leads the series with Indiana 30-17. In Bloomington each team has won nine matches. The Hoosiers have won the last two meetings in Bloomington. Earlier this season Ohio State defeated Indiana 3-0 (15-6, 15-1, 15-8).
LAST TIME VS. INDIANA
Ohio State needed only 65 minutes to defeat Indiana 3-0 (15-6, 15-1, 15-8) in an ESPN2 delayed cablecast match. Shelly Draeger had a match-high 14 kills and equaled her career-high hitting percentage of .500 (14-2-24) in the match. Also in double-figure kills for Ohio State was Suzie Stiling with 12. Indiana’s Hillary Toivonen had a team-high nine kills for the Hoosiers with Amanda Welter adding seven. From a 6-1 OSU lead in game one, Indiana closed to 6-5 before a 9-1 run by OSU closed the game at 15-6. Game two saw OSU ahead 10-0, winning 15-1. The Buckeyes were ahead 12-4 in game three before closing the game at 15-8. Ohio State hit .471 for the match to IU’s .119. OSU had the advantage in kills (48-28), digs (52-32), blocks (6-2) and aces (5-3). The .471 hitting percentage was OSU’s best mark of the season and ranks ninth best all-time.
LOOKING AT PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions are 23-5 overall and 12-4 in the Big Ten. Penn State has a two match winning streak and has won 12 of the last 13. Last week in home matches, they defeated Northwestern 3-0 (15-4, 15-4, 15-9) and Wisconsin 3-2 (15-7, 11-15, 5-15, 15-5, 15-12). Penn State plays at Indiana Wednesday night.
Penn State leads the series with Ohio State 20-9. The Nittany Lions have won 10 of 13 matches in University Park. Penn State has won the last nine matches against Ohio State. The Buckeyes last defeated Penn State in 1996, a 3-2 win in Columbus.
LAST TIME VS. PENN STATE
Ohio State suffered its second loss of the season, a 5-15, 15-10, 14-16, 15-7, 9-15 decision to Penn State. PSU’s Katie Schumacher had a match-high 22 kills in the match with Mishka Levy adding 20 and Amanda Rome 12. OSU’s Shelly Draeger had a team-high 18 kills with Suzie Stiling adding 17. Dana Stearns and Anne Botica had 15 kills each for the Buckeyes. With the match tied at one game each and OSU serving for the game at 14-13, a service error returned the serve to Penn State who won the game 16-14. OSU responded with a 15-7 win in game four to send the match to game five. Penn State took an 11-4 lead in that game, winning 15-9. Penn State hit .206 for the match to .202 for Ohio State. Each squad had 75 kills. The Nittany Lions had a 17-12 advantage in blocking with Ohio State having the edge in digs, 82-68 and aces, 8-5.
HEAD COACH JIM STONE
Jim Stone is in his 19th year at Ohio State. He has a 419-186 (.693) record with the Buckeyes and is 239-104 (.697) in Big Ten play. His squads have won Big Ten championships in 1989, 1991 and 1994 and in the last 11 years has only finished below third twice. 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 11 years, OSU has participated in the NCAA Championships, advancing to the national semifinals in 1991 and 1994. Stone’s coaching career record includes three years at Wyoming (1979-1981). His 22-year career record is 469-228 (.673).
THE DEAN OF THE BIG TEN COACHES
Head coach Jim Stone begins his 19th-year in the Big Ten at Ohio State. Closest to Stone is Mike Hebert of Minnesota who is entering his 18th season. He spent 14 years at Illinois and the last four at Minnesota.
NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State closes out the regular season with home matches against Iowa Friday, Nov. 24 and Minnesota Saturday, Nov. 25. Both matches will start at 7 p.m.
BIG TEN STANDINGS
(as of Nov. 13) Conf. Pct. All Pct. 1 Minnesota 14-2 .875 25-2 .926 Wisconsin 14-2 .875 25-3 .893 3 Penn State 12-4 .750 23-5 .821 4 Ohio State 11-5 .688 21-5 .808 5 Michigan State 8-8 .500 15-10 .600 Iowa 8-8 .500 12-12 .500 7 Michigan 7-9 .438 17-10 .630 8 Indiana 6-10 .375 15-11 .577 9 Illinois 4-12 .250 13-14 .481 10 Purdue 3-13 .188 11-17 .393 11 Northwestern 1-15 .063 4-22 .154
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
November 15 Penn State at Indiana 16 Illinois at Northwestern 17 Illinois at Wisconsin Ohio State at Indiana Michigan State at Iowa Michigan at Minnesota Purdue at Northwestern 18 Michigan at Iowa Michigan State at Minnesota Ohio State at Penn State Purdue at Wisconsin
BIG TEN STATISTICS
Team (Conference matches) Hitting Pct. 1 WIS .274 4 OSU .250 5 PSU .237 9 IND .189
Kills 1 WIS 18.36 3 OSU 17.43 7 PSU 15.84 8 IND 15.70
Assists 1 MINN 16.67 4 OSU 15.55 5 IND 14.71 7 PSU 14.52
Service Aces 1 MSU 1.74 3 OSU 1.59 6 PSU 1.37 10 IND 1.04
Digs 1 WIS 18.14 3 OSU 16.71 5 IND 16.04 7 PSU 15.11
Blocks 1 MINN 3.68 2 PSU 3.50 7 OSU 2.55 8 IND 2.38
Individual (Conference matches)
Hitting Percentage 1 Stephanie Hagen, MINN .377 5 Dana Stearns, OSU .355 7 Sue Calligaris, OSU .329 10 Suzie Stiling, OSU .310
Kills 1 Nicole Branagh, MINN 5.95 4 Mishka Levy, PSU 4.57
Assists 1 Lindsey Berg, MINN 15.00 3 Katie Virtue, OSU 14.26 6 Laurie Gardner, IND 12.71 7 Jessica Hayden, PSU 12.00
Service Aces 1 Lindsey Berg, MINN .60 3 Shelly Draeger, OSU .40 9 Leilani Schlottfeldt, PSU .31
Digs 1 Nicole Branagh, MINN 3.95 3 Anne Botica, OSU 3.43 5 Hillary Toivonen, IND 3.30
Blocks 1 Robyn Guokas, PSU 1.68 4 Cara Smith, PSU 1.42 6 Suzie Stiling, OSU 1.38 10 Melissa Brewer, IND 1.23
USA TODAY/AVCA Coaches Poll
Nov. 13, 2000 – Poll #11 Rk School Total 2000 Last (First-Place Votes) Points Record Week 1 Nebraska (49) 1,489 24-0 1 2 Hawai’i (11) 1,451 23-0 2 3 Southern California 1,328 32-2 6 4 Colorado State 1,302 27-2 5 5 Arizona 1,287 23-3 3 6 Wisconsin 1,167 24-3 4 7 UCLA 1,132 19-6 7 8 Minnesota 1,099 25-2 8 9 Penn State 987 23-5 11 10 Florida 971 22-4 9 11 Pacific 949 22-3 10 12 Pepperdine 813 22-5 12 13 Brigham Young 771 20-6 14 14 UC Santa Barbara 758 22-6 15 15 Santa Clara 653 24-3 16 16 Long Beach State 560 18-7 17 17 Ohio State 524 21-5 13 18 Utah State 457 21-8 18 19 Utah 382 19-6 19 20 Notre Dame 319 23-5 21 21 Stanford 288 15-11 20 22 Loyola Marymount 238 19-7 22 23 Texas A&M 177 16-7 24 24 Kansas State 96 18-6 NR 25 Missouri 83 21-5 23 Others receiving 30 or more points: Michigan State (70), Northern Iowa (43).
Volleyball Magazine Top 20 Poll
Nov. 13, 2000/Poll #12 2000 Last Rk School Record Week 1 Hawai’i 23-0 1 2 Nebraska 24-0 2 3 Colorado State 27-2 5 4 Pacific 22-3 6 5 Southern California 21-2 10 6 Arizona 23-3 3 7 Minnesota 25-2 7 8 Wisconsin 24-3 4 9 Florida 22-4 8 10 UCLA 19-6 9 11 Penn State 23-5 11 12 UC Santa Barbara 22-6 14 13 Brigham Young 20-6 15 14 Pepperdine 22-5 12 15 Santa Clara 24-3 16 16 Ohio State 21-5 13 17 Long Beach State 17-7 17 18 Stanford 15-11 18 19 Notre Dame 23-5 19 20 Michigan 15-10 NR Others: Utah, Utah State, Kansas State, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Loyola Marymount, North Carolina, South Carolina, Missouri, Arizona State, Washington State, Texas A&M.
