Women’s Volleyball Defeats Illinois State 3-1 for Invitational Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2000
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State (6-0) women’s volleyball team behind a match-high 19 kills by Anne Botica (Jr., Windsor, Ont./St. Joseph) and 15 from Dana Stearns (Sr., Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) defeated Illinois State 3-1 (15-9, 15-3, 11-15, 15-10) to capture the championship match of the Buckeye Invitational. Redbird’s Kendra Haselhorst (15 kills) and Megan O’Connell (13) provided the offense for Illinois State (3-2). In the third place match Kentucky defeated Toledo 3-2 (15-11, 16-18, 15-12, 10-15, 18-16).
As a team Ohio State hit .319 for the match to .212 for Illinois State. OSU had a 75 to 57 advantage in kills for the match. The Buckeyes held a 54-41 margin in digs with Stearns collecting a match high 15 and Katie Virtue (So., St. Charles, Ill./St. Francis) adding 10. OSU had an eight to seven edge in blocks while holds a 12 to nine margin in ace serves. OSU’s Botica connected on seven aces in the match to tie the Ohio State match record held by Erika Schlitz (vs. Colorado State, 9-10-88), Lisa Bettio (Bowling Green, 9-28-83) and Jenny Jackson (Indiana, 10-30-92).
OSU’s Virtue (60 assists) and Botica were named to the All-Tournament Team as was Haselhorst of Illinois State. Stearns was selected as the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Ohio State opened a 6-0 lead in game one. Illinois State closed to 6-5 before OSU pushed the margin to 12-6. The Buckeyes served five game points before winning 15-9. OSU make short work of game two expanding a 7-3 lead to a final 15-3 score. The Buckeyes hit .650 for the game. Illinois State trailed 0-6 in game three and at 11-5 scored 10 consecutive points to take the game 15-11. The Redbirds opened game four going up 2-0. They held a 7-1 lead before the Buckeyes started to score points. OSU tied the game at 10 and took an 11-10 lead on a Redbird error. After several sideouts, Ohio State scored four consecutive points to finish the game at 15-10 to win the match.
Ohio State completes a three-match home stand with a 7 p.m. Tuesday match against Cincinnati (5-2) in St. John Arena. A replay of the match will be carried by the Ohio News Network at 11:30 that night.
Buckeye Invitational Semifinal Results Illinois State def. Kentucky 3-0 (15-12, 15-12, 15-5) Ohio State def. Toledo 3-1 (15-12, 15-7, 11-15, 15-7)
Buckeye Invitational Third Place Match Kentucky def. Toledo 3-2 (15-11, 16-18, 15-12, 10-15, 18-16)
Buckeye Invitational Championship Match Ohio State def. Illinois State 3-1 (15-9, 15-3, 11-15, 15-10)
Buckeye Invitational All-Tournament Team Lindsey Kretzmann, Toledo Megan Weiskircher, Kentucky Kendra Haselhorst, Illinois State Katie Virtue, Ohio State Anne Botica, Ohio State
Buckeye Invitational Most Valuable Player Dana Stearns, Ohio State
