25th Ranked Women’s Volleyball Defeats No. 17 Michigan State 3-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/22/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2000
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 25th-ranked Ohio State women’s volleyball team opened its Big Ten season with a 3-1 victory over 17th-ranked Michigan State. The 11-15, 15-5, 15-7, 15-11 win keeps OSU’s overall record perfect at 11-0 and 1-0 in the Big Ten. Michigan State stands at 8-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Buckeye Sue Calligaris (So., Palermo, Italy/Liceo Linguistico) played a big part in the OSU win with a career-high 21 kills while three other players reached double-figure kills. Anne Botica (Jr., Windsor, Ont./St. Joseph) had 14 kills in the match with Dana Stearns (Sr., Bexley, Ohio/Bexley) and Shelly Draeger (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) adding 13 each. Spartans Erin Hartley and Sarah Gustin each had a team-high 13 kills for Michigan State.
In game one, Michigan State broke a 4-4 tie on an OSU error and a kill by Hartley to take a 6-4 lead. An MSU error closed the lead to 6-5, but an OSU error and a kill by Gustin put the Spartans ahead 8-5. At 8-6, behind kills by Amy Sibbernsen and Harley and a Buckeye error, Michigan State took an 11-6 lead. The Spartans held a 13-8 lead before a Stearns kill, a MSU error and an ace serve by Katie Virtue (So., St. Charles, Ill./St. Francis) closed the Michigan State lead to 13-11. A sideout kill by Christie Landry returned the serve to MSU and an ace by Sibbernsen set game point (14-11). A Buckeye error ended the game at 15-11. Ohio State hit .184 for the game to .156 for Michigan State.
Behind three Spartan errors and an ace serve by Draeger, Ohio State took a 4-0 lead in game two. A Hartley kill put MSU on the board but kills by Botica and Stearns and two MSU errors put the lead at 8-1. At 9-2, with kills by Gustin and Landy and a Buckeye error, Michigan State cut the lead to 9-5. Kills by Virtue, Botica and Stearns and a Spartan error gave OSU a 13-5 lead. Calligaris finished off the game with back-to-back kills for a 15-5 win. The Buckeyes hit .351 for the game to .143 for the Spartans.
Ohio State opened a 3-0 lead in game three with kills by Stearns and Draeger and an ace serve by Virtue. A Buckeye error and kills by Jessica Sanborn and Gustin tied the game at three. An MSU error put OSU up 4-3 but a Gustin kill tied the game at four. Ohio State accounted for the next eigth points with four Spartan errors, three Calligaris kills along with a Botica kill to take a 12-4 lead. An OSU error and kills by Gustin and Hartley cut the OSU lead to 12-7. Dragers’ kill made it 13-7 and two Michigan State errors ended the game at 15-7. OSU hit .395 for the game to .170.
Behind an Angela Morley kill, an ace serve by Gustin and three Buckeye errors, Michigan State opened game four with a 5-0 lead. A MSU error made it 5-1 but two OSU errors and a Sanborn kill put the Spartan lead at 8-1. An ace serve by Stearns and six Spartan errors tied the game at eight. The Buckeyes took a 9-8 lead on a MSU error but the score was tied at nine on an OSU error. A Stearns’ kill gave OSU a 10-9 lead and two kills by Calligaris put OSU ahead 12-9. Calligaris added point 13 on an ace serve and a kill by Draeger set match point at 14-9. Hartley’s sideout kill stopped OSU’s first match point and added a kill for point along with an OSU error to close the lead to 14-11. Michigan State halted a second match point for the Buckeyes but a block by Botica and Stearns closed the game at 15-11 on the third game point. Ohio State hit .220 for the game to .063 for Michigan State.
For the match, Ohio State hit .282 to Michigan State’s .130. The Buckeyes had a 71 to 54 advantage in kills, a 66-54 margin in digs a 10-9 edge in blocks and outserved the Spartans 6-4. OSU had four players with double-figure digs with Calligaris getting a match-high 14 with 12 by Botica and 11 each from Virtue and Stearns. Suzie Stiling (So., Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) had a match-high six blocks (one solo-five assists) for Ohio State with Botica adding five (1-4). OSU’s Virtue had a match-high 61 assists and a team-high two ace serves.
Ohio State returns to action at 2 p.m. this Sunday in St. John Arena when they face No. 21 Michigan (8-2, 0-1). The match will be carried live by the Ohio News Network.
