No. 11 Volleyball At Northwestern And No. 6 Wisconsin – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 2, 2001
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 11th-ranked Ohio State (12-0 overall, 4-0 Big Ten) women’s volleyball squad has road matches at Northwestern (6-4, 3-1) and No. 6 Wisconsin (10-2, 4-0) this week. OSU faces the Wildcats at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 5 in Welsh-Ryan Arena and then plays the Badgers at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 6 in the Wisconsin Field House.
GORDON REPEATS AS BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big Ten Conference announced Monday Stacey Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Eastdale Collegiate H. S.) as the Big Ten Volleyball Player of the Week. Gordon, a 5-11 outside hitter, played a key role in then 15th-ranked Ohio State’s come-from-behind win over No. 6 Penn State and in the OSU win over Purdue.
The Buckeyes defeated Penn State 3-2 (30-24, 28-30, 28-30, 31-29, 15-12) and Purdue 3-0 (30-18, 30-13, 30-21). Gordon had career-highs of 25 kills, 21 digs and three aces serves against Penn State. She also tied her career high of three assist/total blocks. Gordon collected 10 of her 21 digs in game one of the match and had two diving one-arm digs/saves. Seven of her kills came in the crucial game four while hitting .462 (7-1-13). Her 25th kill of the match was the match-winner, ending a 10-match Penn State winning streak against the Buckeyes.
Gordon followed that performance with a match-high 19 kills against Purdue. She hit a career-high .680 for the match with only two errors on 25 attempts as OSU won its 12th consecutive match and fourth straight Big Ten contest. Gordon becomes the eighth Big Ten student-athlete to win Big Ten Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks and the first freshman in League history to earn back-to-back Player of the Week awards. She was last weeks’ honoree after wins over Cincinnati, Illinois and Indiana. For the season, Gordon is averaging 4.21 kills per game and has a hitting percentage of .313. She is the team leader in digs with 3.21 per game leading the Big Ten for all matches. In conference matches only, she ranks second in kills with a 5.36 average and is hitting .399, ranking seventh. Gordon is tied for four in digs per game with a 2.86 average.
A LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are 12-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. Anne Botica (Sr., Windsor, Ontario) is the team leader in kills per game at 4.44. Stacey Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario) is second at 4.21 and Suzie Stiling (Jr., Glenview, Ill.) is third at 4.00. Stiling is the squad leader in hitting percentage at .463 with Erin Baker (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill.) second at .415. The top server on the team is Shelly Draeger (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) with a .87 per game average with 34 aces. Second is Botica at .64 with 25 aces. Katie Virtue (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) runs the offense and averages 13.67 assists per game. Defensively, Gordon has a team-high 3.21 digs per game average with Botica second at 2.79. At the net, Baker is averaging 1.16 blocks per game with Stiling second at .74. The Buckeyes are hitting .323 as a team and average 17.21 kills per game. OSU is averaging 2.97 aces, 14.23 digs and 2.23 blocks per game.
A LOOK AT NORTHWESTERN
The Wildcats of coach Keylor Chan are 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten. Northwestern split a pair of Big Ten road matches last week. The Wildcats lost 0-3 (30-24, 30-19, 30-20) at Illinois and defeated Indiana 3-1 (18-30, 30-21, 30-17, 30-26). Erika Lange is the top hitter (2.86 kills per game) and blocker (1.53 blocks per game) on the squad. Sarah Ballog is the top percentage hitter (.303) for the Wildcats and is second in blocking (1.40). Drew Robertson controls the offense and averages 9.14 assist per game. Robertson and Kelli Meyer share team-high honors with 15 aces each. Molly Kamp is the team leader in digs with a 2.57 average. Northwestern is hitting .198 and averages 13.14 kills per game. The Wildcats average 1.84 aces, 13.59 digs and 3.11 blocks per game.
THE OHIO STATE – NORTHWESTERN SERIES
Ohio State has a 36-9 record in the series against Northwestern. The Buckeyes have won the last five meetings and 23 of the last 24 contests. OSU is 13-5 in Evanston, having won the last two contests in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats’ last victory came on Oct. 23, 1998, in Evanston, a 3-1 (15-12, 14-16, 15-10, 15-7) Northwestern win. Last season the Buckeyes won at Northwestern 3-0 (15-2, 15-2, 15-8) and at Ohio State 3-0 (15-1, 15-9, 15-13).
A LOOK AT WISCONSIN
The sixth-ranked Badgers of coach Pete Waite are 10-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. The Badgers won road matches last week at Indiana 3-0 (30-15 30-23, 30-26) and at Illinois 3-0 (30-19, 30-24, 30-21). Sherisa Livingston has a team-high 4.78 kills per game average and shares the blocking lead with Amy Hultgren with a 1.09 per game average. Lizzy Fitzgerald runs the offense and averages 14.44 assists per game. Lisa Zukowski has a team-high 14 ace serves and Erin Byrd is the team leader in digs with a 2.73 per game average. Wisconsin is hitting .294 and averages 17.46 kills per game. The Badgers average 1.30 aces, 15.17 digs and 2.63 blocks per game.
THE OHIO STATE – WISCONSIN SERIES
Ohio State leads the series with Wisconsin, 27-15. The squads have split matches the last two seasons with the road squad picking up the victories. Three of the last four matches have gone five games, with the fourth, a four-gamer. Last season Ohio State won at Madison, 3-2 (14-16, 10-15, 15-11, 17-15, 15-12) and lost in Columbus 1-3 (15-7, 13-15, 14-16, 11-15).
GORDON CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Stacey Gordon set four career highs and tied two others over the week. She had career-highs of 25 kills, 21 digs and three aces against Penn State and her three-assist blocks equaled her career highs for assist and total blocks. Of her 21 digs, 10 were recorded in a remarkable game one performance including several diving one-handed saves. Against Purdue, Gordon hit a career-high .680 (19-2-25), leading the Buckeyes with a match-high 19 kills. Gordon has had double-figure kills in 11 of 12 matches and double-figure digs in six of 12 matches. She is the team leader in kills per game with a 3.21 average and ranks second in kills per game with a 4.21 mark.
DRAEGER TIES OSU MATCH RECORD AGAIN
Shelly Draeger equaled the Ohio State match record for aces with seven against Purdue. This marks the second time this season that she has tied the record. Draeger recorded seven aces against Tennessee Tech (Sept. 1). Four other student-athletes have recorded seven aces in a match for Ohio State. They include Anne Botica (Illinois State, 2000), Erika Schlitz (vs. Colorado State, 1988), Lisa Bettio (Bowling Green, 1983) and Jenny Jackson (Indiana, 1992). Draeger has a team-high 34 aces (.87 per game). She has had five matches with four or more aces. Draeger also had five kills, five digs and two assist blocks against the Boilermakers. In the Penn State match, she had seven kills, four aces, 10 digs and two assist blocks.
VIRTUE CONTINUES TO DIRECT OUTSTANDING OFFENSE
Katie Virtue has directed the OSU squad to a 12-0 mark this season. Last week she had a season-high 65 assists, two kills, an ace serve, a season-high 12 digs and a solo and an assist blocks against Penn State. She added 46 assists, one kill, an ace serve, one dig and one assist block against Purdue. She has 533 assists on the season and is averaging 13.67 per game. Virtue has 3,426 career assists and ranks third at Ohio State. She holds the Ohio State record for assists per game at 13.76. Last week Virtue was ranked seventh in the country with a 13.61 assist per game mark.
BAKER HAS CAREER-HIGH 11 KILLS AGAINST PENN STATE
Erin Baker had an outstanding match against Penn State. She had a career-high 11 kills while hitting .588 (11-1-17) and added a team-high five assist blocks. She added three kills and an assist block against Purdue. Baker averages three-plus swings per game but makes the most of them with 74 kills (1.95 per game) She is hitting .415 for the season and ranks second on the squad. Baker was ranked 17th in the country last week at .437. She is the team leader in blocking with a 1.16 per game average on six solos and 38 assists.
BOTICA MOVES TO 17TH ON OHIO STATE CAREER KILLS LIST
Anne Botica contributed to the win over Penn State with a season-high 21 kills. She added nine digs against the Nittany Lions. Against Purdue she had 16 kills, five digs and equaled her season high of five ace serves against the Boilermakers. Botica hit a season-high .565 (16-3-23) against Purdue. Her 37 kills on the week gives her 836 for her career and moved her to 17th on the Ohio State career kills list.
STILING HAS 11 STRAIGHT DOUBLE-FIGURE KILL MATCHES
Suzie Stiling extended her streak of matches with double-figure kills to 11 with 15 against Penn State and 12 against Purdue. Stiling added two aces and four digs and an assist block against the Nittany Lions and had an ace and two assist blocks against the Boilermakers. She hit .550 in the Purdue match with only one error in 20 attempts. Stiling is the team leader in hitting percentage with a .463 mark. She has hit .400 or better in nine of the 12 matches and was ranked sixth in the country last week at .477.
THE CANADIAN CONNECTION
Take a freshman and senior from Canada and you have a lot of firepower for the Buckeyes. Freshman Stacey Gordon (164 kills, 4.21 per game) and senior Anne Botica (173 kills, 4.44 per game) have combined for fifty percent of the kills this season for Ohio State. They have combined for 337 of OSU’s 671 kills (.502) to date. The duo also has 234 (Gordon 125, Botica 109) of OSU’s 555 digs (.422).
THE 4-PLUS KILL GROUP
Ohio State currently has three players that are averaging four or more kills per game. They include Anne Botica 4.44 (173 kills), Stacey Gordon 4.21 (173 kill) and Suzie Stiling 4.00 (156 kills).
SEASON OPENING WINNING STREAKS
Ohio State has opened the 2001 season with 12 consecutive wins. The Buckeyes have had two other winning streaks that opened a season. OSU went 11-0 to start the season in 1996 and was 16-0 last season.
REGULAR SEASON, NON-CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK
Ohio State, over the last three years, has won 21 consecutive regular season, non-conference matches. The streak includes OSU’s 7-0 mark this season, a 10-0 mark in 2000 and four wins in 1999.
NEWCOMERS JOIN THE BUCKEYES
Two additions were made to the squad this summer. Freshmen Trine Melsether (Aalesund, Norway/Fagerlia) and Tamika Drake (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) joined the squad for preseason practice. Melsether, a 6-1 outside hitter, played for the Aukra Club last season, winning the Junior Championship. Previously she played for Bindheim Club. Drake, a 5-7 defensive specialist, played four years at Euclid High School as a middle hitter. She also played for the Leva Volleyball Club in Riverside-Painesville.
BUCKEYES RANKED 11TH AND SIXTH IN NATIONAL POLLS
In the national polls released on Monday, Oct. 1, Ohio State was ranked 11th in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll. OSU is sixth in the Volleyball Magazine Poll. Long Beach State is ranked No. 1 in the both polls with Nebraska second. The Big Ten has four teams ranked in the Coaches Top 25. They include Wisconsin at sixth, Penn State 10th, Ohio State 11th and Minnesota 18th. Michigan State comes in at 28th. In the Volleyball Magazine Poll, Ohio State is sixth, Wisconsin seventh, Penn State eighth and Minnesota 18th. Michigan State is listed under others.
TELEVISED MATCHES
Ohio State will appear in three of the 11 matches that are part of the Big Ten television package that will be broadcast by ESPN2 and Fox Sports Chicago. The Buckeyes also will have five Big Ten contests shown by the Ohio News Network on a tape delay OSU will host Michigan State (Fri., Nov. 16) in one of three Big Ten matches on ESPN2 in a delayed broadcast. The match will be shown at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, Nov. 18. The Buckeyes will host two of the eight matches to be broadcast by Fox Sports Chicago. OSU matches included are Minnesota (Sunday, Oct. 14) and Wisconsin (Friday, Oct. 26). The Minnesota match will be shown at 7 p.m. CT, Monday, Oct. 15 with the Wisconsin match shown at 3 p.m. CT, Sunday, Oct. 28.
This marks the seventh-consecutive season that the conference has had at least three matches on ESPN2 and the fifth-straight year that the Big Ten has allied with the Fox Sports Chicago network. The Fox Sports Chicago Big Ten volleyball broadcasts are annually seen in 18 million Midwest and Eastern homes, while ESPN2 reaches 71 million-plus viewers around the nation.
The Ohio News Network will feature five Big Ten contests as part of its overall Ohio State sports package. ONN will show the Illinois match at 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22, the Indiana match at 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 23, the Purdue match at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, the Northwestern match at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 28 and the Michigan match at 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 18.
2001 Big Ten Conference Volleyball Broadcasts on ESPN2 Date Match Time Broadcast Date/Time Oct. 19 Wisconsin at Minnesota 7 p.m. CT Sun., Oct. 21, 4 p.m. ET Oct. 27 Wisconsin at Penn State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Oct. 28, 4 p.m. ET Nov. 16 Michigan State at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Nov. 18, 2 p.m. ET
2001 Big Ten Conference Volleyball Broadcasts on FoxSports Chicago Date Match Time Broadcast Date/Time Sep. 29 Northwestern at Indiana 7 p.m. ET Mon., Oct. 1, 7 p.m. CT Oct. 5 Penn State at Wisconsin 7 p.m. CT Sun., Oct. 7, 3 p.m. CT Oct. 14 Minnesota at Ohio State 2 p.m. ET Mon., Oct. 15, 7 p.m. CT Oct. 19 Illinois at Purdue 7 p.m. CT Sun., Oct. 21, 3 p.m. CT Oct. 26 Wisconsin at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Oct. 28, 3 p.m. CT Nov. 3 Michigan at Iowa 7 p.m. CT Sun., Nov. 4, 3 p.m. CT Nov. 17 Michigan State at Penn State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Nov. 18, 3 p.m. CT Nov. 23/24 TBA-Wildcard TBA Sun., Nov. 25, 3 p.m. CT
2001 Ohio News Network Volleyball Broadcasts Date Match Time Broadcast Date/Time Sep. 21 Illinois at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sat., Sep. 22, 7 p.m. ET Sep. 22 Indiana at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Sep. 23, 1 p.m. ET Sep. 28 Purdue at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sat., Sep. 29, 1 p.m. ET Oct. 27 Northwestern at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Oct. 28, 2 p.m. ET Nov. 17 Michigan at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Nov. 18, 1 p.m. ET
LAST WEEK FOR OHIO STATE
The Buckeye held on Wednesday to defeat No. 6 Penn State in a five-game thriller. Down 2-1 in games and with the Nittany Lions serving for the match at 29-27, Ohio State held off two match points to win the game 31-29 and go on to win the fifth game, 15-12. Stacey Gordon had a career-high 25 kills with Anne Botica adding a season-high 21 in the victory. Gordon had a match-high 19 kills in a 3-0 win over Purdue on Friday.
BUCKEYE HEAD COACH JIM STONE
Jim Stone enters his 20th season at Ohio State. He has a 436-188 record with the Buckeyes and is 246-105 in Big Ten play. His squads have won Big Ten Championships in 1989, 1991 and 1994 and in the last 12 years have only finished below third twice. In the championship years, he was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year and was the 1991 Volleyball Monthly National Coach of the Year. Under Stone, Ohio State has participated in the NCAA Championship the last 12 years, 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 486-230.
VOLLEYBALL RULE CHANGES
Several new playing rules will be in effect for the 2001 season. Match scoring will move from sideout to a rally-scoring format where each play results in a point. The first four games will be scored to 30 points. The fifth game will be played to 15 points. All games must still be won by two points.
The collegiate game will mimic the international game with the let serve. A served ball will remain in play if it hits the net and continues its path to the opposition’s court.
The international pursuit, an experimental rule for 2001-2002, can be implemented in a match by agreement of both coaches. The rule allows for a player to retrieve a ball (on the second contact) that has crossed the plane of the net to the opponent’s free space, provided that player does not touch the opponent’s court and sends the ball back to their court, over or outside the antennas, for an opportunity for the third contact.
NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State returns to St. John Arena for a two-match home stand. OSU hosts Iowa (2-6, 0-2) at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 12 and plays No. 17 Minnesota (8-2, 2-0) at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 14. The contest with the Gophers was be shown by FoxSports-Chicago on a tape delay broadcast at 7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 15.
