No. 9 Volleyball Sweeps No. 24 Illinois, 30-24, 30-26, 30-25. – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 10, 2001%^$
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%^$%^$Final Stats%^$%^$
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – %^$Ninth-ranked Ohio State (22-2 overall, 14-2 Big Ten), with a match-high 21 kills (.378) from Stacey Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario) and 17 (.462) from Suzie Stiling (Jr., Glenview, Ill.), defeated No. 24 Illinois 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-25) in front of 1,982 fans in Huff Hall Saturday night. Lisa Argabright (So., Louisville, Ky.) had a team-high 12 kills for Illinois with Sue Webber (Jr., Herscher, Ill.) adding nine (.500).%^$
%^$From a 1-1 tie in game one, Illinois opened a 4-1 lead with kills by Webber and Lydia Gard (Sr., Champaign, Ill.) and a block by Gard and Shadia Haddad (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio). The Illini held several leads between ties at four, eight and 12. A Stiling kill gave OSU a 13-12 lead. Webber’s kill tied the game at 13. Kills by Stiling and Botica opened a 15-13, OSU lead. A Gard kill cut the margin to 15-14, but a Gordon kill and a Stiling ace serve put the lead at 17-14. Haddad’s kill cut the lead to 17-15, but kills by Gordon and Shelly Draeger (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) 19-15. At 25-22, three Gordon kills and an Illini attack error opened a 29-23 lead for Ohio State. A block by Argabright and Betsy Eiserman (Jr., Lake Bluff, Ill.) stopped the OSU game point attempt at 29-24, but Gordon’s seventh kill of the game gave OSU a 30-24 win. The Buckeyes hit .400 for the game to .250 for Illinois.%^$
%^$Game two saw 14 ties and 15 lead changes, with the last tie at 20. Neither squad had more than a two-point edge to that point of the match. The Buckeyes, with a Stiling kill and an Illini error, took a 22-20 lead as Illinois called a time out. Argabright and Haddad combined for a block to cut the lead to 22-21. With two Stiling kills, a kill from Gordon and a Gordon-Stiling block, the Buckeyes opened up a 26-21 lead as the Illini called time out. An Eiserman kill cut the lead to 26-22. A Stiling kill and her ace serve made the OSU lead, 28-22. A Buckeye error cut the margin to 28-23. Gordon’s kill set game point at 29-23. Illinois stopped three game points with kills by Webber and Argabright and a solo block by Webber to cut the margin to 29-26. Gordon’s kill on OSU’s fourth game point ended the game at 30-26. The Illini hit .273 for the game to .163 for Ohio State, despite OSU having a 17-13 margin in kills. Gordon had a game-high eight kills with Stiling adding seven.%^$
%^$Ohio State took an early 3-1 lead in game three with a Stiling kill and a Draeger ace serve. OSU held the lead until a Webber ace serve tied the game at six. An Argabright kill and a Webber ace gave Illinois an 8-6 lead. OSU tied the game at nine with a Gordon kill and took an 11-9 lead with a Botica kill and an Illinois error. An Argabright kill and a Buckeye error tied the game at 11. Kills by Webber and Haddad and an OSU error gave Illinois a 14-11 lead. Back-to-back service errors advanced the score to 15-12. Kills by Stiling and Gordon and a Gordon-Stiling block tied the game at 15. Two Buckeye errors put Illinois ahead at 17-15. Stiling’s kill and an OSU error made it 18-16. A kill by OSU’s Katie Virtue (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) and a block by Illinois’ Argabright and Webber made the Illinois lead, 19-17. Ohio State tied the game at 19 with kills by Gordon and Botica. An Illini error made it 20-19, OSU. A Buckeye error tied the game at 20. An OSU attack error put Illinois ahead, 21-20. Draeger’s kill tied the game at 21 and back-to-back aces by Nikki Cisco (Sr., Dublin, Ohio), gave the Buckeyes a 23-21 lead. Kills by Argabright and Gard tied the game at 23 and a Haddad kill gave Illinois a 24-23 lead. After an Ohio State time out, a Draeger kill tied the game at 24, starting a five-point Buckeye run. Two kills by Gordon, one from Virtue and an Illinois ball handling error gave OSU a 28-24 lead. Gard’s kill cut the margin to 28-25. A Stiling kill set match point for OSU at 29-25 and Gordon’s 21st kill of the match ended the game at 30-25. Ohio State hit .341 for the game to .303 for Illinois.%^$
%^$Ohio State hit .294 for the match to .275 for Illinois. The Buckeyes had a 57-41 advantage in kills and outserved the Illini, 11-2. OSU’s Botica had a match-high three aces. The Buckeyes had a 42-31 margin in digs with Botica collecting a match-high 13 with Cisco adding 11. Illinois had a 9-6 advantage in blocks.%^$
%^$Ohio State returns St. John Arena next week to face Michigan State (16-7, 9-7) at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 and Michigan (12-11, 8-8) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17.
