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
Final Stats
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.
