No. 12 Volleyball Downs Minnesota In Four Games – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 23, 2001%^$
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – %^$The Ohio State (24-3 overall, 16-3 Big Ten) women’s volleyball team, behind match-highs of 22 kills and 11 digs from Anne Botica (Sr., Windsor, Ontario), defeated Minnesota 3-1 (30-26, 30-24, 32-34, 30-27). The match, played in the Sports Pavilion in front of a crowd of 2,658, saw 12th-ranked Ohio State’s Stacey Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario) connect on seven ace serves to tie the Ohio State match record held by six others. Gordon also contributed 15 kills and 10 digs in the match with Shelly Draeger (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) adding 13 kills and Suzie Stiling (Jr., Glenview, Ill.) 10. Minnesota’s Cassie Busse (So., Prior Lake, Minn.) had a team-high 16 kills for the Gophers with Trisha Bratford (Fr., Reseda, Calif.) adding 15.%^$
%^$Game one saw the score tied 12 times with Ohio State holding early leads, the last at 9-8 on a kill by Gordon. Bratford’s kill tied the game at nine. A second Bratford kill and two ace serves by Lindsey Berg (Sr., Honolulu, HI) put Minnesota ahead 12-9. Minnesota held the lead at 22-20 before an Erin Baker (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill) kill and an ace serve by Gordon tied the game at 22. Kills by Botica and Draeger, another ace from Gordon and two Gopher errors completed the seven point Buckeye run giving OSU a 27-22 lead. Bratford and Bethany Brafford (So., Mansfield, Ohio) cut the lead to 27-24 with kills. A Draeger kill and a Minnesota error set game point at 29-24. The Gophers held off two game points with kills by Amanda Clipperly (Fr., Andover, Minn.) and Cassie Busse (So., Prior Lake, Minn.) to close the lead to 29-26. A Stiling kill ended the game at 30-26 for the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes hit .406 for the game to .382 for Minnesota.%^$
%^$Ohio State opened a 3-0 lead in game two and never trailed for a 30-24 win. At 5-2, OSU scored eight straight points to open up a 13-2 lead. The run consisted of four kills and a block by Gordon, a kill by Botica and two Gopher errors. From a 12-point (22-10) Buckeye lead, Minnesota cut the lead to 27-23 with a block by Hagen and Erin Martin (Fr., Ames, Iowa). A Gopher error made it 28-23, but a Hagen-Busse block cut the lead to 28-24. Two Botica kills ended the game at 30-24. Ohio State hit .250 for the game to -.065 for Minnesota.%^$
%^$Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in game three off two OSU errors and built up a seven point lead (20-13). At 23-16, kills by Baker and Botica, a Gordon ace and two Gopher errors, cut the Minnesota lead to 23-21. After ties at 27 and 28, a Gopher error gave OSU a 29-28 lead and serving game point. A Minnesota block by Berg and Brafford tied the game at 29. A Botica kill put the Buckeyes up, 30-29, serving its second game point. A Bratford kill tied the game at 30. A Minnesota kill by Clipperly gave the Gophers a 31-30 lead and serving game point. A Draeger kill tied the game at 31. Gordon’s ace put Ohio State up 32-31, serving its third game point. A Buckeye attack error tied the game at 32 and another error set game point number two for Minnesota at 33-32. Minnesota closed out the game with a Busse kill at 34-32. The Gophers hit .122 for the game to .071 for Ohio State.%^$
%^$Ohio State opened game four taking a 3-0 lead with a Katie Virtue (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) kill and two Gopher errors. That proved to the be final margin in the game at 30-27. The game had 14 ties and seven lead changes. A block by Brafford and Cipperly tied the game at 23. A Busse kill gave Minnesota its final lead at 24-23. OSU’s Stiling tied the game at 24 with a kill and a Botica kill made it 25-24, Ohio State. An OSU error tied the game at 25. A Gopher hitting error returned the lead to Ohio State at 26-25. A Gordon kill made it 27-25. A Minnesota kill by Martin cut the lead to 27-26. A Botica kill made the lead two at 28-26. A Gopher block by Berg cut the lead to one at 28-27. Botica’s 22nd kill of the match set match point at 29-27. OSU closed the match with a block by Baker and Draeger for a 30-27 win. Minnesota outhit Ohio State in the game, .184 to .167%^$
%^$For the match, the Buckeyes hit .309 to Minnesota’s .158. The Buckeyes had a 66-59 advantage in kills. The Buckeyes had a 10-4 margin in ace serves, but gave up 15 service errors to 11 for Minnesota. OSU had a 53-44 margin in digs. Minnesota outblocked Ohio State 19 to 10. Hagen for the Gophers had a match-high nine blocks on one solo and eight assists with Brafford adding eight assists.%^$
%^$OSU’s Virtue had a match-high 58 assists to 41 for Minnesota’s Berg. Virtue’s 58 assists raises her career total to 4,208 and moves her into second place on the OSU career assist list. Virtue passes Audrey DiPronio (1988-90) who had 4,184.%^$
%^$Gordon’s seven aces in the match marks the third time this season OSU has had a player tie the record. Draeger tied the mark twice in matches against Tennessee Tech and Purdue. Also holding the record are teammate Anne Botica (Illinois State, 9-10-00), Jenny Jackson (Indiana, 10-30-92), Erika Schlitz (vs. Colorado State at Texas A&M, 9-10-88) and Lisa Bettio (Bowling Green, 9-28-83).%^$
%^$Ohio State concludes regular season play Saturday at Iowa (6-21, 3-15). The Hawkeyes lost to No. 16 Penn State (18-7, 12-6), 3-0 (30-21, 30-28, 30-16). The Buckeyes will then wait until 3 p.m., Monday, when the NCAA will announce the 64-team bracket.
