No. 12 Volleyball Defeats Iowa 30-22, 30-26, 27-30, 30-27. – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 24, 2001
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State (25-3 overall, 17-3 Big Ten) women’s volleyball team, behind a career-high 36 kills by Anne Botica (Sr., Windsor, Ontario), closed out the regular season with a 3-1 (30-22, 30-26, 27-30, 30-27) victory over Iowa (6-23, 3-17). Buckeye Suzie Stiling (Jr., Glenview, Ill.) added 16 kills and Stacey Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario) 14. Nikki Cisco (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) contributed a career-high 21 digs in 12th-ranked Ohio State’s victory over the Hawkeyes. Iowa’s Sara Meyermann (Sr., Camanche, Iowa) had a team-high 19 kills with Carolyn Giese (So., Dubuque, Iowa) adding 16. The Buckeyes conclude the Big Ten season with a second place finish. It is OSU’s best finish since 1995 when the Buckeyes were also second.
Game one opened with a Gordon kill and two Iowa errors for a 3-0 Buckeye lead. The Hawkeyes cut the lead to two, three times but would trail the entire game as a Erin Baker (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill) kill ended the game at 30-22. Ohio State hit .395 for the game to .200 for Iowa.
Two Stiling kills and a Hawkeye error gave OSU a 3-0 lead in game two. The Buckeyes held a 22-20 lead before Meyermann’s kill and ace serve tied the game at 22. Iowa had a 23-22 lead from an OSU error. Botica’s kill tied the game at 23. A Jamie Lansing (Jr., Quincy, Ill.) kill put Iowa ahead, 24-23. Another Botica kill tied the game at 24. Lansing again gave Iowa the 25-24 lead with a kill. The Hawkeyes went up, 26-24, off a Buckeye error. A Stiling kill cut the Iowa lead to 26-25. Four consecutive attack errors by Iowa set game point at 29-26. Stiling’s kill ended the game at 30-26. Ohio State hit .326 for the game to .178 for the Hawkeyes. From a four-all tie in game three, Iowa scored the next seven points to take a 11-4 lead. Trailing 13-6, Ohio State scored nine consecutive points to go ahead, 16-13. Ohio State took a 26-23 lead on a Botica kill. An OSU service error cut the lead to two at 26-24. A Buckeye attack error and a block by Kelli Chesnut (Jr., Iowa City, Iowa) tied the game at 26. Kills by Meyermann and Giese gave Iowa a 28-26 lead. A Buckeye error set game point for the Hawkeyes at 29-26. An Iowa error cut the lead to 29-27 but a Giese kill gave Iowa a 30-27 win. The Hawkeyes hit .163 for the game to OSU’s .132.
Ohio State, from a three-all tie in game four, opened an 8-3 lead with two kills from Gordon, on from Botica, a ace serve by Katie Virtue (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) and a block from Baker and Shelly Draeger (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.). Down 13-9, Iowa came back to tie the game at 13 with a Chesnut kill. The Buckeyes, with a 22-20 lead, scored the next four points with kills by Draeger and Gordon and two Iowa errors for a 26-20 lead. An OSU error and kills from Hill and Chesnut and an ace serve from Meyermann cut the OSU lead to 26-24. Gordon’s kill pushed the lead to three at 27-24. Hill responded with a kill making the lead 27-25. Back-to-back kills by Botica set match point at 29-26. Chesnut and Giese combined for a block on game point, cutting the lead to two at 29-27. The Buckeyes ended the game with a Stiling kill for a 30-27 win. Ohio State hit .264 for the game to .250 for the Hawkeyes.
For the match, Ohio State hit .268 to Iowa’s .197. The Buckeyes had an 81 to 62 margin in kills. Each squad served up three aces with Iowa’s Meyermann collecting a match-high three. The Buckeyes had nine service errors to four for the Hawkeyes. OSU had a 72-66 margin in digs with Cisco recording a match/career-high of 21. OSU’s Stiling added 13 digs and Gordon 12. Meyermann for the Hawkeyes had a team-high 16 with Hill adding 14 and Meghan Sims 10 (Fr., Lisle, Ill.). Iowa had a nine to five advantage in blocks. Giese had a match-high five assist blocks for the Hawkeyes with Chesnut adding four on a solo and three assists. OSU’s Stiling had a team-high four assist blocks. OSU’s Virtue had 69 assists in the match and added six digs, three assist blocks, two kills and an ace serve.
Ohio State now awaits the 3 p.m. EST, Monday, Nov. 26 announcement of the 64-team bracket from the NCAA. The Buckeyes will be looking to make a 13th-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship.
