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%^$
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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.
