Women’s Volleyball At Cincinnati, Hosts Illinois and Indiana – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/17/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2001
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State (7-0) women’s volleyball squad will play at Cincinnati (2-3) Tuesday before it begins league play in the Big Ten Conference with home matches against Illinois (6-1) and Indiana (2-4). OSU hosts the Fighting Illini at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 21 and then faces the Hoosiers at 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22. Both matches will be broadcast on tape delay by the Ohio News Network. The Illinois match will be shown at 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22 with the Indiana match shown at 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 23. Arica Robbins and former Ohio State All-American Audrey DiPronio Flaugh will call the action.
MATCHES LAST WEEK POSTPONED, UC RESCHEDULED
Due to the national tragedies last week, the Ohio State match at Cincinnati (Sept. 11) and OSU’s Buckeye Classic (Sept. 14-15) were postponed. The Cincinnati match will be played at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 18 at Cincinnati.
BUCKEYES WIN LOYOLA ADIDAS INVITATIONAL
With wins over Loyola, South Florida and Evansville, Ohio State captured its second tournament championship of the season, Sept. 8. The previous week the Buckeyes won their own Buckeye Invitational. OSU student-athletes Katie Virtue (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) and Suzie Stiling (Jr., Glenview, Ill.) were named to the Loyola Adidas Invitational All-Tournament Team.
REGULAR SEASON, NON-CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK
Ohio State, over the last three years, has won 21 consecutive regular season, non-conference matches. The streak includes OSU’s 7-0 mark this season, a 10-0 mark in 2000 and four wins in 1999.
A LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are 7-0 prior to the Tuesday match at Cincinnati. Anne Botica (Sr., Windsor, Ontario) is the team leader in kills per game at 4.64. Suzie Stiling is second at 3.95. Stiling is the squad leader in hitting percentage at .507 with Erin Baker (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill.) second at .408. The top server on the team is Shelly Draeger (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) with a .86 per game average with 19 aces. Second is Botica at .68 with 15 aces. Katie Virtue runs the offense and averages 12.91 assists per game. Defensively, Stacy Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario) has a team-high 3.27 digs per game average with Botica second at 3.18. At the net, Baker is averaging 1.38 blocks per game with Stiling second at .82. The Buckeyes are hitting .298 as a team and average 16.55 kills per game.
A LOOK AT CINCINNATI
The Bearcats of coach Reed Sunahara are 2-3 on the season having lost their last three matches. Over Labor Day, in Hawaii, Cincinnati lost to Southern California 3-0 (30-19, 30-23, 30-13), to Utah State 3-2 (32-30, 23-30, 30-21, 25-30, 15-11) and to Hawaii 3-0 (30-24, 30-22, 30-16).
THE OHIO STATE – CINCINNATI SERIES
Ohio State has won 15 of 16 matches with the Bearcats dating back to 1973. That year marks the only win by Cincinnati. OSU has won all four meetings in Cincinnati. Last season Ohio State won, in Columbus, 3-0 (15-11, 15-8, 15-6).
A LOOK AT ILLINOIS
The Fighting Illini of coach Don Hardin are 6-1 overall. Illinois had won six consecutive matches before losing at home 3-0 (30-25, 30-28, 30-14) to Florida two weeks ago.
THE OHIO STATE – ILLINOIS SERIES
Ohio State has a 26-23 advantage in the series with Illinois. In Columbus, OSU has won 10 of 19 matches. The Buckeyes have won the last three meetings, all 3-0 shutouts, two of which were in Champaign.
A LOOK AT INDIANA
The Hoosiers of coach Katie Weismiller are 2-4 overall. Indiana won its opening match of the season against Maryland then lost four straight before defeating New Mexico 3-1 (30-20, 30-19, 27-30, 30-24) at Loyola Marymount two weeks ago.
THE OHIO STATE – INDIANA SERIES
Ohio State, in the series with Indiana, has won 31 matches and lost 17. The Buckeyes won both matches last season and have won four of the last five meetings. OSU has won the last three meetings in Columbus.
STILING SPARKLES IN LOYOLA INVITATIONAL
At the Loyola Invitational, Suzie Stiling had an outstanding three-match performance. Stiling hit a career-high .688 with 12 kill against Loyola. She added 12 kills (.455) against South Florida and hit .611 with 13 kills against Evansville in the Saturday matches. For the three matches, she averaged 4.11 kills per game and hit .571. Stiling is the team leader in hitting at .507 for the season and currently is the top hitter in the Big Ten Conference.
VIRTUE PROVIDING LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE
Katie Virtue has directed Ohio State to a 7-0 record this season and was rewarded for her efforts by being named to the all-tournament Team of the Loyola Adidas Invitational. She averaged 12.33 assists and 2.56 digs in the three-match tournament, helping Ohio State to the championship. She had a season-high 11 digs against South Florida.
BOTICA, TEAM LEADER IN KILLS
With 102 kills in seven matches, Anne Botica has a team-high 4.64 kills per game average. She equaled her season-high of 19 kills against South Florida and recorded 13 kills against Loyola and Evansville. Botica has had double-figure kills in her last 19 matches. She also has recorded 15 aces (.68 per game) and 70 digs (3.18 per game) this season, ranking second on the team in each category.
DRAEGER FINDS THE MARK ON THE SERVE
With a team-high 19 aces on the season, Shelly Draeger has made her mark on the Ohio State record book. She equaled an Ohio State match record with seven aces against Tennessee Tech and had two matches with four aces against Ohio and at Loyola. Draeger has had one or more aces in six of the seven matches this season.
GORDON PROVIDING SOLID NUMBERS AS A FRESHMAN
With a 3.42 kills and 3.27 digs per game average, Stacey Gordon has contributed to Ohio State’s 7-0 start. Gordon, one of two starting players from Canada (Anne Botica), has had double-figure kills in six of the seven matches and has had four matches with double-figure digs, including a career-high 17 against Ohio.
BAKER BLOCKING BALLS FOR THE BUCKEYES
Middle blocker Erin Baker has proved to be the top blocker for the Buckeyes so far this season. She has a 1.38 blocks per game average on four solos and 25 assists. Against South Florida, she set career highs for solo (2), assists (7) and total blocks (9). Baker was involved in nine of the 12 blocks against the Bulls.
NEWCOMERS JOIN THE BUCKEYES
Two additions were made to the squad this summer. Freshmen Trine Melsether (Aalesund, Norway/Fagerlia) and Tamika Drake (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) joined the squad for preseason practice. Melsether, a 6-1 outside hitter, played for the Aukra Club last season, winning the Junior Championship. Previously she played for Bindheim Club. Drake, a 5-7 defensive specialist, played four years at Euclid High School as a middle hitter. She also played for the Leva Volleyball Club in Riverside-Painesville.
BUCKEYES RANKED 15TH AND 14TH IN NATIONAL POLLS
In the national polls released on Monday, Sept. 11, Ohio State was ranked 15th in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll. OSU is 14th in the Volleyball Magazine Poll. Nebraska is ranked No. 1 in the coaches poll with Long Beach State topping the Volleyball Magazine Poll. The Big Ten has four teams ranked in the Coaches Top 25. They include Penn State at sixth, Wisconsin ninth, Ohio State 15th and Minnesota 17th. Michigan State comes in at 27th. In the Volleyball Magazine Poll, Penn State is sixth, Wisconsin seventh, Ohio State 14th and Minnesota 17th. Michigan State is listed under others.
OSU PREVIOUS MATCHES
The Buckeyes won four matches last week picking up a 3-0 win at Wright State on Tuesday and then winning the Loyola (Ill.) Adidas Invitational with three, 3-0, wins over Loyola (Ill.), South Florida and Evansville. OSU’s Katie Virtue and Suzie Stiling were named to the All-Tournament team.
BUCKEYE HEAD COACH JIM STONE
Jim Stone enters his 20th season at Ohio State. He has a 431-188 record with the Buckeyes and is 242-105 in Big Ten play. His squads have won Big Ten Championships in 1989, 1991 and 1994 and in the last 12 years have only finished below third twice. In the championship years, he was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year and was the 1991 Volleyball Monthly National Coach of the Year. Under Stone, Ohio State has participated in the NCAA Championship the last 12 years, advancing to the national semifinals in 1991 and 1994. Stone’s coaching career record includes three years at Wyoming (1979-1981). His 22-year career record is 481-230.
TELEVISED MATCHES
Ohio State will appear in three of the 11 matches that are part of the Big Ten television package that will be broadcast by ESPN2 and Fox Sports Chicago. The Buckeyes also will have five Big Ten contests shown by the Ohio News Network on a tape delay OSU will host Michigan State (Fri., Nov. 16) in one of three Big Ten matches on ESPN2 in a delayed broadcast. The match will be shown at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, Nov. 18. The Buckeyes will host two of the eight matches to be broadcast by Fox Sports Chicago. OSU matches included are Minnesota (Sunday, Oct. 14) and Wisconsin (Friday, Oct. 26). The Minnesota match will be shown at 7 p.m. CT, Monday, Oct. 15 with the Wisconsin match shown at 3 p.m. CT, Sunday, Oct. 28.
This marks the seventh-consecutive season that the conference has had at least three matches on ESPN2 and the fifth-straight year that the Big Ten has allied with the Fox Sports Chicago network. The Fox Sports Chicago Big Ten volleyball broadcasts are annually seen in 18 million Midwest and Eastern homes, while ESPN2 reaches 71 million-plus viewers around the nation.
The Ohio News Network will feature five Big Ten contests as part of its overall Ohio State sports package. ONN will show the Illinois match at 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22, the Indiana match at 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 23, the Purdue match at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, the Northwestern match at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 28 and the Michigan match at 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 18.
2001 Big Ten Conference Volleyball Broadcasts on ESPN2
Date Match Time Broadcast Date/Time Oct. 19 Wisconsin at Minnesota 7 p.m. CT Sun., Oct. 21, 4 p.m. ET Oct. 27 Wisconsin at Penn State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Oct. 28, 4 p.m. ET Nov. 16 Michigan State at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Nov. 18, 2 p.m. ET
2001 Big Ten Conference Volleyball Broadcasts on FoxSports Chicago
Date Match Time Broadcast Date/Time Sep. 29 Northwestern at Indiana 7 p.m. ET Mon., Oct. 1, 7 p.m. CT Oct. 5 Penn State at Wisconsin 7 p.m. CT Sun., Oct. 7, 3 p.m. CT Oct. 14 Minnesota at Ohio State 2 p.m. ET Mon., Oct. 15, 7 p.m. CT Oct. 19 Illinois at Purdue 7 p.m. CT Sun., Oct. 21, 3 p.m. CT Oct. 26 Wisconsin at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Oct. 28, 3 p.m. CT Nov. 3 Michigan at Iowa 7 p.m. CT Sun., Nov. 4, 3 p.m. CT Nov. 17 Michigan State at Penn State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Nov. 18, 3 p.m. CT Nov. 23/24 TBA-Wildcard TBA Sun., Nov. 25, 3 p.m. CT
2001 Ohio News Network Volleyball Broadcasts
Date Match Time Broadcast Date/Time Sep. 21 Illinois at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sat., Sep. 21, 7 p.m. ET Sep. 22 Indiana at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Sep. 23, 1 p.m. ET Sep. 28 Purdue at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sat., Sep. 29, 1 p.m. ET Oct. 27 Northwestern at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Oct. 28, 2 p.m. ET Nov. 17 Michigan at Ohio State 7 p.m. ET Sun., Nov. 18, 7 p.m. ET
VOLLEYBALL RULE CHANGES
Several new playing rules will be in effect for the 2001 season. Match scoring will move from sideout to a rally-scoring format where each play results in a point. The first four games will be scored to 30 points. The fifth game will be played to 15 points. All games must still be won by two points.
The collegiate game will mimic the international game with the let serve. A served ball will remain in play if it hits the net and continues its path to the opposition’s court.
The international pursuit, an experimental rule for 2001-2002, can be implemented in a match by agreement of both coaches. The rule allows for a player to retrieve a ball (on the second contact) that has crossed the plane of the net to the opponent’s free space, provided that player does not touch the opponent’s court and sends the ball back to their court, over or outside the antennas, for an opportunity for the third contact.
NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES
The Buckeyes continue Big Ten Conference play with a home match at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 26 against Penn State and at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 28 against Purdue.
