No. 15 Ohio State Sweeps Illinois, 3-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2001%^$
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – %^$The 15th-ranked Ohio State (9-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) women’s volleyball squad, behind a match-high 16 kills from Suzie Stiling (Jr., Glenview, Ill.), defeated Illinois (6-2 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) 3-0 (30-16, 30-22, 30-22), Friday evening in St. John Arena in front of a crowd of 759. OSU’s Stacey Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario) added 14 kills and Anne Botica (Sr., Windsor, Ontario) 13 as Ohio State remained undefeated. Sue Webber (Jr., Herscher, Ill.) of Illinois had a team-high eight kills with Lydia Gard (Sr., Champaign, Ill.) adding five.%^$
%^$Illinois opened game one with a 3-0 lead off two OSU errors and a kill by Webber. An Illini error and kills by Stiling and Katie Virtue (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) tied the game at three. The Buckeyes took the lead with a block by Stiling and Virtue. With OSU leading 6-4, a Buckeye error and a kill by Lauren Harks (Fr., St. Charles, Ill.) tied the game at six. The Buckeyes held a 9-7 lead and had a six-point run comprised of a Gordon kill, two aces by Virtue, a solo block by Erin Baker (Sr., Elmhurst, Ill) and two Illini errors to go up 15-7. The Buckeyes expanded the lead to a final margin of 30-16. For the game, Ohio State hit .324 to -.107 for Illinois. OSU’s Baker had four kills in four attempts and added a solo block in the game.%^$
%^$Illinois broke a two-all tie with a ace by Webber and an OSU error for a 4-2 lead in game two. A Botica kill cut the lead to 4-3, but a Betsy Eiserman (Jr., Lake Bluff, Ill.) kill and two OSU errors gave Illinois a 7-3 lead. A Webber kill made the score 12-7, Illinois as OSU called a time out. The Buckeyes responded with a Shelly Draeger (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.) kill, solo blocks by Stiling and Botica, a Gordon kill and a Stiling kill that tied the game at 12. A kill by Lisa Argabright (So., Louisville, Ky.) put Illinois ahead 13-12, but a Illini error tied the game at 13. Kills by Gordon and Stiling and an Illinois error gave the Buckeyes a 16-13 margin. OSU held a 19-16 lead, but three OSU errors tied the game at 19. Two Illini errors gave OSU a 21-19 lead. A Gard kill cut the margin to 21-20. The Buckeyes responded with four straight points off a kill by Draeger and two from Stiling and an Illini error to gain a 25-20 lead. An Illini solo block by Melissa Vandrey (So., Chicago, Ill.) cut the lead to four at 25-21. Two kills by Stiling, an Illini error, an ace serve by Botica set game point for Ohio State at 29-21. A Buckeye error cut the margin to 29-22, but a Stiling kill ended the game at 30-22. The Buckeyes hit .324 for the game to .071 for Illinois. OSU’s Stiling had eight kills in the game, hitting .417 while teammate Gordon had five kills in six attempts (.833).%^$
%^$A Buckeye kill by Draeger, an ace serve by Nikki Cisco (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) and an Illinois error gave OSU a 3-0 lead in game three. The game remained close at 9-6, when the Illini closed to 9-8 margin off a Buckeye error and a Gard kill. Kills by Botica and Stiling and three Illini errors opened a 14-8 Ohio State lead as Illinois called time out. At 15-10, Ohio State, an Illini error and two ace serves by Botica expanded the lead to 18-10. The Buckeyes maintained the lead and with a Baker kill had match point at 29-21. An Illini kill by Webber cut the lead to seven at 29-22 but Botica tallied a kill for the match at 30-22. Ohio State hit .487 for the game to .265 for Illinois. OSU’s Botica collected seven kills in the game with Gordon adding six and Stiling five.%^$
%^$Ohio State hit .381 for the match to .089 for Illinois. OSU had a 58-26 margin in kills. The Buckeyes added 10 points from ace serves to one for the Illini. OSU’s Virtue and Botica a match-high three winners. OSU had a 35 to 27 advantage in digs with Botica recording a match-high nine. Both squads had five team blocks with Gard for the Illini collecting a match-high three assist blocks.%^$
%^$Ohio State continues a four-match home stand Saturday when they face Indiana (3-4 overall prior to a Friday match at Penn State) at 7 p.m. in St. John Arena.
