Volleyball Hosts Minnesota and Iowa – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State (7-7, 1-5) women’s volleyball hosts Minnesota (11-7, 4-2) and Iowa (5-11, 0-6) this weekend. The Buckeyes face Minnesota at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 17 in a Fox Sports Chicago broadcast that will be live to FSN and Chicago and will be shown at 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 19 by Fox Sports Chicago. Dave Loane will handle the play-by-play with former Ohio State All-American setter Audrey (DiPronio) Flaugh, the color. Ohio State closes out the home weekend with a 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 19 contest against Iowa. Last week the Buckeyes lost 2-3 (24-30, 30-19, 27-30, 35-33, 12-15) at Northwestern and 1-3 (17-30, 26-30, 30-27, 20-30) at Illinois.
A LOOK AT OHIO STATE
Jim Stone coaches the Buckeyes. Ohio State is 7-7 overall and has a 1-5 record in the Big Ten. Last week the Buckeyes lost road matches at Northwestern, 2-3, and at Illinois, 1-3. Ohio State’s top student-athlete is 2002 first team American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American Stacey Gordon (Jr., Oshawa, Ontario). Gordon has team highs of 6.27 kills, .40 aces and 3.47 digs per game. Amanda Miller (So., Littleton, Colo.) ranks second in kills at 3.04 with Heather Whalen (Sr., Kalamazoo, Mich.), third at 2.38. Starting at setter is Briana McCarthy (Fr., Beaver Dam, Wis.). She has a 10.73 assist per game average. At the net, D’wan Shackleford (5th-year senior, Newark, Ohio) has a team-high 1.40 blocks per game with seven solos and 60 assists. McCarthy ranks second at .98 (3-51) with Katherine Grant (So., Nashville, Tenn.) third at .91 (2-46). Defensively Whalen ranks second in digs at 2.60 with 143. Anna Tengnas (Fr., Torsaberga, Sweden) ranks third at 2.39 (129). As a team, Ohio State is hitting .231 and averaging 16.18 kills per game. The Buckeyes average 1.29 aces, 13.51 digs and 2.87 blocks per game. OSU opponents are hitting .207 and average 13.53 kills per game. Opponents average 1.13 aces, 12.02 digs and 3.09 blocks per game.
A LOOK AT MINNESOTA
Dr. Mike Herbert coaches the Golden Gophers. Minnesota has an overall record of 11-7 and is 4-2 in the Big Ten Conference. They have won their last four matches. Cassie Busse is the team leader in kills per game at 4.51 with Trisha Bratford second at 4.11. Erin Martin ranks third at 3.17. Setter Lindsey Taatjes is averaging 12.67 assists per game. Busse is the top server on the squad with 35 aces (.57 per game). Defensively, Paula Gentil leads the team in digs per game at 4.72. Teetjes ranks second at 2.57 with Marci Peniata third at 2.50. At the net, Meredith Nelson has a team-high 1.19 blocks per game with five solos and 71 assists. Busse ranks second at .83 (14-38). As a team, Minnesota is hitting .239 and averages 16.22 kills per game. The Golden Gophers average 1.36 aces, 15.48 digs and 2.62 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .199 and average 13.67 kills per game. They average 1.34 aces, 13.55 digs and 2.30 blocks per game.
OSU SERIES WITH MINNESOTA
Ohio State leads the series with Minnesota, 26-21. In matches played in Columbus, the Buckeyes had a 15-5 record but are 9-11 in Minneapolis and 2-5 at neutral sites. OSU has won three of the last four meeting and has victories the last two years in St. John Arena. Last season, OSU lost 2-3 (30-24, 22-30, 30-28, 24-30, 6-15) in Minneapolis and won 3-0 (30-23, 30-28, 30-25) in Columbus.
A LOOK AT IOWA
Rita Buck-Crockett is the coach of the Hawkeyes. Iowa has an overall record of 5-11 and are 0-6 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes have lost their last seven matches without winning a game. Iowa’s Laura Simpson is the team leader in kills with a 4.16 per game average. Carolyn Giese ranks second at 3.05 with Echaka Agba third at 2.26. At setter, Jitka Stehnova has a 10.09 assist per game average. She has a team-high 15 ace serves for a .26 per game average. Defensively, Pam Kavadas leads the team in digs per game with a 3.12 average on 181 digs. Tiana Costanzo ranks second at 3.06 (150) with Stehnova third at 2.52 (146). At the net, Abby Tjaden leads the team with a .78 blocks per game with 4 solos and 31 assists. Simpson ranks second at .59 (5-29) with Giese third at .55 (3-29). As a team, Iowa is hitting .155 and average 14.10 kills per game. The Hawkeyes average .98 aces, 15.81 digs and 1.85 blocks per game. Hawkeye opponents are hitting .244 and average 15.24 kills per game. Opponents average 1.57 aces, 16.21 digs and 2.79 blocks per game
OSU SERIES WITH IOWA
Ohio State has a 37-8 series record with Iowa. The Buckeyes are 19-4 in matches played in Columbus. OSU is 15-4 against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City and 3-0 in neutral site matches. OSU has 30 consecutive on-court wins, save four forfeit wins in 1999 and 2000. A year ago, OSU won 3-1 (31-29, 32-34, 30-28, 30-17) in Columbus and 3-1 (27-30, 30-23, 30-19, 30-18) in Iowa City.
GORDON HAS 63 KILL WEEKEND AGAINST NORTHWESTERN AND ILLINOIS
Stacey Gordon had an outstanding weekend despite the losses. She fired a season-high 33 kills at Northwestern while hitting .329 (8 errors, 76 attempts). Gordon added 18 digs, an ace serve and five total blocks (1 solo, 4 assists). At Illinois, she had 30 kills (.244, 11 errors, 78 attempts) adding 13 digs, three assist blocks and an ace serve. For the two matches, Gordon averaged 7.00 kills per game and hit .286. She averaged 3.44 digs, .89 blocks and .22 aces per game.
GORDON: 62 CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE-FIGURE KILL MATCHES AND COUNTING
With 33 kills at Northwestern and 30 at Illinois, Stacey Gordon now has recorded double-figure kills in her last 62 matches. The streak began against Minnesota in 2001 and could have been longer but for the previous match against Iowa where she did not play in the front row due to an injury. She only played in the back row against the Hawkeyes, collecting 10 digs. She had double-figure kills in the previous seven matches. Gordon’s only match without double-figure kills was against Evansville in 2001 when she recorded eight kills. Overall, she has had double-figure kills in 75 of 77 matches in her career and has 55 matches with double-figure digs. Gordon has had 42 matches with 20 or more kills and nine of those had 30 or more.
GORDON RECORDS ANOTHER DOUBLE-FIGURE KILL GAME
For the eighth time this season, Stacey Gordon has recorded an individual game with 10 or more kills. In the third game at Illinois, Gordon recorded 11 kills, hitting .476 with one error in 21 attempts. A week ago, she had 10 kills in game three against Indiana and came back with another 10-kill performance in game one against Purdue. Previously she recorded 12 kills in game three against Michigan State, 10 at Miami in game four, 10 against Temple in game four, 10 against Rice in game four and 11 against Cleveland State in game four.
GORDON’S BIG NUMBERS CONTINUE
OSU’s Stacey Gordon continues to lead the Buckeyes in three categories. She leads the team in kills per game at 6.27 with 345 kills. Gordon has a .40 per game average in aces with a team-high 22 ace serves. She tops the team in digs at 3.47 per game on 191 digs.
GORDON SECOND IN OSU CAREER KILLS, CLOSING IN ON LEADER
With 63 kills (33 at Northwestern, 30 at Illinois) last week, Stacey Gordon now has 1,593 career kills for the Buckeyes. She ranks second overall on the OSU career kills list. She now needs 210 kills to move past all-time career leader Holly O’Leary (1987-90) with 1,802.
GORDON TIED FOR 17TH IN CAREER ACES
With an ace serve in each match last weekend, Stacey Gordon has moved into a tie for 17th in career aces for the Buckeyes with 102. She moved pass Margie Meyers (1984-87) and Katie Virtue (1999-02) who had 101 aces each. Gordon is tied with Jen Flynn (1996-99) at 102. She needs three aces to pass No. 16 Dana Stearns (1997-00) with 104 and would No. 15 Rosie Snow (1996-99) with 105. Gordon had been held without an ace serve in her five previous matches.
GORDON NOW 15TH IN CAREER DIGS
Stacey Gordon recorded 31 digs (18 at Northwestern and 13 at Illinois) last week to move to 15th on the OSU career digs list with 933. Gordon moved pass Margie Meyers (1984-87) with 909 and Lisa Bettio (1982-85) with 911 into 15th. She needs eight digs to move past No. 14 Tricia Stragliotto with 940 (1993-95), 10 to pass No. 13 Marlene O’Brien (1983-86) with 942 and 13 to pass No. 12 Rose Snow (1996-99) with 945.
McCARTHY NOW 11TH IN OSU CAREER ASSISTS
Briana McCarthy, with 48 assists at Northwestern and 52 at Illinois has 590 in her short career and now ranks 11th on the OSU career assist list. She passed teammate Heather Whalen who has 514. McCarthy also is ranked fifth at 10.73 assists per game on the OSU career list. Against Northwestern, she added seven kills, five digs, five assist blocks and an ace serve. At Illinois, McCarthy had five digs, three kills, two assist blocks and two ace serves. She is eighth in conference statistics with a 12.52 assists per game average, seventh in hitting percentage at .324 and eighth in aces per game at .30.
MILLER RECORDS CAREER-HIGH FOUR BLOCKS AT NORTHWESTERN
A four-assist block performance by Amanda Miller at Northwestern, was a career high for assist blocks. Her previous best was three last season at Northwestern. The four blocks tied her career high for total blocks also set last season at Northwestern (1-3). Miller added eight kills at Northwestern and picked up 11 kills, a solo and an assist block at Illinois. In conference only statistics, she ranks 15th in hitting percentage at .288.
SHACKLEFORD STATUS UNKNOWN
D’wan Shackleford took a fall during the second game at Northwestern and did not return to the match. She was unavailable for the contest at Illinois and her status for this week is unknown. Shackleford leads Ohio State in blocking with a 1.40 blocks per game average. She has seven solo and 60 assists on the season. In Big Ten Conference play, she has a 1.25 per game average with 20 assist blocks, ranking sixth in the league.
GRANT GETS DOUBLE-FIGURE KILLS AT NORTHWESTERN
With 10 kills at Northwestern, Katherine Grant (So., Nashville, Tenn.) had her third double-figure kill match of the season. It also marked the third time this season that she had hit better than .400 in a match. Against the Wildcats, Grant hit .412 with three errors in 17 attempts. Defensively, she had a solo and an assist block at Northwestern and picked up four assist blocks at Illinois. Grant ranks third on the squad in blocks with a .91 blocks per game average with two solos and 46 assists.
SCHARDT FILLS IN AT MIDDLE BLOCKER
With a career-high eight assists blocks at Northwestern, Jackie Schardt (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) saw action at middle blocker when D’wan Shackleford left the match. She replaced Shackleford in game two against Northwestern and picked up two kills, eight assists and seven digs. Schardt started at middle blocker at Illinois and recorded two kills, four assist blocks, three digs and an ace serve.
WHALEN CONTINUES TO IMPROVE WITH POSITION SWITCH
After starting the first two matches at setter, Heather Whalen switched to outside hitter and ranks third for OSU in kills per game at 2.38. Whalen had double-figure kills and digs in both matches last weekend. She had 11 kills and 15 digs at Northwestern and 13 kills and 15 digs at Illinois. She has produced double-figure kills in seven of her last 10 matches and double-figure digs in the last five matches. Whalen ranks seventh in digs per game (3.26) in conference only statistics.
CRAM SERVING UP ACES
OSU’s Holly Cram (So., La Mirada, Calif.), playing as a back row server, collected a career-high two ace serves against Indiana. She also picked up a dig against Purdue and added another at Northwestern. In 2001, Cram started 13 of 16 matches for the Ohio State women’s soccer team as a midfielder.
TANGNAS SWITCHES TO DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST
Anna Tangnas after playing the libero position for the first 12 matches, was used as a backrow defensive specialist against Northwestern and Illinois. She had 11 digs at Northwestern and 12 at Illinois last weekend. Tengnas added two ace serves against Illinois and a career-high two assists. She has had double-figure digs in six matches this season.
KASTEIN PROVIDES SUPPORT IN THE BACK ROW
Rebecca Kastein (So., Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) saw action as the libero last weekend against Northwestern and Illinois. She produced nine digs in each match and a career-high two assists against the Illini. This season, Kastein has produced six double-figure dig matches.
GORDON LEADS BIG TEN OVERALL STATISTICS IN KILLS PER GAME
In the overall statistics released by the Big Ten Conference this week, Stacey Gordon leads the conference in kills per game at 6.27, is fifth in aces at .40 and third in digs at 3.47. D’wan Shackleford ranks fourth in blocking with a 1.40 per game average. Briana McCarthy is 10th in assists at 10.73 per game and 16th in hitting percentage at .297. Heather Whalen is 17th in digs per game at 2.60.
GORDON TOPS THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE STATISTICS IN KILLS
After three weeks of Big Ten Conference play, the conference-only statistics have Stacey Gordon leading the Big Ten in kills per game at 6.30. She is also eighth in digs at 3.13 per game. Setter Briana McCarthy ranks seventh in hitting percentage at .324 and eighth in assists per game at 12.52 and service aces at .30. D’wan Shackleford stands sixth in blocking at 1.25 and Heather Whalen is seventh in digs per game at 3.26. Amanda Miller is ranked 15th in hitting percentage at .288.
GORDON SECOND IN KILLS, SHACKLEFORD 30TH IN BLOCKING IN NCAA
In the NCAA Division I volleyball statistics released last week, Stacey Gordon ranks second in the country in kills per game with a 6.13 average. Kim Willoughby of Hawaii leads the country with a 6.76 average. OSU’s D’wan Shackleford stands at 30th in the country in blocks per game with a 1.39 average.
OHIO STATE RANKED IN THREE TEAM CATEGORIES IN NCAA STATISTICS
Ohio State is ranked in three team categories in the NCAA Division I volleyball statistics release last week. The Buckeyes are 24th in kills per game at 16.39 and 27th in assists per game at 14.87. Ohio State also is ranked 24th in blocking with a 2.87 average.
OHIO STATE SETS SEASON-HIGH BLOCK MARK AT NORTHWESTERN
The Buckeye set a season-high mark in team blocks at Northwestern last Friday. OSU had 16 team blocks against the Wildcats with three solos and 26 assist blocks. The previous best mark was 14.5 (2-25) against Bowling Green. OSU’s 26 assist blocks against Northwestern equaled OSU’s season high set at Michigan State.
OSU HAS SEASON-HIGH 71 DIGS AGAINST THE WILDCATS
With 71 digs against at Northwestern, Ohio State established a new season high for 2003. OSU’s previous best was 67 against Cleveland State. In that match, three players had double-figure digs (Stacey Gordon-18, Heather Whalen-15 and Anna Tengnas-11). The Buckeyes have outdug its opponents in 11 of 14 matches.
BUCKEYES RECORD SEASON-HIGH HITTING PERCENTAGE AGAINST INDIANA
Ohio State hit a season-high .443 against Indiana last weekend. The Buckeyes recorded 64 kills with 13 errors in 115 attempts. Previously, the best mark for Ohio State was .309 (71-24-152) against Ball State.
OSU HAS THREE BIG TEN CONFERENCE TV APPEARANCES
The Big Ten announced its television schedule for women’s volleyball on both ESPN2 and FOX Sports Chicago. Ohio State will play in three of the scheduled 10 matches. OSU will face defending Big Ten champion Minnesota in one of three matches carried by ESPN2. The Saturday, Nov. 29 match in Minneapolis will be shown at 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, Nov. 30. The Buckeyes also will face the Gophers in St. John Arena Friday, Oct. 17 in a FOX Sports Chicago match that will be carried live by FSN Chicago and North and will be shown at 4 p.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 19. Ohio State’s third match is at Wisconsin, Saturday, Oct. 25. FOX Sports Chicago will carry it at 4 p.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 26.
NEXT FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State will face its travel partner, Penn State, at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22 at Penn State. The Buckeyes will then travel to face Wisconsin at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25 in Madison. The Ohio State-Wisconsin match will be delayed telecast by Fox Sports Chicago.
