Women’s Volleyball Faces Brigham Young and Rice In Provo – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State (3-1) goes on the road for the first time this season to play in the Mizuno Classic in Provo, Utah. OSU faces host Brigham Young (4-3) at 9:30 ET Friday and plays Rice (6-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The almost round-robin tournament also has Big Ten rival Penn State (7-0) playing both Brigham Young and Rice, but not the Buckeyes.
A LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes, coached by Jim Stone, have an overall record of 3-1. OSU opened the season with a 3-1 win over Ball State. The Buckeyes then lost 1-3 to Western Michigan and defeated Temple, 3-1, over the weekend. Last Tuesday OSU ended a four-match home stand with a 3-1 victory over Cleveland State. 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 6.50 kills, 1.00 aces and 3.69 digs per game. Amanda Miller (So., Littleton, Colo.) ranks second in kills at 3.44. Starting at setter for the last two matches is Briana McCarthy (Fr., Beaver Dam, Wis.) She has a 6.00 assist per game average for the four matches and an 11.07 average for her two starts at setter. At the net, D’wan Shackleford (5th-year senior, Newark, Ohio) has a team-high 1.31 blocks per game with three solos and 18 assists. McCarthy ranks second with a block per game on a solo and 15 assists. At libero, Anna Tengnas (Fr., Torsaberga, Sweden) has 2.67 digs per game average. As a team, Ohio State is hitting .227 and averaging 16.31 kills per game. The Buckeyes average 2.06 aces, 13.12 digs and 2.75 blocks per game. OSU opponents are hitting .151 and average 11.50 kills per game. Opponents average .69 aces, 11.25 digs and 3.38 blocks per game. A LOOK AT BRIGHAM YOUNG
The Cougars, coached by Karen Lamb, are 4-3 on the season. BYU went 2-2 last weekend, defeating North Texas, 3-1 and Saint Louis, 3-1 while losing to Arkansas, 3-2 and Southwest Missouri State, 3-0. Kim Wilson leads the Cougars in hitting with a 3.91 kills per game average. Carrie Bowers is second at 3.27. Lauren Richards runs the offense and averages 11.38 assists per game. Wilson is the team’s top server with 15 aces for a .65 per game average. Defensively, Uila Crabbe leads the team in digs with a 3.42 per game average. Lindsey Metcalf ranks second at 3.32. At the net, Lindsy Hartsock has a 1.22 blocks per game average on three solos and 19 assists. Bowers is second at .92 with three solos and 21 assists. Brigham Young is hitting .241 as a team and averages 15.35 kills per game. BYU averages 2.19 aces, 14.81 digs and 2.56 blocks per game. BYU opponents are hitting .182 and average 13.15 kills per game. Opponents average 1.42 aces, 14.88 digs and 1.81 blocks per game.
OSU SERIES WITH BRIGHAM YOUNG
Brigham Young has won all five meetings with Ohio State. OSU has lost three times in Provo, the last in 1987. The squads last played in 1991, at Texas with BYU winning, 3-1.
BUCKEYES TO PLAY AGAINST BRIGHAM YOUNG ON DIRECT-TV PLUS
Ohio State travels to Provo, Utah this weekend to play in the Mizuno Classic. OSU opens against host Brigham Young on a match that will be carried by BYUTV. The match is scheduled to be carried live on Direct-TV Plus, Channel 374 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
A LOOK AT RICE
The Owls, coached by Jon Wilson, are 2-2 on the season. Rice has won five straight matches including three last weekend when they defeated Duquesne, 3-0, McNeese State, 3-0 and Purdue, 3-2. Last Tuesday, Rice defeated Texas Southern, 3-0. Rebeca Pazo is the team leader in kills with a 6.32 per game average. Lindsey Carter ranks second at 3.76. Setter Kristina Hoban has a 13.43 assists per game average. Serving honors go to Julie Jackman with 12 aces for a .67 per game average. Defensively, Rebekah Neal leads the team in digs with a 3.89 per game average. At the net, Tessa Kuykendall has a 1.42 blocks per game average on seven solos and 10 assists. Second in blocks on the squad is Rebecca Kainz with a 1.04 per game average with seven solos and 20 assists. As a team, Rice is hitting .310 and averages 16.11 kills per game. The Owls average 1.82 aces, 15.00 digs and 2.54 blocks per game. Rice Opponents are hitting .196 and average 15.05 kills per game. Owl opponents average 1.50 aces, 14.89 digs and 1.91 blocks per game.
OSU SERIES WITH RICE
Ohio State has won all three meetings with Rice. The teams played last in the 1997 Buckeye Invitational, a 3-0 OSU win. The Buckeyes won the only neutral side contest, played in Houston in 1978, 2-0.
Stacey Gordon, NAMED THE CO-BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big Ten Conference announced Monday that Ohio State outside hitter Stacey Gordon (Jr., Oshawa, Ontario) had been named the Co-Big Ten Volleyball Player of the Week. She shares the honor with Erika Lange of Northwestern. Gordon, a 2002 first team American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year opened the 2003 season with 23 kills, 17 digs, six ace serves and three total blocks (2 solos, 1 assist) in a 3-1 (30-23, 30-26, 28-30, 30-18) win over Ball State. In the semifinals of the Buckeye Classic against Western Michigan a 3-1 (30-28, 28-30, 28-30, 23-30) loss, Gordon had 21 kills, 10 digs, five ace serves and three total blocks (2 solos, 1 assist). In a 3-1 (30-25, 30-25, 22-30, 30-21) victory over Temple in the consolation match of the Buckeye Classic, Gordon produced a season-high 28 kills while hitting .312. She added 11 digs, three ace serves and two assist blocks. It was her third consecutive double-double of the season and her third straight match with 21 or more kills. She was named to the Buckeye Classic All-Tournament team.
For the three matches, Gordon collected 72 kills for a 6.00 kills per game average. She had 14 ace serves for a 1.17 per game average and had 38 digs for a 3.17 per game average. At the net, she had four solo and four assist blocks for a .67 blocks per game average.
GORDON DOMINATES MATCH AGAINST CLEVELAND STATE
With a season-highs of 32 kills and 21 digs, Stacey Gordon took the Buckeyes to a 3-1 victory over Cleveland State last Tuesday. Gordon’s 32 kills marks the sixth time she has had 30 or more kills and her 21 digs equals her career-high set twice previously. She has extended her streak of double-figure kill matches to 52.
GORDON NOW EIGHTH IN CAREER KILLS, MOVES CLOSER TO SEVENTH
With her 32 kills against Cleveland State, Stacey Gordon has moved to eighth on the Ohio State career kills list with 1,352. She passed Dana Stearns (1997-2000) who had 1,331. Gordon needs 18 kills to move to seventh on the list and would pass former teammate Suzie Stiling (1999-2002) who finished with 1,369 kills.
MILLER AND GORDON HAVE 20-23 MATCH
In the Ball State match, Amanda Miller recorded a career-high 20 kills while Stacey Gordon had a team-high 23 kills. It marked the first time since Oct. 18, 2002 that the Buckeyes had two-20+ kill performance at Purdue. In that match, Gordon had 21 and Shelly Draeger 20.
MILLER OPENS WITH CAREER MATCH
To go along with her career-high 20 kills against Ball State, Amanda Miller hit a career-high .395 against the Cardinals with only 3 errors in 43 swings. Miller also produced a career-high three ace serves against Western Michigan.
GRANT BEGINS WITH CAREER-HIGHS
Katherine Grant (So., Nashville, Tenn.) opened the 2003 season with a career-high 14 kills against Ball State. Against Temple, she added a career-high six assist blocks. Grant only saw action in four matches (two starts) last season, started all four matches last week.
SHACKLEFORD RETURNS TO THE COURT, BUT FOR VOLLEYBALL
After a four-year career with the Ohio State women’s basketball squad, D’wan Shackleford asked to come out and play for the OSU women’s volleyball team, using her fifth year of eligibility. In four starts, Shackleford leads the team in blocking with a 1.31 blocks per game average on three solos and 18 assists. She had a solo and six assists against Ball State to establish her career high and equaled that with two solos and five assists against Cleveland State. Shackleford recorded a career-high eight kills against Western Michigan.
OPENING SETTER WHALEN, NOW ON THE OUTSIDE
After starting the first two matches at setter, Heather Whalen (Sr., Kalamazoo, Mich.) now has started the last two matches at outside hitter. Whalen had 59 assists against Ball State and 20 against Western Michigan where she shared the duty with Jackie Schardt (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) who recorded 27 assists. Against Temple, Whalen started outside and equaled her career-high of seven kills and had a career-high six blocks. Against Cleveland State, she had a career-higheight kills and added a season-high nine digs.
McCARTHY STARTS OUTSIDE, MOVES TO SETTER
Freshman Briana McCarthy began her OSU career with two starts at outside hitter. Against Temple, she traded positions with Heather Whalen and has started the last two matches at setter. In those two matches, she has recorded 47 assists in each match including a career-high 10 digs and a career-high six blocks (1-5) against Cleveland State. In her two starts at setter, she has an average of 11.75 assists per game.
TENGNAS SOLID AT LIBERO
Starting at libero in her first collegiate match, Anna Tengnas was outstanding with a career-high 15 digs against Ball State. She had a solid nine-digs performance against Temple and scored a kill on an overpass ball that she dug that fell untouched in the opponent’s court. Tengnas added nine digs against Temple and 10 against Cleveland State. She picked up an overpass kill in each match. Tengnas ranks second on the squad with 40 digs for a 2.67 per game average.
KASTEIN MAKING HER MARK AS DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST
The starting libero in OSU’s last 19 matches last season, Rebecca Kastein (So., Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) has responded to a similar role this season as a defensive specialist. Seeing action in every game this season, Kastein has recorded a season-high nine digs against Cleveland State and added a career-high three ace serves against the Owls and had three more against the Vikings.
GORDON TOPS KILLS AND ACES IN BIG TEN STATISTICS
In the overall statistics released by the Big Ten Conference this week, Stacey Gordon leads the conference in kills per game at 6.50 and aces at 1.00. She ranks 6th in digs at 3.69. Other Buckeyes ranked are D’wan Shackleford in blocking at fourth with a 1.31 per game average and Briana McCarthy at 14th with a 1.00 blocks per game average. Libero Anna Tengnas is 20th in digs at 2.67 per game while defensive specialist Rebecca Kastein is 17th in aces at .38 per game. OSU setters Briana McCarthy and Heather Whalen are ranked 11th (6.00) and 12th (5.50) in assists per game.
GORDON SEVENTH NATIONALLY IN KILLS PER GAME
In the NCAA national statistics based on match up to Sunday, Sept. 7, Stacey Gordon is ranked seventh in the country with a 6.00 kills per game average. Including her 32-kill match against Cleveland State on Tuesday, Gordon would move to third with a 6.50 average. Kim Willoughby of Hawaii leads the country at 6.81 with Cristina Pintilie of Long Island second at 6.65.
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 to 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.
OSU PICKED SIXTH IN BIG TEN, GORDON PRESEASON ALL-BIG TEN
The Big Ten women’s volleyball coaches have picked Ohio State to finish sixth in their preseason poll. Minnesota was the unanimous choice to win the conference. The Gophers won the 2002 league title with a 17-3 record. Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Indiana round out the top-five teams. Stacey Gordon as a unanimous selection to the 2003 Pre-Season All-Big Ten Volleyball Team.
NEXT FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State will close out the non-conference schedule with two matches next week. OSU travels to Miami (OH) for a 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 17 contest against the RedHawks. The Buckeyes then host Bowling Green in a 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20 match following the Ohio State-Bowling Green football game at 12:10 p.m.
