Volleyball Hosts Indiana and Purdue – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2003
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State (6-4, 0-2) women’s volleyball team returns to St. John Arena this weekend to open the home portion of the Big Ten Schedule. The Buckeyes will face conference co-leaders Indiana (9-4, 2-0) at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3 and host Purdue (9-3, 3-0) at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4. Ohio State opened the Big Ten schedule with a 0-3 (36-37, 24-30, 24-30) loss at Michigan and a 1-3 (25-30, 24-30, 33-31, 22-30) loss at Michigan State.
A LOOK AT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes, coached by Jim Stone, have an overall record of 6-4 and are 0-2 in the Big Ten. Last week OSU lost 0-3 at Michigan and 1-3 at Michigan 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 6.03 kills, .51 aces and 3.62 digs per game. Amanda Miller (So., Littleton, Colo.) ranks second in kills at 3.15. Starting at setter is Briana McCarthy (Fr., Beaver Dam, Wis.). She has a 10.05 assist per game average. At the net, D’wan Shackleford (5th-year senior, Newark, Ohio) has a team-high 1.54 blocks per game with seven solos and 53 assists. Katherine Grant (So., Nashville, Tenn.) ranks second at 1.03 (1-37) and McCarthy ranks third at 1.00 (1-38). At libero, Anna Tengnas (Fr., Torsaberga, Sweden) has 2.42 digs per game average. As a team, Ohio State is hitting .223 and averaging 16.13 kills per game. The Buckeyes average 1.31 aces, 13.36 digs and 3.03 blocks per game. OSU opponents are hitting .180 and average 12.82 kills per game. Opponents average 1.13 aces, 11.85 digs and 3.21 blocks per game. A LOOK AT INDIANA
The Hoosiers, coached by Katie Weismiller, are 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten. Last week Indiana defeated Minnesota 3-0 (30-22, 30-25, 34-32) and Iowa 3-0 (30-27, 30-19, 30-19) at home. The Hoosiers have won five straight matches. Christina Archibald leads the team in kills per game at 4.45 with Melissa Brewer second at 3.65. At setter, Victoria Zimmerman is averaging 13.04 assists per game. Katie Pollom leads the team in aces with 12 (.24 per game). Defensively, Beth Heimann has a team-high 3.32 digs per game average. Zimmerman ranks second at 2.53. At the net, Brewer is the top blocker with a 1.02 per game average (3 solos, 49 assists). Pollom ranks second at .73 (6-31). Indiana is hitting .258 and averages 16.12 kills per game. The Hoosiers average 1.20 aces, 13.98 digs and 2.06 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .206 and average 13.55 kills per game. Indiana opponents average 1.65 aces, 13.08 digs and 1.93 blocks per game.
OSU SERIES WITH INDIANA
Ohio State leads the series with Indiana, 31-21. In Columbus, the Buckeyes have an 18-6 advantage in matches while in Bloomington, Indiana stands 13-9. OSU has the margin in neutral site matches, 4-2. The Buckeyes have won three of the last four matches including the last two played in St. John Arena. Last season, Indiana won in Bloomington, 3-1 (30-28, 30-26, 29-31, 30-21) while the Buckeyes won 3-2 (30-17, 28-30, 29-31, 30-27, 18-16 in Columbus.
A LOOK AT PURDUE
The Boilermakers, coached by Dave Shondell, are 9-3 overall and 2-0 in the Big Ten. Indiana defeated Iowa 3-0 (30-21, 30-23, 30-17) and Minnesota 3-1 (30-25, 25-30, 31-29, 30-24) in home matches. The Boilermakers have four players averaging three or more kills per game. Kim McConaha leads the team with a 3.86 per game average. Leah Wischmeier ranks second at 3.58, Melanie Ukovich third at 3.12 and Kim Cappa fourth at 3.03. At setter, Renata Dargan has a 12.67 assist per game average. Dargan tops the team in aces with 25 (.58 per game). Defensively, Daren Poe leads the team in digs per game at 3.29. At the net, McConaha leads the team in blocking with a 1.37 blocks (6 solos, 53 assists) per game. Katie Dobson is second at 1.05 (3-41). Purdue is hitting .266 and is averaging 17.00 kills per game. The Boilermakers average 1.77 aces, 14.33 digs and 2.49 blocks per game. Opponents are hitting .211 and are averaging 14.58 kills per game. Purdue opponents average 1.23 aces, 13.42 digs and 2.10 blocks per game.
OSU SERIES WITH PURDUE
Ohio State holds a 32-28 lead in the series with Purdue. The Buckeyes are 15-8 in Columbus and 10-14 in West Lafayette. OSU has a 7-6 margin in neutral site matches. Ohio State has won the last four matches against the Boilermakers. Last season, the Buckeyes won 3-1 (23-30, 32-30, 30-28, 30-25) in West Lafayette and 3-2 (27-30, 30-20, 30-23, 23-30, 15-13) in Columbus.
McCARTHY IMPROVES AVERAGE
Briana McCarthy has improved her assist average to 10.05. After starting the first two matches at outside hitter, McCarthy moved to setter. In the last eight matches, she is averaging 12.65 assists per game. McCarthy had 40 assists at Michigan and 45 at Michigan State. Her 95 assists gives her 392 on the season and moves her from 15th to 12th on the OSU career assist list. She passed No. 14 Gabriele Jobst (1991-94) with 313, No. 13 Robin Bock (1986) with 365 and No. 12 Lisa Vitali (1986-88) with 370. McCarthy needs nine assists to pass teammate and No. 12 Heather Whalen who has 500. McCarthy ranks fifth in career assists per game at 10.05.
MILLER HAS SOLID WEEKEND
With 15 kills at Michigan and 10 at Michigan State, Amanda Miller had a solid weekend of play. She hit .388 for the two matches (.407 at Michigan and .370 at Michigan State) and averaged 3.57 kills per game. Miller ranks second on the team in kills per game at 3.15. She also produced a season-high three blocks (one solo, two assists) against the Wolverines.
SHACKLEFORD RECORDS A CAREER-HIGH EIGHT ASSIST BLOCKS
With eight assist blocks against Michigan State, D’wan Shackleford set a new career-high last weekend. She also equaled her career-high of eight kills in the match. Shackleford leads the Big Ten in blocking for all matches with a 1.54 (7 solos, 53 assists) per game average and in conference statistics at 1.86 (0-13) per game.
WHALEN NETS CAREER-HIGH SIX BLOCKS AGAINST SPARTANS
A six assist block performance by Heather Whalen against Michigan State established a new career high. Her previous was five against Temple. She equaled her career-high for total blocks with the six assists. That previous high was against Temple (1-5). Whalen also had a season-high 16 digs at Michigan last weekend. Her previous best had been 14 against Rice. Whalen produced 12 kills and hit .360 against Michigan and had 11 kills and hit .226 against Michigan State.
KASTEIN DIGS SEASON-HIGH AGAINST SPARTANS
Rebecca Kastein (So., Mt. Lebanon, Pa.), as a backrow defensive specialist, recorded a season-high 12 digs at Michigan State last weekend. Previously her high was 10 in four matches. Kastein is averaging 2.03 digs per game on the season and is one of four OSU student-athletes with a 2.00 or better dig average. She also served up three aces last weekend, one at Michigan and two at Michigan State.
CRAM SEES FIRST ACTION OF SEASON
OSU’s Holly Cram (So., La Mirada, Calif.) saw her first action of the season as a back-row defensive specialist. Cram saw action in all seven games last weekend and produced an ace serve at Michigan. In 2001, Cram started 13 of 16 matches for the Ohio State women’s soccer team as a midfielder.
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 6.03, aces at .51 per game and digs at 3.62 per game. She has had double-figure kills in every match this season and double-figure digs in nine of ten. Gordon currently has a double-figure kill streak of 58 matches and has produced double-figure kills in 71 of 73 career matches.
GORDON MOVES TO SECOND IN OSU CAREER KILLS
With her 10 kills at Michigan and 25 at Michigan State, Stacey Gordon has moved from third to second on the Ohio State career kills list. She now has 1,483 career kills. Gordon, with 35 kills in the two matches last week, past No. 2 Jenny Jackson (1992-95) with 1,463. She now stands 320 kills behind all-time career leader Holly O’Leary (1987-90) with 1,802.
GORDON 20TH IN CAREER ACES
Stacey Gordon ranks 20th in career aces for the Buckeyes with 100. She needs two to pass Margie Meyers (1984-87) and Katie Virtue (1999-02) who are tied for 18th with 101 aces. Two ace serves would tie Gordon with No. 17 Jen Flynn (1996-99) who has 102.
GORDON 20TH IN CAREER DIGS
Stacey Gordon ranks 20th in career digs for the Ohio State with 883. She needs three to pass No. 19 Katie Virtue (1999-02) who has 885, 11 to pass No. 18 Anne Botica (1998-01) with 893 and 18 to pass No. 17 Shelly Draeger (1999-02) with 900. Gordon had seven digs at Michigan and 15 at Michigan State last week. The match against the Wolverines was the first time this season that Gordon did not produce double-figure digs.
GORDON, SHACKLEFORD OVERALL LEADERS 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 6.03, is third in aces at .51 and third in digs at 3.62. D’wan Shackleford tops the overall statistics in blocking with a 1.54 per game average with Katherine Grant 10th at 1.03 and setter Briana McCarthy 13th at 1.00 per game. McCarthy is 10th in assists at 10.05 per game and 20th in hitting percentage at .297.
SHACKLEFORD TOPS THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE STATISTICS IN BLOCKING
After the first weekend of Big Ten Conference play, the conference-only statistics have D’wan Shackleford leading the Big Ten in blocking with a 1.86 per game average. Heather Whalen ranks 11th at 1.29 and Katherine Grant is third at 1.20. Stacey Gordon ranks third in kills per game at 5.00 with Amanda Miller 18th at 3.57 and Whalen, 20th, at 3.29. Whalen is tied for second in digs with a 3.57 per game average with Gordon eighth at 3.14. Miller is ranked fifth in hitting percentage at .389 with Whalen, 18th at .286. Setter Briana McCarthy ranks seventh in assists at 12.86 per game while Rebecca Kastein is 10th in aces at .43 per game.
GORDON SECOND NATIONALLY IN KILLS PER GAME LAST WEEK
In the NCAA national statistics based on matches up to Sunday, Sept. 14, Stacey Gordon was ranked second in the country with a 6.32 kills per game average. Including last week Gordon is averaging 6.03 kills per game. The national statistics are released midweek.
GORDON HAS A 12-KILL GAME AGAINST MICHIGAN STATE
For the third time this season, Stacey Gordon has produced 10 or more kills in a single game. Last weekend, she recorded 12 kills in game three against Michigan State. Gordon had only one error in the game in 20 attempts for a .550 hitting percentage. Previously she had 10 kills at Miami in game four while hitting .500. Her first 10-kill game came against Temple when she hit .571.
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.
NEXT FOR THE BUCKEYES
Ohio State travels to the state of Illinois to face Northwestern, Friday, Oct. 10 and Illinois, Saturday, Oct. 11. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. local time.
