16th Ranked Women’s Volleyball wins the Active Ankle Challenge with a 3-0 victory over Ball State – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The 16th-ranked OhioState (3-0) women’s volleyball team won the Active Ankle Challenge with a 3-0 (30-21, 30-28, 30-23) victory over host BallState (1-2) Saturday evening in Muncie, Ind. In the earlier third round match, SoutheastMissouriState (2-1) defeated Maine (0-3), 3-0 (30-22, 30-24, 30-20). OSU’s Danielle Meyer (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) scored a match-high 16.5 points for the Buckeyes with Briana McCarthy (Sr., Beaver Dam, Wis.) adding 15 and Kristen Dozier (So., Sandy Spring, Md.) 10.5. Meyer posted a match-high 13 kills (.212), adding an ace serve and two assist blocks. McCarthy had 12 kills (.407) with two ace serves and two assist blocks and Dozier added 10 kills (.471) and an assist block. Cardinal Brittany May scored a team-high 13.5 points for BallState with a team-high 11 kills, a solo block and three assists.
OSU’s Meyer was named the Most Valuable Player of the Challenge with teammates Ami Stevens (Sr., Centerburg, Ohio) and McCarthy being honored as members of the All-Tournament Team. Additional members included SoutheastMissouriState’s Brenna Schlader and Molly Davis, Maine’s Lindsay Allman and BallState’s Alyssa Rio.
The Buckeyes opened game one with a 4-0 lead off three Cardinal errors and a McCarthy ace serve. BallState responded with a six-point run off kills by Bittany May and Elaina Kakatolis, a Kakatolis-Alexis Shonkwiler block and three OhioState errors. At 13-10 BallState, three Cardinal errors and an OSU kill from Kristen Dozier (So., SandySpring, Md.) helped the Buckeyes to a 14-13 lead. A May kill tied the game at 14. A Dozier kill and a Kaila Calhoun (Fr., Elkhart, Ind.) ace serve opened a 16-14 OSU lead. A Kakatolis kill cut the margin to 16-15. OhioState took the lead to 20-15 with kills from Katie Dull (Fr., Solon, Ohio) and Meyer and two Cardinal errors. A three-one scoring run by BallState cut the lead to 21-18. OSU responded with five straight points starting with a McCarthy kill, two Betsy Hone (Fr., Celina, Ohio) ace serves and two Cardinal errors to give the Buckeyes a 26-18 lead. Two May kills and a Buckeye block by Meyer and McCarthy made it 27-20. The Buckeyes reached game point at 29-20 with kills from McCarthy and Meyer. A Cardinal block stopped the first game point at 29-21 but a Meyer kill ended the game at 30-21, OSU. For the game, BallState outhit the Buckeyes, .138 to .081.
With the scored tied at four in game two, Ohio State scored five straight points to take a 9-4 lead. The run included kills by Calhoun and Anna Szerszen (So., Conflans Ste Hne, France), a McCarthy ace serve and two Cardinal errors. Leading by five, OSU expanded the lead with a Meyer-Hone block, a Meyer kill and a BSU error to lead 22-14. At 26-18, two OSU errors and a Julie Breivogel kill cut the margin to 26-21. A McCarthy kill made it 27-21. Two OSU errors and a Breivogel ace serve cut the lead to three at 27-24. A Dozier kill took the lead to 28-24. BallState ran off the next four points starting with a May kill. A Christine Kennedy ace serve, a solo block by May and a Buckeye error tied the game at 28. Back-to-back errors by BallState closed out the game at 30-28 in favor of OhioState. The Cardinals again outhit the Buckeyes, .205 to .200.
Game three saw Ball State break a two-two tie with a five to one run to take a 7-3 lead. A Cardinal error, a Calhoun ace serve and a Szerszen kill cut the Cardinal lead to one at 7-6. Seven ties moved the score to 16-all. A Myer kill and a BSU error gave the Buckeyes an 18-16 lead. At 20-18, a Meyer-Hone block and a Cardinal error made it 22-18. BallState made a 3-1 run to cut the lead to two at 23-21. OSU then scored five straight points to take a 28-21 lead. The run began with a Meyer kill and a triple block by Calhoun, Meyer and McCarthy. Two McCarthy kills and a Cardinal error completed the run. A Kakatolis kill and a Cardinal error made it 29-22, setting match point for OhioState. A Breivogel kill stopped the first match point at 29-23, but OSU won the game with a McCarthy kill at 30-23 to win the match, 3-0. OhioState hit .154 for the game to -.022 for BallState.
For the match, OhioState hit .252 to .096 and had a 45 to 32 advantage in kills. The Buckeyes posted eight ace serves to two for BallState. OSU’s Hone recorded a match-high three aces in the match. Defensively, the Cardinals had a 54 to 53 advantage in digs with BSU’s Rio collecting a match-high 23 for the Cardinals. At the net, BallState had a seven to 6.5 margin in team blocks with Cardinal Shonkwiler recording a match-high six. OSU’s Hone collected a match-high 36 assists in the match with BallState’s Angie Parrell recording 15 and Cassie Conner, 12.
OhioState returns to the road next week when they play at the Hilton Classic in Ft. Collins, Colo. OSU plays host ColoradoState Thursday at 7 p.m. MT and faces Pacific Friday at 3 p.m. MT.
