Women’s Volleyball: Ohio State Falls, 3-1, to No. 18 Purdue – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State women’s volleyball team (10-8 overall, 1-5 Big Ten) lost a 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-18) decision to No. 18 Purdue (13-4, 3-3) Sunday afternoon in St. John Arena. Buckeye Anna Szerszen posted a match-high 19.5 points in the loss with 15 kills, two ace serves and five assists blocks. Stephanie Lynch recorded a team-high 18 points for Purdue with 15 kills and six assist blocks.
Ohio State trailed, 5-2, in the first set before a Purdue error, a Szerszen ace serve and a Kaila Calhoun kill tied it at five. After the score was tied ten times, the last at 16, a Katie Dull kill and a Szerszen-Kelli Barhorst block gave Ohio State an 18-16 lead. At 20-18, a Calhoun kill and a Barhorst ace serve made it 22-18. A Lynch kill cut the lead made it 22-19. The Buckeyes reached set point with a Kristen Dozier kill and a Szerszen ace at 24-19. A Lynch-Carrie Gurnell block stopped the set point at 24-20. Ohio State won the set with a Szerszen kill at 25-20. The Buckeyes hit .355 for the set to .182 for Purdue.
Tied at 10 in set two, a Lynch-Gurnell block, a Lynch kill and a Jaclyn Hart solo block gave Purdue a 13-10 lead. Trailing, 20-17, a kill from Dull and a Szerszen-Barhorst block cut the lead to one at 20-19. Kills from Lynch and Szerszen made it 21-20, Purdue. A Gurnell kill and a Kristen Arthurs solo block made it 23-20. Ohio State cut the lead to 23-21 with a Szerszen kill. Two Buckeye errors ended the set at 25-21 to tie the match at one set each. Purdue hit .138 for the set to .053 for Ohio State.
In the third set, Ohio State trailed, 9-5, when a four-point Buckeye run tied the set at nine. The run began with kills from Szerszen and Dozier. Two Purdue errors tied the set at nine. Purdue broke a 14-all tie with six consecutive points to open a 20-14 lead. The run began with a Danita Merlau kill, a Sam Ainsworth ace serve and a Lynch-Hart block to make it 17-14. A Buckeye error, an Ainsworth ace serve and a Merlau-Lynch block made the lead six at 20-14. At 22-16, a Dull kill, two from Calhoun and a Purdue error cut the Boilermaker lead to two at 22-20. Lynch, with a kill, made it 23-20. A Purdue error and an Arthurs kill made it 24-21 with set point for Purdue. Calhoun, with a kill, made it 24-22. Purdue won the set, 25-22, with a Gurnell kill to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Boilermakers hit .120 in the set to .108 for the Buckeyes.
With Ohio State leading, 5-3, in set four, a Hart kill and a Gurnell block tied the set at five. Two OSU errors gave Purdue a 7-5 lead. At 9-7, a Kelli Miller ace serve and a Lynch-Merlau block made the lead four at 11-7. The Boilermakers expanded the lead to nine at 23-14 before a Purdue error, a Calhoun-Barhorst block and a Calhoun kill cut the margin to six at 23-17. A Lynch kill set match point at 24-17. Ohio State stopped the match point with a Szerszen kill at 24-18. A Buckeye error ended the set at 25-18, giving the Boilermakers a 3-1 win in the match. Purdue hit .357 for the set to .167 for Ohio State.
For the match, Purdue hit .202 to Ohio State’s .162. The Buckeyes had a 56-40 advantage in kills while each squad recorded four ace serves in the match. Ohio State gave up 15 service errors to four for the Boilermakers. Defensively, Purdue had a 39-38 edge in digs with Miller recording a match-high 18 for the Boilermakers. At the net, Purdue had a 13-7 advantage in team blocks. Lynch for the Boilermakers and Barhorst for the Buckeyes shared match-high honors with six assist blocks each. At setter, Hart collected 36 assists for Purdue, as did Ashley Hughes for the Buckeyes with OSU’s Betsy Hone adding 11.
Ohio State takes to the road next week to play Indiana (-9, 1-5) at 7 p.m. next Friday in Assembly Hall. The Buckeyes then travel to face top-ranked Penn State (18-0, 6-0) at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Rec Hall.
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