Women’s Volleyball: Ohio State Drops Close Match to No. 21 Michigan, 3-0 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State women’s volleyball team (9-4 overall, 0-1 Big Ten) lost 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20) to No. 21 Michigan (13-0, 1-0) Wednesday night in the Big Ten opener for both teams. The contest, in St. John Arena, was played in front of 2,171 fans. OSU’s Anna Szerszen scored a match-high 15.5 points for Ohio State with Kristen Dozier adding 10. Szerszen had a team-high 10 kills, one ace serve, three solo blocks and three assists. Dozier posted eight kills, a solo block and two assists. For Michigan, Beth Karpiak recorded a team-high 13 points with 12 kills and two assist blocks.
After a Veronica Rood kill gave Michigan a 1-0 lead in the first set, Ohio State kills from Kelli Barhorst and Szerszen, a Barhorst-Allie Schwarzwalder block and a solo block from Szerszen gave the Buckeyes a 4-1 lead. Michigan, trailing 7-5, used kills from Karlee Bruck and Megan Bower to tie the set at seven. OSU took a 10-7 lead with two Michigan errors and an Ashley Hughes kill. With the Buckeyes leading 19-16, an OSU error and kills from Rood and Lexi Zimmerman tied the set at 19. Three ties later, at 22-all, A Karpiak kill made it 23-22, Michigan. The Wolverines reach set point with a Juliana Paz kill at 24-22. Michigan won the set, 25-22, with a Bruck solo block. The Wolverines hit .140 for the set to .054 for Ohio State.
Ohio State opened set two with a 3-0 lead off a Wolverine error, a Chelsea Noble kill and a solo block by Barhorst. A Rood-Bruck block and a Kerry Hance ace serve cut the lead to 3-2. A Noble kill made it 4-2. Two OSU errors tied the set at four. The Buckeyes took a 5-4 lead with a Noble kill. A Karpiak kill tied the set at five. A Buckeye error gave Michigan a 6-5 lead. OSU tied the set at six with a Dozier kill. Tied at seven, a Paz kill and an OSU error gave the Wolverines a 9-7 lead. A kill from Schwarzwalder and a Michigan error tied the set at nine. At 10-all, a Michigan error and a Barhorst-Szerszen block gave Ohio State a 12-10 lead. Michigan tied the set at 12 with a Zimmerman kill and a block by Rood. The Wolverines took a 13-12 lead with a Karpiak kill. A Szerszen kill tied the set at 13. A Bower kill and a Karpiak-Zimmerman block put the Wolverines ahead, 15-13. A Wolverine error cut their lead to one at 15-14. A Zimmerman kill, a Sloane Donhoff ace serve and a Paz kill put the Wolverines ahead, 18-14. With Michigan leading, 23-19, kills from Noble and Szerszen and a Wolverine error cut the lead to one at 23-22. A Rood kill made it set point at 24-23. A Dozier kill stopped the set point at 24-23. Michigan won the set, 25-23, with a Rood kill to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Ohio State out hit Michigan, .200 to .179, in the set.
Tied at four in set three, a Zimmerman kill and two blocks from Paz and Bruck gave the Wolverines a 7-4 lead. A Szerszen kill stopped the run a 7-5. Three Buckeye errors opened a 10-5 Wolverine lead. Ohio State cut into the lead at 11-7 with a Betsy Hone kill and ace serve. A Rood kill made it 12-9. A Schwarzwalder kill and a Michigan error cut the lead to one at 12-11. Michigan responded off an OSU error and two kills from Paz to lead, 15-11. At 20-16, Michigan, a Dozier kill, a Szerszen solo block and a Wolverine error cut the lead to one at 20-19. An OSU error made it 21-19. A Szerszen kill made it 21-20. An OSU error and two ace serves from Donhoff set match point at 24-20. Michigan won the set, 25-20, off an OSU error to win the match, 3-0. The Wolverine hit .219 for the set to .167 for Ohio State.
For the match, Michigan hit .175 to .143 for Ohio State. The Wolverines had a 40-38 margin in kills and a 4-2 advantage in ace serves. The Buckeyes gave up seven service errors to three for the Wolverines. Defensively, Michigan had a 50-40 advantage in digs with OSU’s Kaila Calhoun collecting a match-high 14. Hance recorded 13 and Zimmerman 12 for Michigan. At the net, Ohio State had a 12-8 margin in team blocks. OSU’s Szerszen posted a match-high six with a career-high three solo blocks and three assists. At setter, Michigan’s Zimmerman recorded a match-high 29 assists. OSU Hone had 22 with Hughes adding seven.
Ohio State now travels to Michigan State (8-3) to face the Spartans at 6:30 p.m. EDT in the Breslin Center.
