Women’s Volleyball: Ohio State Drops, 3-1, Decision at Michigan State – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State women’s volleyball team (9-5 overall, 0-2 Big Ten), lost a 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23) decision to Michigan State (9-3, 1-0) in the Breslin Center on the Michigan State Campus. OSU’s Anna Szerszen scored a match-high 19.5 points in the loss with Kristen Dozier Adding 13.5. Szerszen had a match-high 18 kills and three assist blocks with Dozier adding nine kills, three solo blocks and three assists. Michigan State’s Vanessa King had a team-high 19 points for the Spartans with 13 kills, two ace serves and eight assist blocks. Jenilee Rathje added 14 points with 10 kills, two ace serves and four assist blocks.
Ohio State opened set one with a 3-0 lead off a Szerszen kill and two Spartan errors. Michigan State scored four straight points to hold a 4-3 lead. Kills by Szerszen and Kelli Barhorst and two MSU errors gave the Buckeyes a 7-4 lead. At 13-10, four Spartan errors and a Szerszen kill gave Ohio State an 18-10 lead. The Spartans overcame a 21-17 Buckeye lead with seven straight points with four blocks, a Rathje ace serve and two OSU errors to hold a 23-21 lead. A Dozier kill made it 23-22. Michigan State reached set point at 24-22 with a King kill. A Becca Zlabis-Mischelle Nelson block ended the set at 25-22 for the Spartans for a 1-0 lead in the match. Michigan State hit .051 in the set to .057 for Ohio State.
Set two saw three lead changes and nine ties with the last coming at 19-all. The Buckeyes held early leads at 1-0, 4-3 and 5-4 but a King kill and ace serve gave Michigan State a 6-5 lead. The Spartans held the lead in between several ties before a Spartan error made it 19-all. A King-Kyndra Abron block and a Vineece Verdun kill opened a 21-19 Michigan State lead. OSU made it 21-20 with a Szerszen kill. A Zlabis-Verdun block and kills from Natalie Emro and Rathje made it 24-20 and set point for the Spartans. Michigan State won the set, 25-20, off a Buckeye error to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Spartans hit .406 in the set to .179 for Ohio State.
With set three tied at four, two Buckeye errors and a King ace serve gave the Spartans a 7-4 lead. At 8-5, a Dozier kill, a Betsy Hone-Barhorst block and a Spartan error tied the set at eight. At nine-all, a Barhorst-Szerszen block and a MSU error made it 11-9, Ohio State. Leading, 12-10, two OSU errors tied the set at 12. At 13-all, an OSU error and a Rathje ace serve made it 15-13, Michigan State. Trailing, 16-14, a Dozier kill, a Dozier-Hone block and a Chelsea Noble ace serve gave Ohio State a 17-16 lead. The Spartans tied the set at 17 with a Zlabis kill. Kills from Hone and Katie Dull made it 19-17, OSU. At 20-18, A Rathje kill and an Allyson Karaba ace serve tied the set at 20. The Spartans took a 21-20 lead with a King kill. Barhorst tied the set at 21 with a kill. A Szerszen kill and a MSU error gave Ohio State a 23-21 lead. A kill from King cut the lead to 23-22. The Buckeyes reached set point with a Szerszen kill at 24-22. King, with a kill, stopped the set point at 24-23. Ohio State won the set, 25-23, with a kill from Szerszen to cut the Spartan lead in the match to 2-1. Ohio State hit .206 for the set to .097 for Michigan State.
From a 3-3 tie in set four, a Spartan error and Buckeye blocks from Dozier-Hone and Noble-Hone gave Ohio State a 6-3 lead. Leading, 12-9, Spartan kills from Emro, King and Megan Schatzle tied the set at 12. After a number of ties, the last at 17, Ohio State kills from Hone, Barhorst and Dull opened a 20-17 Buckeye lead. Michigan State responded with kills from Emro and Schatzle to cut the margin to 20-19. At 21-20, two Spartan error gave the Buckeyes a 23-20 lead. A King kill and two Buckeye errors tied the set at 23. An Abron kill gave Michigan State a 24-23 lead in the set and serving match point. A Buckeye error ended the set at 25-23 to give the Spartans a 3-1 win in the match. Michigan State hit .205 for the set to .125 for the Buckeyes.
The Spartans hit .184 for the match to .139 for Ohio State. MSU had a 57-47 kill advantage and a seven-to-one ace serve margin in the match. OSU gave up nine service errors to five for Michigan State. Defensively, the Spartans had a 63-44 advantage in digs with Heather McDaniel and Karabe sharing match-high honors with 13 each. At the net, the Spartans edged the Buckeyes, 13-12 in team blocks. MSU’s King collected a match-high eight assist blocks with OSU’s Dozier recording a team-high six blocks with three solos and three assists. At setter, Michigan State’s Emro had a match-high 43 assists with OSU’s Hone collecting 34.
Ohio State continues on the road next week when they play at Northwestern Friday at 8 p.m. EDT and at No. 18 Wisconsin Sunday at 2 p.m. EDT.
