Buckeyes Close Out the Season with a 3-1 Loss to Ninth-Ranked California in the Second Round of the NCAA Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State (25-10 overall) women’s volleyball team closed out a successful season with a 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20) loss to ninth-ranked California in a second round match of the NCAA Championship held in St. John Arena. California advances to the Gainesville (Fla.) regional semifinals Dec. 11.
Ohio State’s Katie Dull recorded a team-high 18.5 points in the match with 18 kills and one assist block. Kelli Barhorst added 14 points off 12 kills and four assist blocks. Hanna Cutura recorded a match-high 21.5 points in the match for California with 19 kills, two solo blocks and one assist block. Mindi Wiley added 16.5 points with 15 kills and three assist blocks for the Golden Bears.
California broke a 2-2 tie in set one with kills from Carli Lloyd and Correy Johnson for a 4-2 lead. A Barhorst kill cut the lead to 4-3. The Golden Bears scored the next seven points to open an 11-3 lead. The run included two OSU errors, two kills from Tarah Murrey and one from Johnson as OSU called time out at 9-3. A Johnson-Kat Brown block and a Lloyd kill ended the run. California held the lead reaching set point at 24-13 with a Cutura kill. The Golden Bears won the set, 25-13 with a Wiley kill to take a 1-0 lead in the match. California hit .593 for the set to .235 for Ohio State.
An Ashley Hughes-Kristen Dozier block opened set two for the Buckeyes. A Wiley kill tied the set at one. A five-point Ohio State run started with a Dull kill. Two ace serves from Chelsea Noble and kills from Dull and Barhorst gave the Buckeyes a 6-1 lead. That run put the Buckeyes ahead for good in the set, reaching set point at 24-18 with a kill from Dull. A California error ended the set at 25-18 for the Buckeyes to tie the match at one game each. Ohio State hit .355 for the set to .207 for the Golden Bears.
Set three turned into a battle that saw 13 ties and four lead changes. Tied at three, kills from Dull and Barhorst made it 5-3, OSU. Errors by both teams and a kill from Danks moved the score to 7-4. Kills from Murrey and Szerszen made it 8-5. Four Buckeye errors, a Murrey kill and a Lloyd solo block put California ahead, 11-8. Buckeye kills from Dozier, Hughes and Dull tied the set at 11. The squads exchanged points to reach 19-19. A Brown-Lloyd block, an OSU error and a Cutura kill gave California a 22-19 lead. Kills from Hughes and Brown made it 23-20. Ohio State closed to within one at 23-22 with kills from Dull and Danks. A Cutura kill made it set point for California at 24-22. A Barhorst kill stopped the set point at 24-23. The Golden Bears, with a Murrey kill, won the set, 25-23, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. California hit .371 for the set to .231 for Ohio State.
Two OSU errors and a Cutura solo block opened set four giving California a 3-0 lead. The Golden Bears built a 16-8 lead before a five-point Buckeye run cut the lead to three at 16-13. The run included two kills from Dull, one each from Danks and Barhorst and a California error. A Cutura kill stopped the run at 17-13. A Barhorst-Dull block cut the margin to three at 17-14. At 18-15, a Johnson kill and a triple block from Wiley, Lloyd and Murrey made it 20-15 Golden Bears. California held the lead to reach match point at 24-19 off a Cutura kill. A Golden Bear error stopped the match point at 24-20. A Cutura kill won the set, 25-20, to give California a 3-1 win in the match and a berth in the Gainesville (Fla.) regional semifinals. The Golden Bears hit .296 for the set to .128 for Ohio State.
For the match, California hit .364 to .231 for Ohio State. The Buckeyes had a 59-57 edge in kills and recorded four ace serves in the match, holding the Golden Bears scoreless in aces. Ohio State gave up nine service errors to three for California. At setter, Lloyd posted a match-high 46 assists in the match while OSU’s Hughes had 42. Defensively, the Golden Bears had a 49-41 advantage in digs with Cal’s Kristen Kathan posting a match-high 20. OSU’s Noble recorded a team-high 10 digs. At the net, California had a 16.5 to seven advantage in team blocks. Lloyd posted a match-high seven total blocks for California with two solos and five assist blocks. For Ohio State, Barhorst collected a team-high four assist blocks.
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