Ohio State
Illinois
No. 22 OSU Loses, 3-1, at No. 7 Illinois – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 22nd-ranked Ohio State (17-12 overall, 7-9 Big Ten) women’s volleyball team lost a 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 26-24, 25-17) decision at No. 7 Illinois (24-3, 13-3) Saturday night in Huff Hall. OSU’s Mari Hole posted a match-high 19.5 points in the match with 19 kills (.309) and one assist block. Mariah Booth added a career-high 17.5 points with a career-high 14 kills (.583), one solo block and five assist blocks. For Illinois, Colleen Ward recorded a team-high 16.5 points with 13 kills (.423), two ace serves and three assist blocks. Michelle Bartsch added 15.5 points with 13 kills (.257), one ace serve and three assist blocks.
With the first set tied at eight, a kill from Ward and an Annie Luhrsen ace serve gave Illinois a 10-8 lead. The Buckeyes cut the Illini lead to one at 10-9 with an Erin Sekinger-Kelli Barhorst block. A Ward-Anna Dorn block and two ace serves from Ward opened a 13-9 Illinois lead. At 15-11, an Emily Danks kill cut the lead to three. An Erin Johnson kill and three kills from Ward gave Illinois a 19-12 lead. The Illini reached set point at 24-16 with a Liz McMahon kill. OSU stopped two set points with a kill from Booth and her solo block to cut the margin to 24-18. A Buckeye error ended the set at 25-18, giving Illinois a 1-0 lead in the match. Illinois hit .320 for the set to .233 for Ohio State.
Kills from McMahon and Jennifer Beltran and a Beltran ace serve gave Illinois a 3-0 lead to open the second set. A Barhorst kill and her two ace serves tied the set at three. OSU took a 4-3 lead off an Illini error. A Bartsch kill tied the set at four. In all, the set saw 15 ties and three lead changes. Tied at 23, a kill by Danks gave Ohio State set point at 24-23. A Buckeye error tied the set at 24. Another kill from Danks made it 25-24 for a second set point. Ohio State, with a kill from Hole, won the set, 26-24, to tie the match 1-1. The Buckeyes hit .324 for the set to .281 for Illinois.
Illinois opened set three with two kills from McMahon. An Illini error and a Booth-Sekinger block tied the set at two. Two Buckeye errors, a Bartsch kill and a McMahon-Dorn block gave Illinois a 6-2 lead. Ohio State trailed, 23-18, before a five point Buckeye run tied the set at 23. The run began with kills from Hole and Booth to cut the lead to 23-20 as Illinois called time out. A Booth kill and a Booth-Hole block made it 23-22 forcing another Illinois time out. OSU tied the set at 23 with a Danks kill. The Buckeyes, with a kill from Hole took a 24-23 lead and were serving set point. A Bartsch kill stopped the set point to tie the set at 24. A Bartsch kill gave Illinois set point at 25-24. The Illini won the set, 26-24, with a kill from Johnson to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Illinois hit .412 for the set to .342 for Ohio State.
Illinois opened set four with a kill from Dorn, an OSU error and a Ward-Dorn block for a 3-0 lead. Two kills from Hole and one from McMahon made it 4-2, the closest the Buckeyes would come in the set. A McMahon kill gave Illinois match point at 24-17. A Bartsch-Johnson block gave Illinois a 25-17 set win and a 3-1 victory in the match. The Illini hit .556 for the set to .226 for Ohio State. For the match, Illinois hit .390 to .287 for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes had a 60-56 advantage in kills and a 55-53 edge in assists. Luhrsen posted a match-high 46 assists for Illinois with OSU’s Amanda Peterson recording 42 assists. Illinois had a 9-5 margin in ace serves with Ward, Rachel Feldman and Beltran for Illinois and Barhorst and Danks for Ohio State recording two each. The Buckeyes gave up 12 service errors to eight for Illinois. Defensively, the Illini had a 48-45 margin in digs. Luhrsen recorded a match-high 13 digs for Illinois while Sarah Mignin and Davionna DiSalvatore posted 12 each for Ohio State. At the net, Illinois had a 12-7 advantage in team blocks. Dorn recorded a match-high 10 assist blocks for Illinois while Booth posted a team-high six blocks (one solo, five assists) for Ohio State.
Ohio State returns home to St. John Arena to begin a three-match home stand next weekend. The Buckeyes will host 10th-ranked Purdue (24-3, 13-3) at 7 p.m. EST Friday, Indiana (9-19, 1-15) at Noon EST Sunday and ninth-ranked Penn State (19-7, 12-4) at 7 p.m. EST Wednesday.
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