Ohio State
Alabama
No. 25 OSU Defeats Alabama, 3-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 25th-ranked Ohio State (6-3 overall) women’s volleyball team, behind a career-high 25.5 points from Mari Hole, defeated Alabama (5-4), 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-16) during the second round of the Rocket Classic in Toledo, Ohio. Hole recorded a match-high 21 kills (.232), two ace serves and five assist blocks. Emily Danks added 18 points with 14 kills (.276), two ace serves and four assist blocks. Kayla Fitterer recorded a team-high 23.5 points for the Crimson Tide with 20 kills (.241), one ace serve, two solo blocks and one assist blocks. Cortney Warren added 11 points with 10 kills (.167) and two assist blocks.
Alabama broke an eight-all tie with a kill from Fitterer, a Kelsey Anderson ace serve, two OSU errors and a Shelbi Goode kill to open a 13-8 lead. At 14-9, an OSU error and a kill from Fitterer took the lead to seven at 16-9. Alabama held a 22-17 lead when back-to-back aces from Cristina Arenas gave the Tide set point at 24-17. An Anna Faul kill stopped set point at 24-18. The Tide won the set, 25-18, off an OSU error to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Alabama hit .375 for the set to .176 for OSU.
Tied at three in set two, two Alabama errors and a Kelli Barhorst-Hole block gave OSU a 6-3 lead. Trailing, 9-6, the Tide used two OSU errors and a Stephanie Riley ace serve to tie the set at nine. Two Buckeye kills from Danks, a kill by Hole and a Taylor Sherwin ace serve gave Ohio State a 13-9 lead. OSU held the lead reaching set point at 24-20 off a Tide error. Two Fitterer kills and her solo block stopped three set points to cut the lead to one at 24-23. Ohio State, with a kill from Hole, won the set, 25-23, to tie the match at one set each. The Buckeyes hit .220 for the set to .184 for Alabama.
In a close third set that saw 11 ties and three lead changes, OSU held a 19-18 lead with a Danks-Anna Faul block. An Andrea McQuaid-Leigh Moyer block tied the set at 19. The Tide, with a Warren kill, took a 20-19 lead. Alabama scored the next four points to reach set point at 24-19. The run included a McQuaid ace serve, an OSU error and a Moyer kill to take it 23-19. A second McQuaid ace made it set point at 24-19. The Buckeyes responded by stopping four set points with kills from Erin Sekinger and Hole, a Tide error and a Sarah Mignin ace serve to make it 24-23 Alabama. A solo block from Barhorst tied the set at 24. The Buckeyes, with two consecutive kills from Hole, won the set 26-24 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. OSU hit .136 for the set to .082 for Alabama.
Ohio State opened set four with a Sekinger kill, two ace serves from Danks and a Hole kill to take a 4-0 lead. A kill from Fitterer stopped the run at 4-1. The Buckeyes expanded the lead to 7-1 with a Mignin kill, a Hole-Barhorst block and a Tide error. Ohio State held the lead reaching match point at 24-15 with a kill from Hole. An OSU error stopped a match point at 24-16. A Barhorst kill won the set, 25-16 to give Ohio State a 3-1 win in the match. The Buckeyes hit .367 for the set to .138 for Alabama.
For the match, Ohio State hit .215 to .182 for Alabama. The Buckeyes had a 53-48 advantage in kills and a 49-46 edge in assists. OSU’s Sherwin posted a match-high 45 assists while Riley had 23 and McQuaid, 22, for the Crimson Tide. Each squad recorded eight ace serves with OSU’s Sherwin posting a match-high three. OSU gave up 11 service errors to nine for Alabama. Defensively, OSU had a 71-68 edge in digs with OSU’s Mignin recording a match and career-high 30 digs. At the net, OSU had a 12-8 advantage in team blocks. Barhorst recorded a match-high seven blocks for OSU with a solo and six assists.
Ohio State continues play in the Classic by playing host Toledo at 7 p.m. In the second afternoon match, Toledo defeated Penn, 3-2 (15-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-15, 16-14).
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