Ohio State
18-9, 9-6Big Ten
Illinois
20-6, 12-3Big Ten
Five-Setter Goes to #12 Illinois in Champaign – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2014
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A fifth set was needed to determine a winner between #17 Ohio State and #12 Illinois Wednesday night in the tightly-contested Big Ten battle. The Fighting Illini extracted a bit of revenge, taking the fifth set 15-12 after suffering a five-set defeat in Columbus earlier this season. Ohio State goes to 18-9 overall and 9-5 in the conference after dropping a 3-2 decision (25-17, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-22) in Huff Hall to 20-6, 12-3 Illinois.
Senior setter Taylor Sherwin racked up 55 assists on the night, launching her into the top-5 all-time at Ohio State for career assists. She is now responsible for 3,264 assists in her career, surpassing Jen Flynn (3,213; 1996-97) and Jen Boleyn (3,214; 1994-96) for fifth-most in school history.
Sherwin distributed the ball to a three-headed monster consisting of Elizabeth Campbell, Erin Sekinger and Taylor Sandbothe. Each Buckeye terminated 17 or more kills, paced by Sekinger’s career-high 27 put-aways. The Columbus native managed a .286 attacking efficiency despite totaling 56 swings. Sandbothe swung at a .361 clip (17-4-36) while Campbell just missed out on a double-double with 18 kills and nine digs.
Valeria León set a new career high of her own, accumulating 26 digs versus the Illini. Andrea Kacsits proved to be Ohio State’s top blocking weapon getting in on five Buckeye stuffs.
A strong start from Campebell witnessed five opening-set kills from the Duke transfer and a 13-12 edge for Ohio State. The Fighting Illini then heated up, however, corralling 12 of the next 15 tallies to grab set number one, 25-17.
Sherwin got the motor running in the second set, dishing out 18 assists to the tune of a .474 team hitting percentage. Sanbothe bounced six of seven errorless swings while Tyler Richardson was error-free on five attempts as well, killing four of them. Campbell also joined the No Error Club with five kills on 14 attacks (.357). It was Ohio State’s turn for a late surge, clinching the frame 25-16 on the strength of a 9-2 run to end it.
The pendulum teetered back in favor of Illinois in the subsequent set. Despite a seven-kill performance from Sekinger, the Illini out-gunned OSU en route to a 25-20 triumph. Illinois snared the first six points of the set and never looked back hitting .483 for the frame.
Sekinger drilled seven more kills in the fourth to pull Ohio State past the Illini, 25-22. León closed up the backcourt, posting nine digs to limit Illinois to a sub-.100 attacking rate. A kill from Sandbothe sealed the deal and sent the bout into a truncated fifth set.
Sekinger remained hot, scorching five more kills on 10 swings with a lone error (.400). The odd-numbered set success continued for Illinois though, ultimately coming away with a 15-12 victory.
Ohio State heads north to take on the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday (Nov. 15). The rivalry match is slated for a 5 p.m. ET first serve.
