Ohio State
18-8, 9-5
Rutgers
7-20, 0-14
Bucks Sweep Rutgers in First B1G Meeting – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 8, 2014
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the second consecutive evening, Ohio State Women’s Volleyball handed a Big Ten rookie a loss in the teams’ first showdown as conference foes. The #18 Buckeyes swept Rutgers (25-9, 25-18, 25-13) Saturday night, just over 24 hours after topping Maryland in four sets. Ohio State moves to 18-8 overall and 9-5 in B1G competition while the Scarlet Knights fall to 7-20, 0-14.
Ohio State dominated the scoreboard by outscoring Rutgers 75-40; and also dominated the stat sheet by out-killing them 42-20, out-digging 36-27, out-blocking 7-5 and ripping seven service aces compared to just one for the Scarlet Knights.
Senior setter Taylor Sherwin distributed 32 assists en route to a .309 team attacking efficiency. Nearly all attackers got in on the action, paced by Elizabeth Campbell’s 11 kills and Andrea Kacsists’ .750 (3-0-4) hitting percentage. Taylor Sandbothe added nine kills while swinging .389 and Erin Sekinger bounced 10 kills at a .333 attacking clip. Sherwin wasn’t completely selfless, however, taking care of two kills on her own.
Valeria León set a new career with four service aces last night versus Maryland. That mark did not last long though as León racked up five more aces midway through the second stanza Saturday night against Rutgers. She and Luisa Schirmer tied for the team lead with seven digs while Sandbothe paced the blocking effort, sending back five Scarlet Knight attempts.
Rutgers held a lead for a total of five points in the match, all of which came before the 4-4 mark of the second set. The lead never left Ohio State’s possession in the opening set, exploding for an immediate 11-1 advantage after receiving three aces from the southpaw León. The scoreboard read 17-3 in the blink of an eye and Rutgers was forced to burn a timeout before ultimately falling 25-9.
Trailing 4-3 in set number two, the Buckeyes got back on track by taking nine of the next 12 points to put some distant between them and Rutgers at 12-7. Two more points were added to the margin by set’s end, resulting in a 25-18 final ledger.
Intermission did nothing to cool down the Buckeyes, emerging from the locker room with a 15-5 run to begin the third frame. Ohio State blasted 17 kills at a .351 pace while stuffing Rutgers into the negatives at -.034 attacking. Campbell and Richardson both got in on three of the team’s five third-set blocks. The Buckeyes wrapped it up 25-13 and move their attention to Wednesday night’s match at #9 Illinois.
