Bluegrass-Bound Buckeyes Begin NCAA Tournament Play – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 4, 2014
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sixty-four teams remain in contention for the 2014 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, and the #18 Ohio State squad begins its NCAA Tournament early Friday evening (5 p.m. ET) taking on Lipscomb in the opening round. The winner of that tilt advances to face the #13 Kentucky vs. Oakland victor the next day at 7 p.m.
WEEKLY BASICS
Friday, Dec. 5 – 5 p.m.ET – Lexington, Ky.
#18 Ohio State (21-11, 12-8 Big Ten) vs. Lipscomb (21-8, 13-1 Atlantic Sun)
Live Stats: GameTracker
Television: ESPN3/WatchESPN
Saturday, Dec. 6 – 7 p.m. ET – Lexington, Ky.
Ohio State/Lipscomb vs. #13 Kentucky (26-5, 15-3 SEC)/Oakland (22-9, 12-2 Horizon League)
SO WE MEET AGAIN
Ohio State and Lipscomb have met on a volleyball court just one time prior to Friday night in Lexington. Coincedentally, the previous meeting was also an NCAA First Round match-up in 2010. The Buckeyes were victorious in four sets by scores of 25-22, 25-8, 22-25, 25-23 to start a Sweet 16 run that season.
ALL-BIG TEN HONORABLE MENTION
A pair of Buckeyes, Taylor Sandbothe and Taylor Sherwin, were named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention Tuesday (Dec. 2) as voted by the 14 conference head coaches. This marks the 28th consecutive season in which at least one Buckeye has earned postseason recognition from the conference office.
Thirty-three different Buckeyes have been tabbed All-Big Ten a total of 72 times since 1983.
SETTING UP THE BUCKEYES FOR SUCCESS
Senior setter Taylor Sherwin picked up her second Big Ten Setter of the Week honors on Monday (Dec. 1), the fourth conference recognition of her career. Earlier this season she became just the seventh player in school history to record 3,000 career assists, surpassing the milestone on Oct. 18 at Purdue. The Orlando, Fla., native has accumulated 3,485 assists to date, which ranks fifth all-time in Ohio State history. Katie Virtue (1999-2002) is atop the list after setting up 5,648 assists during her illustrious career as a Buckeye.
RECORD BOOK WRECKAGE
Last week, Valeria León cracked the OSU all-time top-10 with 429 digs this season. Taylor Sherwin and Taylor Sandbothe are both within reach of top-10 statistical season totals as well:
Sherwin – 1,236 assists rank 17th (10th – 1,424 assists by Laura Davis in 1993) Sandbothe – 22 solo blocks rank 25th (10th – 26 solo blocks by Mari Hole in 2012) Sandbothe – 99 block assists rank T-18th (10th – 113 block assists by Allie Schwarzwalder in 2010) Sandbothe – 121 total blocks rank 13th (10th – 129 total blocks by Suzie Stiling in 2002)
SCHIRMER HITTING HER STRIDE
Freshman Luisa Schirmer had arguably her best two-match stretch last week since stepping foot on campus. She set a career high with 17 kills in a five-set victory over Minnesota before matching that total in just three sets during a sweep at Rutgers three days later. Schirmer got it done defensively as well, posting double-digit dig totals in both contests for back-to-back double-doubles.
DOUBLING UP
Taylor Sherwin paces the team with seven double-doubles (10 or more assists and digs in a match) this season, followed closely by Luisa Schirmer’s six times. Elizabeth Campball has contributed heavily on both sides of the net as well, posting kill-dig double-doubles four times. Erin Sekinger and Valeria León have both posted one.
OHIO STATE IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Buckeyes are slotted No. 18 in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-25. The computers have Ohio State rated as the 34th-best team in the country according to the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
THE BIG TEN GAUNTLET
Six Big Ten programs are ranked in this week’s AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, including No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 4 Penn State, No. 10 Illinois, No. 11 Nebraska, No. 18 Ohio State and No. 24 Purdue.
SCHOOL HISTORY WITH BACK-TO-BACK-To-BACK TOP-25 VICTORIES
For the first time in school history, the Buckeyes recorded back-to-back-to-back wins with all three opponents ranked in the Top-25. It all started Oct. 4 when the Buckeyes marched into Lincoln and earned a five-set road victory over #8 Nebraska, followed by home triumphs over #15 Illinois and #24 Northwestern the following week.
SEKINGER SIZZLING AS A SENIOR
Senior outside hitter Erin Sekinger has stepped up her game for her senior campaign, setting career highs with 377 kills, 70 digs, 58 blocks and 10 aces. Her 3.50 points per set rank 10th in the entire Big Ten Conference while slotted 11th with 3.14 kills/set.
WINNER CRACKS THE CENTURY MARK
Senior defensive specialist stepped onto the court donning an Ohio State uniform for the 100th time on Oct. 28 at Penn State. She enters the week having played in 109 career matches and dug 442 balls.
