Ohio State
22-11
Lipscomb (NCAA First Round)
21-9
Ohio State Moves On In NCAA Tourney With Sweep Over Lipscomb – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 5, 2014
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – The #18 Ohio State women’s volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round, sweeping Lipscomb (21-9) in the opening round. Ohio State (22-11) will face the victor between #13 Kentucky and Oakland Saturday at 7 p.m. ET inside UK’s Memorial Coliseum. That match will be aired live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.
“I thought we played really good defense,” said head coach Geoff Carlston in his opening statement of the post-match press conference. And the stat sheet agreed with his assessment as the Buckeyes threw up 14 team blocks and dug 42 balls in the three-set victory. Ohio State’s stifling defense held the Bison to a lowly .037 attacking efficiency.
Taylor Sandbothe and Taylor Sherwin each set new career highs with 10 and six blocks, respectively. Buckeye libero Valeria León roamed the defensive backcourt, sweeping up 17 digs on the night. Offensively, Taylor Sherwin averaged just under 11 assists per set in guiding OSU to a .274 hitting percentage. Elizabeth Campbell, Luisa Schirmer and Erin Sekinger worked the pins and combined for 31 of the Buckeyes’ 39 kills.
Ohio State improves to 30-19 (.612) all-time in the NCAA Tournament and Carlston is now 5-0 in the first round during his Buckeye career.
The first frame was a tight one as the first 10 points, 20 points and 30 points were all split with even tallies of 5-5, 10-10 and 15-15 lighting up the scoreboard. A six-point Buckeye run transformed a 15-13 deficit into a 19-15 advantage, however, to push OSU ahead for good. Ohio State would go on to snag 12 of the final 17 points en route to the 25-20 winner.
Ohio State then started to dominate at the net in set number two. The Buckeyes suffocated Lipscomb with seven blocks in the second stanza alone, driving the Bison hitting efficiency into the red at negative-.070. Meanwhile, the Bucks committed just four errors on the offensive side (three attacking, one service) and rolled to a 25-14 triumph.
Sherwin revved up the offensive onslaught in the third set, steering Ohio State at a .375 attacking rate. Add in five more Buckeye blocks and it was another victorious set for the Scarlet & Gray, 25-18. Schirmer drilled her seventh kill of the clinching set for the 25th point to seal the deal.
