Conference Lead Up For Grabs Friday Night – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2015
RELATED INFO
COLUMBUS, Ohio – First place in the country’s top collegiate women’s volleyball conference is on the line Friday (Oct. 16) night inside St. John Arena as the 18th-ranked and Big Ten-leading Boilermakers of Purdue (15-2, 6-0 B1G) come to town for a 7 p.m. clash with No. 7 Ohio State (16-2, 5-1 B1G). The match will be broadcast live on a national stage by the Big Ten Network. Sunday then brings another B1G test for the Buckeyes when Indiana (12-6, 2-4 B1G) rolls into town for a 1 p.m. matinee.
WEEKLY BASICS
Friday, Oct. 16 – 7 p.m. ET – Columbus, Ohio (St. John Arena)
#7 Ohio State (16-2, 5-1 Big Ten) vs. #18 Purdue (15-2, 6-0 Big Ten)
Live Stats: GameTracker
Television: Big Ten Network (also available online via BTN2Go)
Sunday, Oct. 18 – 7 p.m. ET – Columbus, Ohio (St. John Arena)
#7 Ohio State vs. Indiana (12-6, 2-4 Big Ten)
Live Stats: GameTracker
Live Video: BTN Plus
HISTORY WITH THE BOILERMAKERS AND HOOSIERS
Ohio State has a chance to even the all-time series with Purdue, entering the match trailing 41-42 in 83 previous meetings. The Buckeyes and Boilermakers have split the four most recent match-ups and Friday will mark the sixth time in the last seven showdowns that both teams were ranked in the Top-25. Meanwhile, Ohio State owns a 49-26 edge all-time against Indiana, including a current winning streak of eight straight. The Buckeyes last lost to IU in 2010 with the most recent defeat at home coming back in 2008.
APPOLD GRABS ATTENTION OF THE WORLD WIDE LEADER IN SPORTS
A week after the Big Ten Conference chose Audra Appold as one of the league’s co-Players of the Week (Oct. 5), the freshman out of Perrysburg, Ohio, saw the national spotlight shine in her direction. Appold was named the espnW National Player of the Week on Oct. 14 following her performance during road victories at Northwestern and Illinois over the weekend. It marks the second consecutive season a Buckeye has earned the national award after Elizabeth Campbell took home the recognition on Oct. 8, 2014. A total of nine Buckeyes have now picked up National Player of the Week honors, all starting with Laura Davis’ selection as the AVCA’s National Player of the Week in 1994 (Nov. 21).
HOME COOKIN’
Ohio State Women’s Volleyball has won 70 percent of its matches inside St. John Arena all-time. The Buckeyes began competition in the facility in 1986, compiling an overall mark of 304-130 (.700) which includes a 6-1 mark this season.
BIG TEN’S BEST
The Buckeyes have claimed six Big Ten weekly awards seven weeks into the 2015 season. Audra Appold leads the way with three weekly conference awards. She picked up both Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week accolades on Oct. 5 before making it back-to-back Frosh of the Week selections on Monday (Oct. 12). Fellow freshman Taylor Hughes was recognized by the conference office this week as well, named the Big Ten Setter of the Week. There was another OSU double dip on Sept. 7 when Taylor Sandbothe garnered Player of the Week honors and Valeria León was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Week.
RPI REPPIN’
The NCAA began releasing the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) last week. Ohio State is slotted No. 5 this week in the rankings which carry substantial weight in determining NCAA Tournament participants and First/Second Round hosts.
THE BIG TEN GAUNTLET
Eight Big Ten programs are ranked in this week’s AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, including No. 3 Nebraska, No. 5 Penn State, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 16 Illinois, No. 18 Purdue and No. 23 Michigan. In addition, Michigan State and Northwestern are both receiving votes. Thirteen of 14 conference schools posted winning percentages above .700 during non-conference action.
Speaking of non-conference foes, Ohio State has also faced No. 14 Arizona, No. 18 Florida State (twice) and Wyoming (receiving votes) this season. As of this week’s rankings, over half of the Buckeyes’ matches will be against schools nationally-ranked or receiving votes (19 of 32 regular season matches).
BIG DIGS
Last week, Valeria León became the 16th Buckeye in school history to record 1,000 or more career digs. The third-year libero from Puerto Rico enters the weekend with 1,019 digs to her name.
In addition, the two largest dig totals by a Buckeye since rally scoring was instituted in 2001 have come this season by way of León. She originally set the mark Sept. 5 by digging 32 balls in a five-set victory over No. 14 Florida State. León then promptly broke her own record with 35 digs in a four-set triumph over No. 13 Arizona (Sept. 12). The 35-dig collection is the most ever in a four-set match by a Buckeye and ranks second overall in school history. León’s 32 digs vs. the Seminoles rank fifth all-time.
OHIO STATE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL POSSESSES RARE COMBINATION
Ohio State is one of 13 schools to reach the ‘Sweet 16’ in at least three of the last five NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournaments dating back to 2010. The group shrivels to just three schools when adding a similar Academic Progress Rate (APR) standard to the filter. The Buckeyes are among only three programs which can bost both advancement to the NCAA Sweet 16 and perfect multi-year APR scores of 1000 three or more times since 2010. Furthermore, no scholarship student-athlete has transferred out of the program since the arrival of head coach Geoff Carlston in 2008. In fact, Coach Carlston has never had a scholarship player transfer out of his program in 15 years as a collegiate head coach.
