Ohio State
14-2, 3-1B1G
Nebraska
12-2, 3-1B1G
#13 Buckeyes Take Down #4 Nebraska in Five Sets – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The No. 13 Ohio State University women’s volleyball team toppled fourth-ranked Nebraska in five sets (22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 17-25,15-10) in front of a raucous St. John Arena crowd. The Buckeyes improve to 14-2 overall, 3-1 in Big Ten play and 5-0 versus Top-20 foes this season.
Three of Ohio State’s four conference matches thus far have been extended into a fifth set. The Buckeyes arose victorious twice and are owners of a 3-1 mark overall in five-set affairs in 2015. Speaking of three of four occurrences, the Buckeyes have defeated Nebraska in three of the last four bouts. The Huskers had been ranked No. 4 (in 2012), No. 8 (last year) and No. 4 (tonight) prior to the OSU victories.
Freshman Audra Appold racked up a match-high 22 kills, blowing past her previous career-best mark of 15 kills midway through the third set. Her first attacking error of the evening didn’t come until that third frame and she swung at a .450 pace for the match. Elizabeth Campbell came from the opposite pin and delivered 20 kills. Both outside hitters recorded double-doubles with 17 digs apiece. Valeria León and Luisa Schrimer added a combined 29 digs and the Buckeyes totaled 79 as a team.
Set number one started out as planned with Ohio State racing out to a 10-5 lead and maintained the five-point edge as late as 21-16. Seven of Taylor Hughes’ 13 assists went to Appold while Campbell buried five kills. Nebraska would flip the switch, however, and storm back to take the opener, 25-22, closing it out riding a six-point run.
The Appold-Campbell tag team kept coming with 10 more terminations in set number two and received some support in the form of three Schirmer kills and a pair of put-aways each for Hughes and Taylor Sandbothe. Ohio State attacked .562 (18-0-32) for the set and rolled to a 25-18 winner.
All fifteen third-set kills were provided by the Appold-Campbell combo, carrying the Buckeyes to victory. A gritty defensive effort from the entire squad resulted in 18 digs and three blocks, limiting Nebraska to a .114 hitting percentage. Tied up 22-22 coming out of a timeout, Appold bookended a Hughes-Sandbothe block with two kills for the 25-22 victory.
The Huskers went on a 5-0 run early on in the fourth set and never looked back after taking a 12-9 edge. Nebraska would stretch the lead to eight tallies before it concluded at 25-17.
Sandbothe, who had been having a quiet night by her usual lofty standards, stepped up when Ohio State needed her the most in the fifth set. The Preseason All-Big Ten selection registered three kills on four errorless swings, including the 15th and final point. Nebraska burned a quick timeout after the Buckeyes captured the first three tallies. Ohio State would later own an 8-3 advantage as the teams swapped ends of the court. Several threats were made to the OSU upper hand, but none came to fruition and Sandbothe blasted an overpass for the match-clinching kill.
Ohio State hits the road next weekend, travelling to Illinois for Big Ten tilts against Northwestern (Oct. 9) and the Fighting Illini (Oct. 10).
