Ohio State
19-6, 8-5B1G
Maryland
13-15, 3-11B1G
Buckeyes Drop Tight Decision on the Road at Maryland – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 6, 2015
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The No. 12 Ohio State University women’s volleyball team came up short by the slightest of margins at Maryland, falling by the minimum two-point edge in all three sets: 25-23, 28-26, 27-25. Ohio State gets right back at it Saturday evening, heading to Rutgers for a 7 p.m. ET collision.
The final statistical totals did little to decipher a clear advantage in this one, coming to fruition in two sets extending into extra points. Both squads accumulated 46 kills while attacking .270 (UMD) and .269 (OSU). Defensively, the Buckeyes out-dug Maryland 55-49 and the Terrapins notched eight blocks compared to six OSU stuffs. Ohio State (19-6, 8-5 Big Ten) and Maryland (13-15, 3-11 Big Ten) exchanged the lead 11 times and saw the score tied on 30 occasions.
Valeria León, Katie Mitchell and Taylor Sandbothe produced individually. León paced the team with 14 digs and the Mitchell-Sandbothe combo put forth a total of 21 kills, a lone error, on 45 attacks. Sandbothe bounced nine of 16 errorless swings (.562) to go along with four blocks and three blocks. Mitchell dropped in a dozen kills and dug five balls.
Ohio State battled its way back from the biggest hole of the opening set, pulling even at 21-21 after trailing 18-13 earlier in the frame. A solo swat by Sandbothe locked it up at 21-all to force a Terps timeout. Maryland quickly regrouped, however, and closed it out 25-23.
For the second straight set, neither team could muster an upper hand larger than three points throughout. Back-and-forth it went as both sides owned multiple leads and had two shots at set point. The Terrapins seized their second chance when Adreene Elliott terminated her second set-clinching kill of the night, this time putting an end to a 28-26 triumph.
Both offenses revved it up a bit in the next set, each attacking north of .370 with 18 kills apiece. Ohio State cornered three more set-point opportunities, but were unable to wrangle the final point. Maryland threw up a big block and ended the evening, 27-25.
