Ohio State
12-5, 2-3B1G
Michigan State
14-3, 3-2B1G
Buckeyes Fall in Top-25 Showdown at Michigan State
10/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2016
RELATED INFO
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The No. 14 Ohio State University women’s volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision (25-18, 25-20, 25-23) to the 21st-ranked Spartans of Michigan State on Friday (Oct. 7) night. Thirteen different Buckeyes saw action in the road conference match-up.
Taylor Sandbothe paced the squad with 12.5 points, followed by Luisa Schirmer’s nine tallies. Taylor Hughes got in on four blocks (1s, 3a) and Valeria León topped the digs column, picking up eight balls.
SET 1: A pair of setting miscues for Ohio State opened the evening, giving the Spartans a 2-0 edge they wouldn’t relinquish en route to the 25-18 triumph. While Sandbothe buried five kills on 10 attempts, the remaining Buckeyes struggled offensively in set number one, allowing Michigan State to escape victorious despite a .088 MSU hitting percentage.
SET 2: The second stanza started and finished much the same as a pair of Buckeye errors handed Michigan State a 2-0 lead the Spartans would maintain throughout. Both offenses picked it up a bit, but MSU’s .231 offensive rate proved to be enough in a 25-20 winner.
SET 3: An upward offensive trend continued in the third. Ohio State totaled 15 kills and attacked .344 while Sparty came in at .394 on 17 terminations. Schirmer killed four of her eight errorless attempts for a .500 clip and simultaneously led OSU with four digs in the third set. This time it was the Buckeyes grabbing an upper hand early, running out to a 3-0 gap on a Madison Smeathers kill, Bia Franklin ace and Smeathers-Kylie-Randall stuff. The Spartans then quickly responded to even the score at 4-4, marking the first of 10 total tied scores in the set. The final stalemate came at 21-21 when MSU rattled off four of six points to seal the deal, 25-23.
The Scarlet & Gray takes Saturday off before returning to action in Ann Arbor for a Sunday showdown with the No. 23 Michigan Wolverines in a 1 p.m. national broadcast aired live on ESPN2.
