No. 6 Ohio State Wins at No. 11 Penn State in Five-Set Thriller
10/30/2022 1:23:41 AM | Women's Volleyball
Box Score | Season Stats | Photo Gallery
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes (15-5, 11-1 B1G) beat No. 11 Penn State (17-6, 6-6 B1G) in a five-set thriller (19-25, 27-25, 26-28, 25-14, 17-15) on Saturday night.
The first set was close throughout, but Penn State scored the final five points to earn the 25-19 set win. The second set was back-and-forth, with the Buckeyes rallying from a late 24-21 deficit to even the match with a 27-25 set win. The Nittany Lions fought off six set points to take the match lead with a 28-26 win in set three. Ohio State scored the final seven points of the fourth set to earn the 25-14 set win and force a fifth set. Though the fifth set is shortened, it featured 11 ties as the Buckeyes came away with the 17-15 win on a kill from Gabby Gonzales.
How it Happened
Penn State opening scoring on a long rally, but Ohio State quickly tied the set. The Nittany Lions used a 5-1 run to take the early 7-3 lead. PSU extended its lead to 10-4, forcing an OSU timeout. Ohio State used a 3-0 run, capped by a Rylee Rader ace, to get within four at 11-7. The Buckeyes put together another 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 13-10 on a block from Adria Powell and Emily Londot. OSU’s three-unanswered points for a third time trimmed the PSU lead to 20-18, forcing a Penn State timeout. The Buckeyes continued their run out of the timeout to get within one at 20-19, but the Nittany Lions responded with the next three points to lead 23-19 and cause a Buckeye timeout. Penn State won the first set by a 25-19 margin.
The Nittany Lions scored first as the teams traded points to begin the second set. Back-to-back kills from Rader gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the match at 4-3. Penn State scored the next three points to take a 6-4 lead before OSU tied the set four times to get the set knotted up at 10. Ohio State led 15-14 at the media timeout. The Nittany Lions tied it at the next three points before taking the lead back at 18-17 and forcing an OSU timeout at 19-17. The Buckeyes cut the deficit to one twice before Penn State used a successful challenge amidst a 3-1 run to take a 23-20 lead. Ohio State took a timeout trailing 24-21. The Buckeyes scored back-to-back, prompting a PSU timeout. OSU scored the next three points to tie the set at 24 and then took a 26-25 lead on a kill from Powell, forcing another Nittany Lions timeout. Londot sealed the 27-25 set win with her 10th kill of the match.
Ohio State scored first in the third set, but Penn State scored five-unanswered points to take a 6-2 lead and force an OSU timeout. The Nittany Lions extended their advantage to 10-3. The Buckeyes put together a 4-1 run to get within four at 13-9 on a PSU error. The teams traded points until four-straight from Ohio State forced a Penn State timeout as OSU had cut the deficit to one at 17-16. The Buckeyes earned another 4-0 run to take a 20-18 lead. A third 4-0 OSU run in the set was capped by a solo block from Powell gave the Buckeyes the 24-19 advantage. Penn State fought off five set points to tie the set at 24 and then again at 25. An unsuccessful challenge gave the Nittany Lions the 26-25 advantage. Penn State took the 28-26 set win.
The Buckeyes opened scoring in the fourth set, but an early 5-0 run from the Nittany Lions gave PSU the 6-3 lead. Ohio State tied the set at points six through nine before taking a 10-9 lead on a kill from Londot. An ace from Mac Podraza gave Ohio State a 14-10 lead, forcing a Penn State timeout. The fourth 3-0 run of the set for the Buckeyes extended the OSU advantage to 17-11. The Nittany Lions called their second timeout of the set after an attack error gave the Buckeyes the 21-14 lead. Ohio State won the 25-14 set on Rader’s ninth kill of the match, scoring the final seven points of the set.
OSU scored first in the fifth set on a PSU service error. Penn State tied the set at one and two before taking its first lead of the set at 3-2. Back-to-back Nittany Lions points gave PSU the 5-3 advantage, but the Buckeyes responded with two points to tie the set at five. Penn State scored the next two to lead 7-5 and had the 8-6 advantage at the media timeout. The teams traded points out of the media timeout with a 4-1 Buckeyes run giving Ohio State the 11-10 advantage to force a Penn State timeout. The Nittany Lions tied the set at every point out of the timeout as the teams traded points. Ohio State called timeout tied at 15. Gonzales capped the Buckeyes’ 17-15 set win with her 24th kill.
Highlights
S1: Adria Powell/Gabby Gonzales block
S1: Emily Londot/Adria Powell block
S2: Rylee Rader kill
S2: Jenaisya Moore/Rylee Rader block
S2: Set point
S3: Rylee Rader/Jenaisya Moore block
S4: Rylee Rader/Emily Londot block
S4: Set point
S5: Adria Powell/Emily Londot block
S5: Match point
Match Notes
- This is Ohio State’s sixth ranked win of the season, fourth in true road games.
- The Buckeye defense has limited its opponents to hitting under .200 in 12 matches this season, with 10 of those matches being against conference opponents.
- Ohio State posted a season-high 14.0 blocks, reaching double figures for the fifth time this season.
- Kylie Murr reached 10 digs for the 19th time this season and more than 20 digs for the fourth time this season, including her 1,700th career dig. Murr is less than 100 digs away from the program record.
- Gabby Gonzales reached 10 kills for the 13th time this season and surpassed the 20-kill plateau for the second time, finishing the match with a career-high 24 kills. She earned her seventh double-double of the season (sixth in Big Ten play) by adding 10 digs.
- Sarah Sue Morbitzer recorded at least 10 digs for the fifth time this season, finishing with a career-high 16 digs.
- Adria Powell had a career-high seven blocks.
- Murr also tied her career-high nine assists.
- Emily Londot totaled at least 10 kills for the 17th time this season, finishing with 16 kills. Londot had 11 kills on 30 attempts before committing an error.
- Mac Podraza recorded her sixth double-double of the season (fifth of conference play), finishing the match with 53 assists and 13 digs.
- Rylee Rader recorded 10 kills for the fourth time this season, totaling 12 kills.
- Set two: The set featured 16 ties and five lead changes.
- Set three: The Buckeyes had three separate runs of 4-0.
- Set four: Ohio State had five runs of 3-0 or more, hitting .469 as a team on the set.
- Set five: The set was tied 11 times.
Up Next
The Buckeyes are on the road again next weekend, playing at Northwestern on Friday night at 8 p.m. ET and Michigan State on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. ET. Both matches will be broadcast on B1G+.
Be sure to come cheer on Ohio State women’s volleyball inside the Covelli Center this fall. Season tickets, a four-match mini plan option and single-match tickets are available HERE. Applicable service fees will apply to all tickets. For group tickets and any questions, contact an account representative at 1-800-GO-BUCKS or via email at athletic.tix@osu.edu.
#GoBucks
