Hot Hands Lead Ohio State Sweep of Northwestern

Wednesday, October 25

Columbus, Ohio

6:00 PM

Ohio State

8-12,5-6Big Ten

Northwestern

10-11,4-7Big Ten

Northwestern

Ohio St.

Photo by: Ohio State Athletics

Hot Hands Lead Ohio State Sweep of Northwestern

10/25/2023 8:55:00 PM | General, Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Buckeyes won in dominating fashion on Wednesday evening with their best offensive showing of the season.

Box Score | Season Stats | Photo Gallery

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Buckeyes (8-12, 5-6 B1G) earned a dominating sweep (25-13, 25-12, 25-13) against Northwestern (10-11, 4-7 B1G) on Wednesday evening inside the Covelli Center on redcoat appreciation night. The Buckeyes hit a season-best .500 as a team, never trailing in the match.

Ohio State used early runs to take a lead that would not be relinquished as the Buckeyes captured a 25-13 set win by hitting .643 in the set. The Buckeyes started strong again in the second set and earned a 25-12 set win in the second set. OSU scored first in the third set and didn't look back, earning a 25-13 set win to complete the sweep.

Emily Londot recorded 10+ kills for the 18^th time this season and 20+ kills for the ninth time, getting into double figures early in the second set and finishing with 22 kills. Sarah Sue Morbitzer was the first in the match to reach 10 digs and totaled a career-high 18 digs and six assists on the evening. Chelsea Thorpe recorded double-digit kills for the eighth time this season, totaling 10 kills.

How it Happened
Londot opened the match's scoring with its first two kills and the Buckeyes used an early 5-0 run to build a 9-4 lead, prompting a Northwestern timeout. Ohio State strung together a 4-0 run and scored back-to-back points to increase its lead to 16-7 before a second Wildcat timeout. The Buckeyes capped a 25-13 set win on Rader's fifth kill.

OSU scored the first two points of the second set and jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, including three straight Londot kills, to force a Northwestern timeout. The Buckeyes used a 3-0 run to bump the lead to 14-5 on an ace from Sydney Taylor as the Wildcats took their second timeout of the set. Rader once again sealed the set with for Ohio State with her eighth kill as the Buckeyes won the set by a 25-12 margin.

Londot scored the first point of the third set and the Buckeyes used a 4-0 run to take an 8-4 lead on back-to-back kills from Thorpe to prompt a Wildcat timeout. Ohio State put together a 6-0 run amidst three aces from Lauren Murphy to extend the lead to 14-6. Another 4-0 Buckeye run let OSU double up at 20-10 before a block from Rader and Murphy sealed the 25-13 set win.

Highlights

Match Notes

Ohio State hit a season-best .500 as a team with a season-low five attack errors.
This is the Buckeyes' fifth sweep of the season, third against a Big Ten opponent.
Emily Londot was the first in the match to reach 10 kills, doing so for the 18^th time this season and at the beginning of the second set. She surpassed 20 kills for the ninth time.
Londot's 22 kills was the most by any Buckeye in a three-set match this season and her .636 hit percentage was the best of the season (minimum five kills in a match).
Sarah Sue Morbitzer was the first in the match to reach 10 digs, doing so for the fifth time this season and finishing with a career-best 18 digs and six assists.
Chelsea Thorpe totaled at least 10 kills for the eighth time this season, finishing with exactly 10.
This is Lauren Murphy's fifth match of the season with more than one ace as she tied her career-high three aces.
Anna McClure made the first start of her collegiate career and earned a career-high five digs.
Londot moved up to 11^th in program history with 1,736 career points.
Mia Tuman moved up to 18^th in program history in career digs as she now has 634.
Sydney Taylor recorded her 200^th career dig.
S1: Ohio State started the match by hitting 9-of-10 without an error (.900) and was hitting 16-of-22 (.727) before committing an attack error. The Buckeyes hit .643 on the set (19-1-28) compared to the Wildcats' .179 (10-5-28). Londot began the match by converting on her first eight attacks and Chelsea Thorpe and Rylee Rader each had five kills.
S2: The Buckeyes scored the first two points of the set and never trailed nor tied.
S3: Ohio State hit .423 in the set compared to Northwestern's .062.

What They Said

Head Coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg:
- "It feels great. Number one, to be back in Covelli in front of a home crowd is always good, but to have a statement match like this after a few tough losses – I think that sets the tone for the rest of the year. It's a new season with the second half of the Big Ten and I like the way we're starting."
- "We hit .500 against a team that's usually pretty good defensively and it allows us to build momentum and just keep going with the match. It's nice to see those results that we're talking about happening inside of a match."
Senior outside Emily Londot:
- "It was great. We've been working on a lot of different shots in practice and I think that showed today. Our passes and our digs were up great and Mia [Tuman] was giving great balls. The communication from the back row was really helpful today."
- "It was a great change. I knew it was in us, but tonight really showed how hard we've been working and I'm excited to see where we go now."
Senior defensive specialist Sarah Sue Morbitzer:
- "I had a lot of fun. I think our block set up great blocks and had great touches so it made my job very easy. I got a lot of digs but I owe it to the block for sure."
- "I just gave [Anna McClure] a shoutout in the locker room because she brings her full self every day and works so hard every single day and it doesn't always get noticed. I'm just so proud of her. She's come a long way and she's a great teammate. I'm really glad she was able to be out there tonight."

Up Next
Ohio State travels to Michigan to face the Wolverines for the lone time this season on Sunday. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. in a match broadcast on FOX and FS2.

Tickets for the Buckeyes' 2023 home season are available. Single match tickets can be purchased HERE and mini plans can be purchased HERE. Applicable service fees will apply to all tickets. Fans with ticketing questions and group ticket requests (10+ tickets and in advance only) should call the Ohio State Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-BUCKS or email athletic.tix@osu.edu.

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