Ohio State Falls in Five at Illinois to Split Season Series

Wednesday, November 15

Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

9:00 PM

Ohio State

10-16,7-10Big Ten

Illinois

15-12,10-7Big Ten

Ohio St.

Illinois

Ohio State Falls in Five at Illinois to Split Season Series

11/16/2023 12:22:00 AM | General, Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Emily Londot became the second player in the Big Ten this season to record 30 kills in a match.

Box Score | Season Stats

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women's volleyball team (10-16, 7-10 B1G) fell in a back-and-forth five-set match (18-25, 26-24, 25-20, 19-25, 6-15) against Illinois (15-12, 10-7 B1G) on the road on Wednesday night in the teams' second meeting of the season. The teams split this season's meetings with each team winning at home.

Illinois used a run out of the media timeout to take a 25-18 win in the first set. Ohio State evened the match with a 26-24 win in the second set by scoring the final three points in a back-and-forth set. The Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead in the third set and didn't relinquish the lead on their way to a 25-20 set win. Illinois used a late run to earn a 25-19 win in the fourth set. The Illini got off to a hot start in the fifth set and earned a 15-6 set win.

Emily Londot became the second player in the Big Ten this season to reach 30 kill as she tallied a career-high after nine kills in the first set. Londot added 13 digs for her 14^th double-double of the season. Mia Tuman posted her 10^th double-double of the season with 42 assists and 12 digs. Chelsea Thorpe recorded 10+ kills for the 10^th time this season and totaled 13 kills tonight. Lauren Murphy tied her career-high 11 kills and leads the team with 35 aces this season. Sarah Sue Morbitzer (13), Sydney Taylor (12) and Anna McClure (10) also recorded double-figure dig totals.

How it Happened
Londot had the first four kills for Ohio State as the Buckeyes got off to a 4-2 lead. Illinois tied the set at four and five before taking a 7-5 lead with three unanswered points. OSU answered with the next three points and had a 10-8 lead on an ace from Sydney Taylor. The teams traded points heading into the media timeout with the Buckeyes up 15-14. Illinois scored the next four points to take an 18-15 lead and force an OSU timeout. The Illini used the service line to extend their run to 6-0 and their lead to 20-15. The Buckeyes dropped a 25-18 set as the Illini scored the final three points.

Illinois scored first and led early before a 4-0 Ohio State run gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the set at 8-5. The Illini tied the set at eight and scored four straight points to take a 12-9 lead, forcing an OSU timeout. Ohio State tied the set at 12 out of the timeout. The set was tied again at 14, 15 and 16 before back-to-back Illinois points. The Buckeyes used a pair of Londot kills to tie the set at 21, prompting an Illini timeout. Ohio State scored the final three points of the set to earn the 26-24 set win and even the match on a kill from Lauren Murphy.

Londot got the offense started again in the third set with the first three kills as Ohio State built an early 7-1 lead to force an Illinois timeout. The Buckeyes extended their lead to as many as nine at 14-5 on a kill from Eloise Brandewie. The Illini responded with the next four points to cut their deficit to 14-9 before a 3-0 OSU run gave the Buckeyes a 17-9 lead and forced an Illinois timeout. The Illini cut their deficit to 22-18 with a 3-0 run, which prompted an OSU timeout. The Buckeyes sealed a 25-20 set win with a kill from Murphy.

Illinois opened scoring in the fourth set before Ohio State got off to an early 4-2 lead. The Illini used a 3-0 run to take an 8-6 advantage. The Buckeyes used three unanswered points to tie the set at 11 and forced an Illinois timeout. The Illini scored the next three points as it was Ohio State's turn to call timeout trailing 14-11. Illinois used another 4-0 run to extend its lead to 20-13 to force a Buckeye timeout. Ohio State scored the next four to cut its deficit to 21-17 and prompt an Illinois timeout. The Illini scored the final three points of the set to earn the 25-19 set win and force a fifth set.

The Illini scored the first three points of the fifth set before the Buckeyes got within one at 4-3 on Londot's career-best 30^th kill. Illinois used a 3-0 run to build its lead to 7-3 and force an Ohio State timeout. The Buckeyes scored the next two points to get within two but a 4-0 Illinois run gave the Illini an 11-5 lead as OSU called timeout. Illinois wrapped up the match with a 15-6 win in the fifth set.

Highlights
S1: Emily Londot kill
S2: Lauren Murphy kill
S2: Emily Londot 10^th kill
S2: Great rally
S2: Set point
S3: Emily Londot 20^th kill
S3: Chelsea Thorpe 10^th kill
S3: Set point
S4: Lauren Murphy 10^th kill
S4: Anna McClure dig
S5: Emily Londot 30^th kill

Match Notes

Emily Londot became just the second Big Ten player this season to reach 30 kills in a match as she posted a career-high 30 kills. She broke into the top-20 among Ohio State's single season records as her 486 kills this season is 19^th all-time.
This is the 12^th time this season she's totaled at least 20 kills and 24^th time with at least 10 kills. She added 13 digs for her 13^th double-double of the season.
Mia Tuman earned her 10^th double-double of the season with 42 assists and 12 digs.
For the 10^th time this season, Chelsea Thorpe recorded double-figure kills with 13 kills.
Sarah Sue Morbitzer totaled at least 10 digs (13 tonight) for the ninth time this season.
Lauren Murphy posted an ace in her eighth-consecutive match and leads the team with 35 aces this season. She also recorded her second 10+ kill match performance of the season by tying her career-high 11 kills.
Anna McClure had 10+ digs for the fourth time this season, totaling 10 digs.
S1: Londot led the OSU offense with nine kills in the set as the Buckeyes hit .400 as a team.
S2: The set featured 13 ties and five lead changes as the Buckeyes scored the final three points to earn the 26-24 set win.
S3: Ohio State built a 9-1 lead and never trailed throughout the set.

What They Said

Head Coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg:
- "It was a battle tonight for our Buckeyes. Illinois played great and served tough when it mattered."
- "Emily Londot had a big night for us, recording her career-high in kills with 30. I thought our other pins, Chelsea Thorpe and Lauren Murphy, helped with some of our offense as well."
- "Back to practice tomorrow to prepare for Minnesota. The goal is to finish out the season on a high note."

Up Next
Ohio State wraps up its 2023 road schedule at RV Minnesota on Saturday night. The match is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on BTN.

Tickets for the Buckeyes' 2023 home season are available. Single match tickets 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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