Ohio State Falls to No. 14 Penn State on Friday’s Family Night

Friday, November 24

Columbus, Ohio

7:00 PM

Ohio State

10-18,7-12Big Ten

No. 14 Penn State

21-8,15-5Big Ten

Penn St.

Ohio St.

Ohio State Falls to No. 14 Penn State on Friday’s Family Night

11/24/2023 10:05:00 PM | General, Women's Volleyball

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The Buckeyes welcomed more than 4,100 fans to Covelli on Friday night.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women's volleyball team (10-18, 7-12 B1G) fell in three sets (25-27, 12-25, 23-25) against No. 14 Penn State (21-8, 15-5 B1G) on Friday night on family night in the Covelli Center.

Ohio State got off to a quick start but Penn State stuck around and forced extra play, taking a 27-25 set. The Nittany Lions used a run midway through the second set to pull away to a 25-12 set win. Penn State earned the 25-23 win in the third set after neither team led by more than three points throughout the set.

Emily Londot was the first in the match to 10 kills, doing so for the 25^th time this season and finishing with 15 kills in the match to record her 1,900^th career point. Sydney Taylor recorded a career-high four aces. Sarah Sue Morbitzer totaled 10+ digs for the 10^th time this season with 12 digs tonight.

How it Happened
Emily Londot opened the match with two kills as Ohio State scored the first four points. The Buckeyes led 10-6 before a 3-0 Penn State run got the Nittany Lions within one. OSU responded with the next three points, including an ace from Sydney Taylor, but PSU tied the set at 14. Ohio State built a 19-15 lead but Penn State tied the set at 19 amidst an OSU timeout. The Nittany Lions took their first lead of the set at 21-20 and led 22-21 before back-to-back Buckeye points found OSU on top 23-22 and forced a Penn State timeout. The Nittany Lions tied the set out of the timeout and took a 25-24 lead, prompting a Buckeye timeout. Penn State earned a 27-25 set win.

Londot opened the second set with a kill as the Buckeyes led 5-2. Penn State scored the next four to gain the 6-5 advantage and used a 10-0 run to take a 16-6 lead, forcing an Ohio State timeout. The Nittany Lions scored out of the timeout, leading by as much as 18-6. Penn State earned a 25-14 set win.

Taylor recorded back-to-back aces to begin the third set before Penn State took its first lead at 5-4. The set was tied at points five through eight and then again at 11. The Nittany Lions used back-to-back points to take the lead and the Buckeyes got within one at 17-16 before calling timeout down 19-16. Ohio State scored out of the timeout and used back-to-back points to get within two at 22-20 as Penn State called timeout. The Buckeyes called timeout after the Nittany Lions' next point trailing 23-20. Ohio State tied the set at 23 but Penn State earned the 25-23 set win.

Highlights
S1: Intros
S1: Emily Londot kill
S1: Sydney Taylor ace
S1: Anna McClure/Sarah Sue Morbitzer defense
S3: Sydney Taylor kill
S3: Zaria Ragler kill
S3: Chelsea Thorpe kill
S3: Lauren Murphy/Zaria Ragler block

Match Notes

Emily Londot had eight kills in the first set on her way to her 25^th match of the season with at least 10 kills. She totaled 15 kills tonight and reached 1,900 career points.
Among single season program records, Londot ranks 14^th in kills (510) and 12^th attack attempts (1,327).
Sydney Taylor had a career-high four aces.
Sarah Sue Morbitzer recorded her 10^th match of the season with at least 10 digs as she finished the match with 12.
S1: This is the 13^th set of the season that the Buckeyes have needed extra points to decide.
S3: Neither team led by more than three points in the set.

What They Said

Head Coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg:
- "This is a team that constantly strives to get better and that has been the message all year regardless of wins or losses. Obviously more losses than we want in a season but they continue to come in every single day and work hard and want to get better. How much can we build on the day prior? That's been the message that has pushed them. I think there are times this year that we could have just thrown in the towel and said 'we'll wait for next year' but this group isn't like that. They want to work hard every day and they want to continue to improve."
Senior defensive specialist Sarah Sue Morbitzer:
- "In the first and third sets we were aggressively getting Penn State out of system a lot and then we were really gritty on defense. I thought in the second set – that's where we could've been more gritty, but the first and third we were just relentless on defense and covering our hitters and telling them to swing hard."
Sophomore middle Zaria Ragler:
- "In the first set we were playing like we had nothing to lose – digging every ball, getting a lot of block touches and communicating a lot better. We forgot about little things that happened that didn't go our way quicker and I feel like in the second set we could have done a lot better with getting out of those runs quicker."

Up Next
Ohio State wraps up its 2023 regular season at home against Rutgers on Saturday at 7 p.m. for senior night. The match will be broadcast on B1G+.

Single match tickets for tomorrow night's match 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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