Seniors Shine in Senior Night Win vs. Rutgers

Saturday, November 25

Columbus, Ohio

7:00 PM

Ohio State

11-18,8-12Big Ten

Rutgers

10-20,2-18Big Ten

Rutgers

Ohio St.

Seniors Shine in Senior Night Win vs. Rutgers

11/25/2023 11:40:00 PM | General, Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Buckeyes beat the Scarlet Knights in four sets on Saturday evening in Covelli.

Box Score | Season Stats | Photo Gallery

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women's volleyball team (11-18, 8-12 B1G) earned a four-set win (23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-21) against Rutgers (10-20, 2-18 B1G) on Saturday night's senior night in the regular-season finale.

Rutgers had the early lead in the first set and held off a late Ohio State push to win by a 25-23 margin. After trailing 14-10 in the second set, the Buckeyes outscored the Scarlet Knights 15-2 to even the match with a 25-16 set win. Ohio State used a 5-0 run late in the third set to earn a 25-21 set win. The Buckeyes used an 8-0 run midway through the fourth set to close the match with a 25-21 set win.

Emily Londot had 10 kills in the first set on her way to a career-high 36 in the match, tying for fifth among single-season program records and totaling the most kills in a match since Stacey Gordon in 2004. Sarah Sue Morbitzer had her 11^th match of the season to lead the Buckeyes' back-row defense with a career-high 24 digs, while Sydney Taylor finished with 16. Zaria Ragler totaled a career-high six blocks, while Londot tied her season-best four blocks.

How it Happened
Rutgers opened the match's scoring and got off to an early 7-2 lead after a successful challenge. Back-to-back Scarlet Knights' points gave Rutgers the 11-5 advantage and forced an OSU timeout. Rutgers maintained the six-point lead at 15-9 before a 4-1 Buckeye run cut OSU's deficit to 16-13, prompting a Scarlet Knights timeout. Ohio State went on a 6-0 run amidst a Rutgers timeout to take a 20-18 lead, but the Scarlet Knights scored the final four points of the set to win by a 25-23 margin.

The Scarlet Knights scored the first three points of the second set and grabbed an early 8-4 lead before a 4-1 OSU run got the Buckeyes within one at 9-8. Ohio State called timeout after the next three points from Rutgers had OSU down 12-8. The Buckeyes used a 6-0 run to take a 16-14 lead and forced a Scarlet Knight timeout. OSU extended its run to 9-0 and its lead to 19-14. After one point from Rutgers, the Buckeyes scored six of the final seven points to earn the 25-16 set win.

The Buckeyes opened with two points before the Scarlet Knights responded with the next five. Ohio State used four unanswered points to tie the set at seven on a kill from Lauren Murphy. The set was tied again at points nine through 13 before an ace from Mia Tuman gave OSU the 14-13 lead, prompting a Rutgers timeout. The Scarlet Knights tied the set as late as 17 before a 5-0 Buckeye run gave Ohio State a 22-17 lead. The Buckeyes capped a 25-21 set win on a Londot kill.

The fourth set began in a back-and-forth manner before a 4-0 Rutgers run gave the Scarlet Knights the 11-6 advantage, forcing a Buckeye timeout. Ohio State used a 5-0 run amidst a Rutgers timeout to get within one at 13-12. The Buckeyes scored eight unanswered points on either side of a Scarlet Knights' timeout to take a 20-14 lead. Three-consecutive Rutgers points got the Scarlet Knights within two at 22-20, forcing an OSU timeout. The Buckeyes scored three of the final four points to cap a 25-21 set win.

Highlights
Pre-match handshakes
S1: Emily Londot kill
S1: Emily Londot 10^th kill of the set
S2: Sarah Sue Morbitzer diving play, Buckeye block
S2: Set point
S3: Chelsea Thorpe/Eloise Brandewie block
S3: Chelsea Thorpe kill
S3: Set point
S4: Emily Londot career-high in kills
S4: Sarah Sue Morbitzer career-high in digs
S4: Match point

Match Notes

Ohio State is now 19-1 all-time against Rutgers and is on a 16-match win streak in the series.
Emily Londot's 36 kills is tied for the fifth-most in a match in program history and is the first time since Stacey Gordon in 2004 that a Buckeye has recorded at least 36 kills in a match. Her 39.5 points tonight ties for sixth in program history.
Londot recorded double-digit kills for the 26^th time this season, tallying 10 in the first set alone. This is her 13^th match of the season with 20+ kills and second with 30+ kills.
Londot moved into fourth in program history in career points as she now owns 1939.5 points in a Buckeye uniform.
Londot ranks among the top-15 in five single-season categories in the Ohio State record book – eighth in kills/set (5.06), ninth in kills (546), ninth in attacks (1,402), 10^th in points/set (5.51) and 14^th in points (595.0).
Sarah Sue Morbitzer recorded double-digit digs for the 11^th time this season, finishing with a career-high 24 digs.
Mia Tuman moved up to 16^th in program history in career assists with 963.
Lauren Murphy has recorded more than one ace in 10 matches this season, with her second-best total being four aces tonight, and leads the team with 40 aces. She ranks 16^th among single-season program records with 0.44 aces/set this season.
Zaria Ragler totaled a career-high six blocks, while Londot tied her season-high four blocks – including her 300^th career block as she is tied for 12^th in program history with 301 block assists.
Sydney Taylor had her ninth match with 10+ digs this season, finishing with 16 digs.
S1: Ohio State hit .389 as a team with Londot's 10 kills leading the way on offense and Morbitzer's seven digs leading the back-row defense.
S2: The Buckeyes trailed 14-10 before outscoring the Scarlet Knight 15-2 to close the 25-16 set win. The OSU defense forced Rutgers to hit -.024 in the set.
S3: After being tied 10 times in the set, including 17-17, the Buckeyes went on a 5-0 run to create the separation they needed to seal the set.
S4: Ohio State put together the longest run of the match at 8-0 midway through the set.

What They Said

Head Coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg:
- "Sarah Sue [Morbitzer] just shows up every day and she gives her full self. I think if you would've told her eight-year-old self that – she would've said, 'you're crazy'. She also knew what she wanted in life and she went and attacked it and here she is, a career night on her last match in this uniform. She's left a mark on the program and in our lives and we're really grateful she's a Buckeye."
Senior defensive specialist Sarah Sue Morbitzer:
- "I didn't want to have any regrets after tonight. We've been saying it all week – it was our quote for the week – play for the little girl that fell in love with volleyball and fell in love with wanting to be a Buckeye. That's just what I did today."
Senior outside hitter Emily Londot:
- "It feels great. Both of us getting a career night on [Morbitzer's] last night was really special. We've played together for nine years and it's really special to have that together."