Ohio State Opens Big Ten Play Friday and Saturday Nights in Covelli

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women's volleyball team (3-5) opens Big Ten play at home this weekend, hosting RV UCLA (6-4) on Friday at 6 p.m. ET and No. 17 USC (9-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Both matches will be broadcast live on B1G+.

Parking is free to all home matches in the lots across the street from the Covelli Center. Friday's match is the season ticket holder appreciation match. Season ticket holders will receive an email with special perks. The Buckeyes will stick around after Saturday's match for a meet and greet on the concourse. Ohio State students will enjoy discounted concessions on Friday from 5-6 p.m. and a belt bag giveaway on Saturday (first 400 students). There will be B1G+ giveaways on the concourse during both matches.

BUCKEYE PREVIEW

Ohio State split a pair of five-set matches at the Sports Imports Classic in Columbus last weekend. The Buckeyes fell to Virginia (25-15, 20-25, 7-25, 25-23, 12-15) on 9/19 before beating Troy (22-25, 25-18, 26-24, 30-32, 15-12) on 9/21.
Against Troy, redshirt freshman middle blocker Kaia Castle set the program record with 15 blocks in a single match. Her 11 block assists ties for third. The previous record was 13 blocks, orginally set in 1984. Castle's 15 blocks contributed to the team's 26.0 blocks - the second most in a single match in program history. The Buckeyes' 40 block assists rank fourth among single-match program records.

SCOUTING THE BRUINS

RV UCLA is 6-4 after the non-conference season, earning wins against Long Beach State, UTEP, Oral Roberts, Texas Southern, Texas State and Hawaii. The Bruins lost to a ranked TCU team twice, then No. 4 Stanford and Pepperdine.
Cheridyn Leverette leads the Bruins' offense with 3.37 kills/set.
Lola Schumacher is averaging a team-high 4.00 digs/set, while Marianna Singletary leads the front-row defense with 1.25 blocks/set.

HISTORY WITH UCLA

Ohio State trails 1-10 in the all-time series with UCLA. This will be the programs' first time meeting in Columbus.
Last season, the Buckeyes fell in four sets (16-25, 22-25, 25-23, 14-25) in L.A.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS

No. 17 USC enters conference play with a 9-1 record. The Trojans hold wins over Denver, Loyola Marymount, UC Santa Barbara, San Diego, No. 13 Creighton, Western Michigan, LSU (twice) and Cal, and lost to No. 19 BYU.
The Trojans will open B1G play at No. 15 Penn State on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Abigail Mullen (3.31 kills/set) and Reese Messer (10.49 assists/set) lead the USC offense. Taylor Deckert (2.97 digs/set) and Mia Tvrdy (1.42 blocks/set) lead the USC defense.

HISTORY WITH USC

Ohio State trails 2-5 in the all-time series with USC. The Buckeyes are 1-1 against the Trojans in Columbus.
Last season, the Buckeyes fell to USC in five sets (25-19, 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 13-15) in Los Angeles.
The Buckeyes most recently hosted the Trojans on Dec. 3, 2022 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State won that match in straight sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-16).

Tickets for the 2025 season are now on sale with links for four-match mini plans, Buckeye bundles and single match tickets found below. Ohio State students are free with a valid BuckID. Fans with ticketing questions should call the Ohio State Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-BUCKS or email athletic.tix@osu.edu.

Ticket links:

#GoBucks

Departments

Media

More

University

Information

Athletic Facilities

Athletics

The Team Shop

Get In The Game

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Tickets

Ticket Office

Resources

Schedules