No. 10 Volleyball Falls To No 5 Wisconsin, 3-1 – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 26, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tenth-ranked Ohio State (17-2 overall, 9-2 Big Ten) women’s volleyball squad could not overcome the powerful block of Wisconsin (17-2, 11-0) in dropping a 3-1 (30-24, 27-30, 30-22, 30-28) decision to the Badgers. Ohio State was outblocked 15 to seven in the match with 12 of the 15 blocks coming in the final two games as Ohio State hit .177. The Buckeye hit .397 for the first two games and had drawn even in the match at a game apiece. Lori Rittenhouse (Sr., Mankato, Minn.) and Sherisa Livingston (Sr., Simi Valley, Calif.) had seven total blocks each for the match, with each collecting a solo and six assists. Amy Hultgren chipped in with an additional six assists for the Badgers. Offensively, Livingston scored a team-high 21 kills (.375) with Jill Odenthal (Fr., Geneva, Ill.) adding 16 (.467) and Erin Byrd (Jr., Glen Ellyn, Ill.) 10. Odenthal came in with Wisconsin leading 24-22 in game one for Lisa Zukowski (So., West Bend, Wis.) who went out with an injury. Ohio State’s Anne Botica (Sr., Windsor, Ontario) had a season-high 24 kills (.353) in the match with Stacey Gordon (Fr., Oshawa, Ontario) adding 21 and Suzie Stiling (Jr., Glenview, Ill.) 14 (.500).
Ohio State had several four-point leads in game one, the last at 18-14. A Rittenhouse kill, an OSU error and an ace by Zukowski cut the Buckeye lead to 18-17. A Gordon kill opened a 19-17 OSU lead. Another Rittenhouse kill and a solo block by Livingston tied the game at 19. A Livingston kill and a block by Livingston and Byrd put Wisconsin ahead 21-19. Wisconsin had a 26-24 lead when three consecutive kills by Odenthal and an OSU error closed the game at 30-24. Ohio State outhit Wisconsin, .424 to .375. Odenthal had a team-high five kills for Wisconsin with Livingston adding five. OSU’s Botica had a game-high seven kills with Gordon adding six. The Buckeyes trailed early in game two, but stayed close. After the eighth tie of the game at 17-all, a Badger error and a Baker kill put Ohio State up 19-17. At 22-20, OSU, Wisconsin kills by Odenthal and Fitzgerald tied the game at 22. The teams exchanged points with ties at 23, 24 and 25. An overpass kill by Katie Virtue (Jr., St. Charles, Ill.) off the serve of Nikki Cisco (Sr., Dublin, Ohio) gave Ohio State a 26-25 lead as Wisconsin called time out. Back-to-back aces by Stiling made the OSU lead three at 28-25. Byrd’s kill cut the lead to 28-26. A kill by OSU’s Gordon set game point at 29-26, but a kill by Livingston made it 29-27. Rittenhouse’s serve sailed out of bound for a 30-27 Buckeye win. Wisconsin hit .415 for the game with only one hitting error in 41 attempts with 18 kills. OSU hit .378. Badgers’ Byrd and Odenthal had five kills each in the game with OSU’s Gordon collecting seven. The Buckeyes had four aces in the game with three from Stiling.
Ohio State had an early game three lead (10-8) before Wisconsin put together a six-point run with three kills by Livingston, a solo block by Byrd and two OSU errors to take a 14-10 lead. Wisconsin held a 19-15 lead when a kill by Odenthal, an ace by Marian Weidner (Fr., Warrenville, Ill.) and a triple block by Hultgren, Rittenhouse and Byrd took the Badger advantage to 22-15. Wisconsin held the lead and a Buckeye service error by Botica ended the game at 30-22. Wisconsin hit .233 for the game to .105 for Ohio State. Livingston had a game-high seven kills for the Badgers as Wisconsin had seven blocks in the game. Botica had six kills for Ohio State with Gordon adding five.
Ohio State opened game four with a 1-0 lead off a Virtue ace. Wisconsin responded with five consecutive points from a Byrd kill, a block by Livingston and Lizzy Fitzgerald (Sr., New Orleans, La.) and three OSU errors. Leading 11-8, Wisconsin scored five straight points with kills by Hultgren and Livingston, a block by Livingston and Rittenhouse an ace by Sara Urbanek (Sr., Sussex, Wis.) and a Buckeye error to take a 16-8 lead. The Buckeyes slowly cut the lead 23-21 where a Gordon kill and a UW error tied the game at 23. After ties at 24, 25, and 26. A Buckeye service error put Wisconsin ahead 27-26. A Badger block by Fitzgerald and Hultgren made the Wisconsin lead two at 28-26. A Stiling kill cut the margin to 28-27, but another Buckeye service error set match point at 29-27. A Botica kill cut the lead to 29-28 but an Odenthal kill closed the game at 30-28 for Wisconsin. Ohio State outhit Wisconsin in the game, .244 to .229. The Badgers had only 13 kills in the game but collected five blocks and two ace serves in the game. OSU had four crucial service errors in the game. Livingston had six kills for Wisconsin in the game with OSU’s Botica collecting six and Stiling adding five.
Wisconsin hit .322 for the match to .287 for Ohio State. The Buckeyes had a 72-65 advantage in kills and had a 52-44 margin in digs. UW’s Fitzgerald had a match-high 13 digs while OSU’s Botica and Gordon had 11 digs each with Stiling adding 10. Ohio State had a seven to four edge in ace serves. OSU’s Stiling had three aces with Gordon adding two while Badger Weidner had two. The Buckeyes gave up 14 service error to only five for Wisconsin.
Ohio State completes the two-match homestand with a 7 p.m. match Saturday against Northwestern (8-10, 4-7). The Wildcats lost 0-3 (25-30, 21-30, 23-30) at Penn State (15-4, 8-3) Friday night.
