No. 8 Ohio State Falls to No. 9 Minnesota in Four Sets

Box Score | Season Stats | Photo Gallery

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (19-8, 15-4 B1G) fell to No. 9 Minnesota (19-8, 14-5 B1G) in four sets (25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 24-26) in front of a sold-out Covelli crowd on Friday evening for family night.

The first set was close early with each team grabbing a lead, but the Buckeyes used a 4-0 run midway through the set to boost themselves to the 25-20 set win. The Gophers used a 6-0 run in the middle of the second set to even the match with a 25-21 set win. Minnesota earned the 25-21 set win in a back-and-forth third set. The Gophers scored the final three points to win the fourth set, 26-24.

How it Happened

Emily Londot opened scoring with a kill before back-to-back Minnesota points gave the Gophers their first lead. Minnesota built an early 7-4 lead, but a 6-1 OSU run saw the Buckeyes up 10-8 following back-to-back blocks. Ohio State held the 14-11 advantage on a kill from Adria Powell, but the Gophers tied the set at 14. The Buckeyes scored the next two and strung together four-unanswered points amidst a Minnesota timeout to take a 21-16 lead. Ohio State sealed a 25-20 set win with Londot’s fifth kill of the set.

Powell scored first in the second set and the teams traded points until a 3-0 OSU run gave the Buckeyes the early 6-3 advantage. Minnesota went on a 6-1 run with the four-consecutive points giving the Gophers their first lead of the set and forcing a Buckeye timeout at 12-10. The Gophers continued their run to 6-0 and the lead was 14-10 before Londot broke the scoring run. Ohio State called a second timeout trailing 19-14 after back-to-back Minnesota points. After being down 23-17, the Buckeyes scored four of the next five points to get within three at 24-21 but the Gophers evened the match with a 25-21 set win.

Jenaisya Moore got her 10^th kill to begin the third set. Minnesota scored the next two points before a 4-1 OSU run put the Buckeyes in front by a 6-4 mark. A second 4-1 Ohio State run extended the Buckeyes’ lead to 11-7, forcing a Minnesota timeout. Three-straight Gopher points brought Minnesota within one at 12-11, prompting an OSU timeout. Minnesota used a 4-0 run to take a 16-14 lead and forced a second OSU timeout. The Buckeyes scored the next three points to take a 17-16 lead, but the Gophers responded with the next five points to go up 21-17. Ohio State fought off two set points before Minnesota earned the 25-21 set win.

Londot scored first in the fourth set as the teams traded points to begin the set before a 4-0 Minnesota run gave the Gophers the 7-4 lead. Ohio State tied the set at seven, but Minnesota responded with its own 3-0 run to lead 10-7. The Buckeyes tied the set again at 11 and 12 before taking the lead back on a solo block from Rylee Rader. The Gophers called timeout trailing 14-12 and scored the next four points out of the timeout to take the 16-14 lead and force an OSU timeout. The Buckeyes tied the set at 16, 17 and 18 out of the timeout before back-to-back Gopher points. The set was tied again at points 20 through 22 before Ohio State called timeout trailing 23-22. The Buckeyes scored on kills from Rader and Gabby Gonzales, taking a 24-23 lead and forcing a Minnesota timeout. The Gophers scored the next three points to win the match with a 26-24 set win.

Highlights

S1: Jenaisya Moore kill

S1: Gabby Gonzales/Adria Powell block

S1: Gabby Gonzales kill

S1: Kylie Murr dig/Mac Podraza kill

S1: Jenaisya Moore kill

S1: Set point

S2: Mac Podraza joust

S2: Rylee Rader/Jenaisya Moore block

S3: Rylee Rader kill

S3: Mac Podraza/Adria Powell block

S3: Jenaisya Moore kill

S3: Gabby Gonzales kill

S4: Emily Londot kill

S4: Rylee Rader block

S4: Jenaisya Moore block

S4: Kylie Murr digs

Match Notes

The Buckeye defense recorded at least 10 blocks for the 10^th time this season.
Gabby Gonzales became the 10^th player in program history to record at least 1,100 kills and 900 digs throughout her Buckeye career as she now has 1,162 career kills (breaking into the top-20) and 906 career digs.
Kylie Murr reached 10 digs for the 24^th time this season, doing so in the second set and finishing with 31 digs. Murr moved up to 15^th among single-season program records as she now has 445 digs this season.
Murr surpassed 20 digs for the ninth time this season and for the sixth time in her last seven matches. Murr reached 30 or more digs for the second time in a row.
Gonzales recorded at least 10 digs for the 12^th time this season, reaching 10 in the second set and totaling 16 digs in the match. Gonzales added 13 kills to record her 12^th double-double of the season. This is the 19^th time she’s had at least 10 kills this season.
Jenaisya Moore was the first Buckeye to 10 kills, doing so in the first point of the third set and surpassing 10 kills for the 20^th time this season. She finished with 14 kills.
Emily Londot recorded at least 10 kills for the 24^th time this season and totaled 19 kills.
Rylee Rader totaled at least 10 kills for the sixth time this season and finished with 13 kills. She hit .542 on the match, going 13-of-24 without an error.

What They Said

Head Coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg: “I think they gave us a little bit of pressure from the service line and I think our passers could’ve done a little bit better job in serve/receive. When we’re in system, we’re hard to stop and when we’re not, it’s a little bit more predictable.”
Senior outside Gabby Gonzales: “There isn’t anything we’re not trying to work on at this point. We’re trying to get better at all aspects of the game. Teams that get better at this point in the season do well in the tournament and we’re going to be one of those teams.”

Up Next

Ohio State wraps up the regular season against No. 3 Wisconsin on Saturday night at 7 p.m. for senior night. The match will be broadcast on BTN. Fans are asked to wear their best scarlet.

For Saturday’s match against Wisconsin: Due to the football game vs. TTUN, RVs will be parked in Buckeye Lots 1, 2, and 3 (highlighted in pink on the parking map). If there are spots available, parking around the RVs is allowed. Fans are encouraged to park in Buckeye Lots 4, 5, and 6 (highlighted in green on the parking map) as these lots will likely have more availability when the Covelli doors open. View the parking map HERE.

#GoBucks