Ohio State Battles Top-Seeded Texas in Regional Finals, Falls in Four Sets

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AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 3 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes (22-10, 15-5 B1G) fell to top-seeded Texas (26-1, 15-1 Big 12) in four sets (18-25, 25-21, 13-25, 21-25) on Saturday evening in the NCAA Regional Finals.

The first set was close early before an 8-1 run by Texas midway through the set propelled the Longhorns to a 25-18 set win. Ohio State scored eight of the final nine points of the second set to earn a 25-21 set win and even the match at one. Texas gained the advantage in the match with a 25-13 win in the third set. The Longhorns claimed a 25-21 win in a back-and-forth fourth set.

How it Happened

Emily Londot opened the match with a kill before Texas scored back-to-back to take its first lead at 2-1. The Longhorns used a 3-0 run to take an early lead but the Buckeyes did the same to tie the set at eight. The set was tied at 13 before an unsuccessful OSU challenge gave Texas the 15-13 advantage at the media timeout. The Longhorns scored four-unanswered points to force a Buckeye timeout trailing 19-14. Texas scored the final two points to earn the 25-18 set win.

The Longhorns opened scoring in the second set and jumped out to an early 5-1 lead. The Buckeyes got within two at 6-4 before calling timeout down 8-4. Texas stretched its lead to as many as six points at 14-8 before three-unanswered OSU points forced a Longhorns timeout. The Buckeyes used another 3-0 run to get within two at 19-17, prompting a second Texas timeout. Ohio State used a 5-0 run to take a 22-20 lead and scored the final three points of the set to even the match with a 25-21 set win on a kill from Gabby Gonzales.

Texas claimed an early 6-2 lead to force an Ohio State timeout, extending it to 8-2 with seven-straight points. The Buckeyes cut the deficit to 9-6 following a pair of OSU blocks. The Longhorns stretched their lead to 16-9 to prompt a second Buckeye timeout. Texas scored the final three points to take the advantage in the match with a 25-13 set win.

The Longhorns scored first in the fourth set before the Buckeyes gained the 4-2 advantage. Texas used a 6-0 run to take an 8-4 lead, forcing an Ohio State timeout. The Buckeyes scored three of the next four points to get within two at 9-7 and got within one at 11-10. OSU took a 15-13 lead on the back of a 4-0 run to force a Texas timeout. The Longhorns scored six of the next seven points out of the timeout to take a 19-16 lead and force a Buckeye timeout. Ohio State got back within one immediately out of the timeout before the teams traded points amidst a successful OSU challenge. After trailing 22-21, Texas finished the match with three-straight points to take the set by a 25-21 margin.

Highlights

S2: Set point

Match Notes

• Gabby Gonzales and Emily Londot were selected to the all-regional team.
• Mac Podraza recorded her 4,000^th career assist, becoming the fifth player in program history to do so.
• Kylie Murr finished the season fourth among single-season program records with 540 digs.
• Rylee Rader broke into the top-20 in program history in career blocks, ranking 18^th with 285 career blocks.
• This is the 11^th match of the season that Ohio State has had at least 10 blocks.
• Londot was the first Buckeye to 10 kills, recording 10+ for the 29^th time this season and finishing with 14 kills.
• Murr recorded 10+ digs for the 29^th time this season, totaling 12 digs.
• Gonzales reached 10 kills for the 21^st time this season.
• Podraza earned her 12^th double-double of the season by recording 36 assists and 10 digs.
• Rader finished the match with a season-high eight blocks.
• This is the fourth match of the season that Sarah Sue Morbitzer had more than one ace.
• S1: The set featured eight ties and three lead changes.
• S2: The Buckeyes fought back from a 19-14 deficit and finished the set on an 8-1 run.

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