Ohio State Drops Five-Set Marathon to Indiana

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes (19-7, 15-3 B1G) fell to Indiana (15-15, 8-10 B1G) in a five-set heartbreaker (26-24, 17-25, 17-25, 25-20, 14-16) on Sunday afternoon in front of a sold-out Covelli crowd for the Buckeye Inclusion match.

A back-and-forth set and a trio of challenges sent the first set into extra points with Ohio State earning the 26-24 set win. Indiana tied the match with a 25-17 win in the second set. The Hoosiers earned the 2-1 advantage in the match with a 25-17 set three win. The Buckeyes forced a fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth. The Hoosiers won by a 16-14 margin in the fifth set by scoring the final four points.

How it Happened

Indiana opened scoring in the match and used a 5-0 run to take an early 7-3 lead, forcing an OSU timeout. The Buckeyes strung together four-unanswered points to get back within one at 8-7 and forced an Indiana timeout. A successful Hoosiers challenge out of the timeout let Indiana keep the lead. The Buckeyes tied the set at 12 and took their first lead of the set at 13-12 on a block from Emily Londot and Adria Powell. Five-straight Indiana points forced a second Ohio State timeout with the Buckeyes trailing 17-13. The teams traded points out of the timeout and a successful OSU challenge put the margin of deficit at 20-17. A 4-0 OSU run amidst an Indiana timeout got the Buckeyes within one at 20-19 and Ohio State tied the set at 21. The Buckeyes used a 3-0 run to take a 24-22 lead but a successful Hoosiers challenge tied the set at 24. Back-to-back kills by Adria Powell gave the Buckeyes the 26-24 set win.

The Hoosiers scored first in the second set and used a 4-1 run to take a 13-8 lead, forcing an Ohio State timeout. The Buckeyes had to take a second timeout as the Hoosiers pushed their lead to 18-11. The teams traded points out of the timeout before a pair of Buckeye points forced an IU timeout following an ace from Londot. Indiana tied the match with a 25-17 set win.

Jenaisya Moore got the Buckeyes on the board first in the third set and OSU scored the first four points. A pair of 3-0 Hoosier runs gave Indiana its first lead of the set at 6-5. Ohio State tied the set at six before five-unanswered IU points forced a Buckeye timeout down 11-6. The Buckeyes scored the next three points to cut the deficit to 11-9, prompting a Hoosiers timeout. Back-to-back Indiana points forced an Ohio State timeout trailing 19-13. The Buckeyes scored twice out of the timeout, but the Hoosiers earned the 25-17 set win.

Indiana scored first to begin set four as the teams were tied five times before a team reached 10 points amidst a small run by each team. After being tied at 11 (the sixth tie of the set), Ohio State scored four of the next five points to take a 15-12 lead and force an Indiana timeout. The Buckeyes scored the next three points, even with replaying a point following a Hoosiers challenge, to prompt another IU timeout with OSU up 18-12. Indiana responded out of the timeout with a 5-3 edge to force an Ohio State timeout with the Buckeyes holding the 21-17 lead. The Hoosiers got within three points at 22-19, but the Buckeyes capped a 25-20 set win with a solo block from Mac Podraza.

Gabby Gonzales opened scoring with her 12^th kill of the match. After three-unanswered Buckeye points to make it 4-1, the Hoosiers called timeout. OSU made it 5-1 before a 3-0 IU run got it to 5-4. Indiana eventually tied the set at six to force an Ohio State timeout. The Hoosiers took their first lead of the set at 7-6, but the Buckeyes immediately tied it again at seven and regained the lead at 8-7 on an IU error. The set was tied again at eight and nine before back-to-back OSU points prompted a second Indiana timeout with Ohio State ahead by an 11-9 margin. Ohio State called a timeout after Indiana was able to tie the set at 14 with a 4-1 run. The Hoosiers won the set by a 16-14 mark by scoring the final four points.

Highlights

Intros

S1: Emily Londot kill

S1: Rylee Rader kill

S1: Sydney Taylor ace

S1: Sarah Sue Morbitzer dig

S1: Set point

S2: Gabby Gonzales kill

S2: Rylee Rader kill

S3: Jenaisya Moore kill

S3: Emily Londot kill

S3: Gabby Gonzales kill

S4: Jenaisya Moore kill

S4: Jenaisya Moore flex

S4: Set point

S5: Adria Powell/Gabby Gonzales block

S5: Rylee Rader/Mac Podraza block

S5: Gabby Gonzales kill

Match Notes

Emily Londot recorded her 12^th double-double of the season and reached 10 kills for the 23^rd time this season as she finished with 11 kills and 14 digs.
Gabby Gonzales reached 10 digs for the 11^th time this season, finishing with a season-high 21 digs. Gonzales earned her 11^th double-double of the season by adding 14 kills.
Rylee Rader recorded her fifth match with at least 10 kills this season, totaling 10 kills.
Jenaisya Moore reached 10 kills for the 19^th time this season, finishing with 12 kills.
Sarah Sue Morbitzer totaled at least 10 digs for the seventh time this season, matching her career-high 16 digs, including the 200^th dig of her career.
Sydney Taylor reached 10 digs for the first time this season, on her way to a career-high 15.
Morbitzer also tallied a career-high four assists.

What They Said

Head Coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg: “I feel like we were engaged both in the scouting for both the Maryland match and this one today in Indiana, but it’s about execution and playing with freedom and I don’t feel like we did that. I think both Maryland and Indiana played at a level that when they’re playing like that, they’re going to build some confidence and we weren’t ready to punch back. It’s unfortunate but it’s going to be how we respond moving forward.”
Junior middle Rylee Rader: “I think we have two choices – learn from this weekend and go up, do what the 2011 team did or we could dwell on these two losses and look at each other in the first round of the NCAA Tournament like we did after we lost today. I think we just have a choice to make of whether we want to work hard or not. I think we’re going to work hard this week and prove a lot of people wrong.”

Up Next

Ohio State concludes the regular season by hosting No. 9 Minnesota on Friday evening at 6 p.m. ET (B1G+ broadcast) and No. 3 Wisconsin on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET (BTN broadcast).

Be sure to come cheer on Ohio State women’s volleyball inside the Covelli Center this fall. Single-match tickets are available HERE. Applicable service fees will apply to all tickets. For group tickets and any questions, contact an account representative at 1-800-GO-BUCKS or via email at athletic.tix@osu.edu.

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