Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State University
17-5, 6-4
Ohio State
14-8, 4-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan State | 21 | 19 | 19 | 0 |
| Ohio State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Buckeyes Avenge Earlier Loss, Down MSU in Columbus
10/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
SPARTAN SYNOPSIS
No. 11 Michigan State fell on the road on Saturday night in Columbus, dropping a 3-0 decision to No. 19 Ohio State (21-25, 19-25, 19-25). The Buckeyes improve to 14-8, and 4-6 in Big Ten play, while the Spartans are 17-5, 6-4 Big Ten.
The teams traded two-and-three point runs throughout the match, which led to 16 tie scores and eight lead changes. After OSU took the first set, the Spartans were building to a second-set victory with a four-point lead before the Buckeyes finished out the frame on a 10-1 run (featuring six kills and two blocks) to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 match lead. OSU hit .347 on the night and out-blocked the Spartans by a 8-3 margin, and avenged a 3-0 sweep by MSU earlier this season in East Lansing.
Autumn Bailey led the Spartans with nine kills and two blocks, while Allyssah Fitterer had six kills and also had a pair of stuffs. Brooke Kranda hit .500, compiling seven kills. Luisa Shirmer had 13 kills, hit .417, and added six digs and a pair of blocks, while setter Taylor Hughes had 37 assists, seven kills (7-0-9, .778) and a pair of blocks to go with four digs. Taylor Sandbothe (12) and Audra Appold (10) rounded out OSU's trio with double-digit kills.
MSU has a pair of road games next week at Indiana (Friday) and Purdue (Saturday) to begin the second half of Big Ten play.
- SET ONE: Trailing 6-3, MSU roared back with a 5-0 run, featuring kills from Kranda, Bailey (2) and Fitterer to force Ohio State into a time out. Out of the break, the Buckeyes scored five of the next seven points to go up by two (12-10), but MSU rallied back to take a lead at 15-15. To that point of the frame, MSU was hitting .350 to Ohio State's .143. The teams traded two-and-three point rallies and therefore the lead, with OSU establishing a 22-19 edge with a kill off the block; MSU chipped away and trailed 23-21, but a kill by Taylor Hughes got the home team to set point. Garvelink fended it off with a kill from the right side, but a termination by Sandbothe gave the Buckeyes a 25-21 win in set one. Bailey had five kills to lead MSU (5-0-7), and Sandbothe and Schirmer shared the OSU lead with five each.
- SET TWO: MSU opened the frame with a 3-0 lead, but the home team stormed back with four straight before a kill by Reinig knotted the score at 4-4. The fight between two-and-three point runs continued into the second set, and MSU took its largest lead at 12-8 thanks to a pair of hitting errors by the home team and kills from Bailey and Reinig. Appold halted the MSU run with a kill out of the Buckeye time out, and then trimmed it to two at 14-12 with kills by Schirmer and Sandbothe. Ohio State trimmed it to a one-point MSU lead at 19-18 on a kill by Schirmer, and after an OSU time out, they scored three straight points - two from Luisa Schirmer to get her to 10 kills on the night - to regain the lead and take a 21-19 advantage. Consecutive blocks for the Buckeyes gave them a four-point edge, and pushed their run to 8-1. An MSU miscue followed by a kill from Schirmer closed it out for the Buckeyes, who took a 2-0 match lead. Schirmer had seven kills in the frame, as the hosts used a 10-1 run - featuring six kills and two blocks - to come from behind in the set.
- SET THREE: Ohio State took an early 11-6 lead, hitting .417 (6-1-12) while MSU committed four errors against three early kills. OSu's largest lead was six (18-12), but MSU came back with a pair of kills from Minarick and one from Kranda to trim it to four, 19-15. OSU pushed it back out to seven points at 23-16, but the Spartans kept fighting - a Kranda kill got it back to six, and when the Buckeyes got to set point at 24-17, Bailey held off match point twice - once with a kill, once with a block - to bring MSU back within five. Bailey's next attempt was blocked by the setter Hughes, and the Buckeyes took the 25-19 win in set three.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Autumn Bailey posted a team-high nine kills and five digs, and led the Spartans with two blocks.
- Brooke Kranda hit .500 (7-0-14), and added a pair of aces.
- Allyssah Fitterer had six kills, a dig, and shared the team lead of two blocks.
STATS AND STORYLINES
- Ohio State hit .347 in the match. In MSU's five losses this season, each of those opponents has hit .300 or better - and are the only opponents to do so. The Spartans were held to .191 hitting.
- MSU is now 13-4 in three-set matches, with 17 three-set affairs in 22 matches overall.
- The Spartans were out-blocked 8-3 in the match. That ties MSU's season low in team blocks, also set vs. Morgan State and Notre Dame. MSU's Big Ten low had been four team blocks, at Rutgers (Oct. 1).
- Rachel Minarick recorded 30 assists, six digs, two aces, and three kills.
