Buckeyes Sweep Spartans in Home Opener

GAME CAPSULE

Michigan State dropped its home opener to Ohio State on Sunday, falling to the Buckeyes in straight sets (17-25, 15-25, 20-25).

The Spartans were in every set early but saw the Buckeyes using runs to pull away from the midpoint of each frame. MSU fought to pull back each time, but the deficits were too much to overcome each time. MSU was led by Cecilee Max Brown, who had eight kills and 10 digs. Ohio State was led by Emily Londot who finished with 12 kills, hit .357, and had a pair of blocks.

These two teams will meet again on Monday afternoon at 4 pm at Jenison Field House in a match that will air live on Big Ten Network.

PLAYER HIGHS

Cecilee Max-Brown led MSU with eight kills and 10 digs.
Naya Gros had five kills, hit a team-best .571, and had a block.
Jamye Cox had 14 digs

SET SYNOPSIS

SET ONE: The teams battled point-for-point until Ohio State began to open it up at 12-10, and rode a 7-0 scoring run to pull ahead by seven, 18-11, and eventually 22-13. OSU was hitting a red-hot .471 in the set with a pair of aces, while the Spartans had seven errors against 10 kills. The visitors took the set by a 25-17 margin, as Vanja Buklic had four kills on five swings to lead a team .360 hitting percentage. Molly Johnson led the Spartans with three kills, while three others had two kills each. Ohio State had three service aces while edging MSU 13-10 in kills, but seven attack errors held back the Spartans.

SET TWO: MSU got out to a slim 10-8 lead, but a 9-0 Buckeye scoring run once again allowed the visitors to break open a tight game and make it 17-10. The Ohio State block heated up with four stuffs in the frame (Lauren Witte had three), which contributed to MSU's nine attack errors in the set (8-9-38, -.026). Meanwhile, Emily Londot came alive with five kills with no errors on seven swings for OSU. MSU was led by Cecilee Max-Brown's three kills, and both Sarah Franklin and Naya Gros had a pair of kills.

SET THREE: After the break, the teams once again came out and battled point-for-point, which found the third set knotted up at 6-6 MSU used a 5-1 run – fueled by a pair of kills by Cullen, one by Franklin, and a Jamye Cox ace – to make it 11-7 and force the visitors to call time out. The Buckeyes got three points back out of the break to pull within 11-10, but MSU got it back and held a 13-11 lead. Ohio State went on a 10-2 run – using four kills, a pair of blocks, and an ace to stake another big lead (21-16). MSU scored four of the next five to pull within three points at 23-20, but back-to-back Londot kills sealed the sweep for Ohio State. Max-Brown had four of her eight kills in the set, as well as five of her 10 digs.

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Team Stats

Cecilee Max-Brown

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Meredith Norris

Players Mentioned

Jamye Cox

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Cecilee Max-Brown

Players Mentioned

Jamye Cox

Sarah Franklin

Naya Gros

Molly Johnson

Cecilee Max-Brown