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Ohio State Reaches Sweet Sixteen with 3-2 Win at No. 14 Tennessee
The Buckeyes advance to the round of 16 for the second-straight season
COLUMBUS,
Ohio – The Ohio State women’s volleyball team battled its way to a
Sweet Sixteen berth for the second-consecutive season with an upset
victory over host and 14th-seeded Tennessee , 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-23,
23-25, 15-12), Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.
“Tennessee
head coach Rob Patrick has a team with very few weaknesses,” head
women’s volleyball coach Geoff Carlston, said. “We knew we had to play
nearly perfect to win.”
The Buckeyes (21-14 Big
Ten) received a 22-kill effort from junior Mari Hole, while junior
Emily Danks added 18 kills. Junior Amanda Peterson lending a helping
hand with 52 assists for the Scarlet and Gray. Five Buckeyes had
double-digit digs led by Hole (16) and sophomore Davionna DiSalvatore
(15), while junior Mariah Booth had a team-best 10 blocks (2s, 8a).
Kelsey
Robinson led the Volunteers (28-4) with 17 kills, while Mary Pollmiller
tallied 49 assists. Shealyn Kolosky was a menace for UT defensively,
playing a part in 10 assisted blocks.
SEC champion
Tennessee jumped out to an early lead by taking the first set, 25-23.
The two teams exchanged points before the Buckeyes completed a 4-0 run
to take a 6-2 lead compliment of back-to-back unassisted blocks from
Hole and Danks. The Volunteers stormed back with an 8-1 run of its own,
leaving the Buckeyes at a 10-7 deficit. With the UT lead at 23-19, Ohio
State pulled back within a point on two of errors from Tennessee and
kills from Kelli Barhorst and Hole. Tennessee’s Tiffany Baker ended the
Buckeye comeback as she notched a kill off the outstretched arm of a
diving Sarah Mignin to take the set for UT.
Ohio
State took advantage of a .150 attack percentage from Tennessee in the
second set to knot the score at a set apiece with a 25-21 win. Action
tightened up as well, as both teams exchanged 4-0 runs, but neither
could sustain a longer streak. Tennessee led 6-4 before the teams
engaged in back-and-forth action on the way to a 16-16 tie. Following a
3-0 run by UT, the Scarlet and Gray took advantage of a 7-1 run,
including kills from a trio of Buckeyes and a service ace from Danks,
to take hold of the score at 23-20. After a kill from UT’s
Robinson, Hole claimed the second set for the Buckeyes with a pair of
kills off feeds from Peterson.
The Scarlet and
Gray edged ahead by taking the third set, 25-23. Trailing 10-6, the
Volunteers benefited from a pair of kills by DeeDee Harrison on a 4-1
run to cut the deficit to a point. Kaitlyn Leary recorded a pair of
kills and a solo block for the Buckeyes in a 7-3 run to push Ohio State
to an 18-13 lead. UT climbed right back with an 8-2 streak to take the
lead, 21-20, garnering an enthusiastic roar from the home crowd. The
Buckeyes immediately used a timeout to regain composure and received a
pair of kills from Danks and a block from both Booth and Danks on a 5-2
run to take the set.
Four sets were not enough to
decide a winner as Tennessee raced out to a 4-1 lead in set four and
held on throughout to tie the match, 2-2. Down 20-15, OSU moved the
score to 21-19 with kills from Hole and Barhorst, as well as a pair of
errors from UT. The Volunteers maintained the two-point lead until
kills from Baker and Harrison claimed the set, 25-23, and sent the
match into a fifth set.
Feeding off the energy of
the crowd, Tennessee built an early, 3-1 lead in the final frame, but
the Buckeyes made the lead their own with five-consecutive points, two
off Hole kills, as part of a 7-1 run. The UT defense sharpened, making
several highlight-worthy digs on the way to a 6-2 run to tie the set at
10 apiece. Ohio State made the set and match its own after that, taking
five of the last seven points. Booth slammed a kill in the middle of
the court to punch the Buckeyes’ ticket to the Sweet Sixteen with a
15-12 win.
Ohio State will travel to Florida, Dec.
9-10, for the Gainsville Regional and will face the winner of
second-seed Illinois and Marquette.
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