No. 25 Buckeyes Sweep Indiana

Ohio State’s Mari Hole scores a team-high 14 points in 25-7, 25-18, 25-19 victory

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 25th-ranked Ohio State (18-13 overall, 8-10 Big Ten) women’s volleyball team defeated Indiana 3-0 (25-7, 25-18, 25-19) Sunday afternoon in St. John Arena. The Buckeyes honored seniors Kelli Barhorst and Sarah Mignin in front of 1,144 fans. Ohio State’s Mari Hole produced a match-high 14 points with 12 kills (.320), one ace serve and two assist blocks. Buckeye Kaitlyn Leary added 10 points with nine kills (.273) and one solo block. Morgan Leach and Samantha Thrower recorded a team-high nine points each for Indiana. Leach had seven kills (.267) and two solo blocks while Thrower recorded six kills (.333), one ace serve, one solo block and two assist blocks.

An OSU error and a Barhorst kill tied the first set at one. The Buckeyes took a 2-1 lead with a kill from Hole. A block from Mariah Booth, an Indiana error and kills from Hole and Booth made it 6-1 as the Hoosiers called time out. OSU continued the run with a Hole-Booth block, an IU error and a Mignin ace serve. Leading, 16-6, Ohio State scored the next nine points starting with a kill from Emily Danks and three Indiana errors. Kills from Barhorst, Leary and Danks and an Indiana error gave OSU set point at 24-7. A kill from Thrower stopped the set point at 24-7. Ohio State won the set, 25-7, off a Hoosier error to take a 1-0 lead in the match. For the set, Ohio State hit .389 to Indiana’s -.320.

Tied at one in set two, a Morgan Leach block and kill gave Indiana a 3-1 lead. At 5-3, an OSU error, an Ivie Obeime kill, a Whitney Granado-Thrower block and two Buckeye errors opened up a 10-3 Hoosier lead. An OSU error and an Ivie kill made it 11-4. Buckeye kills from Barhorst and Leary and three Indiana errors made it 11-90. At 12-10, an Indiana error and a Barhorst-Amanda Peterson block tied the set at 12. A Leach kill and an OSU error made it 14-12 Indiana. Trailing, 15-13, a kill from Booth, a Hole-Booth block and two Indiana errors gave OSU a 17-15 lead. Two OSU errors tied the set at 17. A seven point run by Ohio State began with kills from Danks and Leary, a Leary solo block, a Booth-Danks block, a Leary kill, an IU error and an ace serve from Hole to give OSU set point at 24-17. Indiana stopped the set point with a Thrower-Kelci Marschall block. Ohio State, with a kill from Leary, won the set, 25-18, to take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Buckeyes hit .056 for the set to -.135 for Indiana.

With set three tied at six, two Danks-Barhorst blocks gave OSU an 8-6 lead. A Thrower kill cut the margin to 8-7. A Leary kill, an ace serve from Danks and an Indiana error made it 11-7 OSU. The Buckeyes held the lead for the rest of the set to reach match point at 24-19 off an IU error. A Peterson ace serve gave Ohio State a 25-19 set win and a 3-0 victory in the match. The Buckeyes hit .367 for the set to .174 for Indiana.

Ohio State hit .238 for the match while Indiana hit -.106. OSU had a 35-20 margin in kills and a 32-18 advantage in assists. Peterson recorded a match-high 31 assists while Granado posted a team-high 13 for Indiana. The Buckeyes had a 5-2 edge in ace serves and gave up seven service errors to five for the Hoosiers. Defensively, OSU had a 31-29 edge in digs with OSU’s Mignin posting a match-high 10. At the net, the Buckeyes had a 10-5 margin in team blocks. OSU’s Booth collected a match-high six blocks with a solo and five assist blocks.

Ohio State closed out the regular season home schedule at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they host No. 12 Penn State (21-7, 14-4). The Buckeyes then travel for a 7 p.m. Friday match at Michigan (19-11, 7-11). That match will be played in Crisler Arena.