The Ohio State women’s volleyball team fended off fellow in-state universities this weekend to win the Sports Imports Classic at St. John Arena.
Bowling Green, Cleveland State and Xavier all fell victim to the Buckeyes (12-1 overall, 3-0 in the tournament), who dropped only one set the entire weekend.
Xavier (7-6) had an opportunity to win the event on Saturday night with a victory over OSU, but the Buckeyes won all three sets, pushing the Musketeers into a second-place finish at 2-1.
OSU played better as the match went on, winning the final set 25-6 after more competitive bouts of 27-25 and 25-18. Junior Katie Dull led the Bucks with 17.5 points, including 13 kills.
Earlier Saturday, OSU faced its toughest challenge against Cleveland State. The Vikings jumped out to an early lead, sparked by a 26-24 win in the first set. However, OSU rolled out three consecutive winning sets, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-15.
Senior Kristen Dozier paced Ohio State with 17 points and 15 kills.
On Friday, the Buckeyes swept away Bowling Green in three quick sets, 25-19, 25-20 and 25-13.
Freshmen Amanda Peterson and Emily Danks and redshirt senior Chelsea Noble all represented Ohio State on the tournament team, Peterson being honored as the event’s Most Valuable Player.
Cleveland State (11-4) finished third at 1-2, and Bowling Green (7-6) failed to record a victory, finishing up 0-3.
The Buckeyes head to Illinois on Friday and Northwestern on Saturday for a pair of Big Ten road games to kick off conference play.