Coming off of its first two wins since early October, the Ohio State women’s volleyball team was unable to keep its streak alive over the weekend.
The Buckeyes (16-12, 4-12) fell 3-0 at No. 11 Minnesota Friday before losing a four-set decision against No. 14 Wisconsin Sunday.
OSU came out strong against the Badgers, taking the first set 25-23, but was unable to maintain momentum from there.
After falling behind 4-0 in the match’s initial set, the Buckeyes fell further behind as the set went on, finding themselves down 17-10. OSU pushed back, bringing the score to 19-18, before eventually taking the set.
The next three sets were more comparable to the first half of the opener, as the Buckeyes fell 18-25, 21-25 and 21-25.
Senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Leary notched her 12th double-double of the season, leading the match with 17 kills and adding 12 digs, but the Buckeyes tallied 24 attacking errors and 10 service errors as a team.
Freshman middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe chipped in with 13 kills of her own and sophomore outside hitter Katie Mitchell added eight kills on 14 swings for a .429 attacking percentage.
Junior setter Taylor Sherwin finished with 43 assists while senior defensive specialist Julianne Mandolfo had 18 digs.
While some Buckeyes put up strong numbers, it was not enough to overcome the balanced attack form Wisconsin. Four Badgers finished with double digit kills, led by junior outside hitter Courtney Thomas and redshirt-junior middle blocker Dominique Thompson with 13 each.
The loss to Wisconsin came on the heels of a match against Minnesota in which the Buckeyes failed to reach 20 points in any set (19-25, 19-25, 15-25).
Just as she did two days later in Madison, Wis., Leary led all players in kills, finishing with 15 and only three errors. No other Buckeyes reached double digits, but sophomore middle blocker Andrea Kacsits provided a strong showing with eight kills on 15 attempts with just a single error for a .467 attacking percentage.
Sherwin led the team with 26 assists and 11 digs while Mandolfo reached double-digits as well, finishing the match with 10.
Senior outside hitter Ashley Wittman and junior middle blocker Adrianna Nora led the Golden Gophers with 13 and 12 kills, respectively.
The Buckeyes are scheduled to return to Columbus Friday to kick off their final home stand of the season. OSU is set to face No. 25 Illinois Friday as the team celebrates senior night. The Buckeyes will be honoring seniors Leary, Mandolfo and defensive specialist Davionna DiSalvatore.
OSU is set to host Northwestern after the Fighting Illini, but the day and time has yet to be decided due to a 3:30 p.m. start for the Ohio State football team Saturday.
