Ohio State’s women’s volleyball team kept their undefeated season alive when they defeated No. 6 Penn State Wednesday night at St Johns Arena.

OSU came out strong and took a commanding 10-0 lead in the first set of the match.

Penn State made a comeback, and drew as close as 26-22 in the closing play of the first set.

However, with the help of a huge kill from OSU freshman Stacey Gordon that put the Bucks up 29-24, OSU went on to win the first set of the match, 30 -24.

It appeared as if OSU had Penn State on the ropes in the second set, leading 25-24. However, the Nittany Lions battled back and won the second set 30-28.

The comeback in the second set seemed to give the Nittany Lions a huge boost as they went on to win the third set by the same score, 30-28, overcoming a late OSU rally.

The Nittany Lions were led by senior Katie Schumacher, who recorded 27 kills out of PSU’s 63 in the match.

The Buckeyes had a more balanced attack led by freshman Stacey Gordon, with 25 kills, and senior Anne Botica with 21 kills.

The Bucks came up big in the crucial moments of the match.

Facing elimination, and down 29-27 in the fourth set, OSU managed to scramble back and retie the set at 29.

OSU came up big by scoring the last two points of the set to tie the match at two sets a piece, forcing a deciding fifth set.

With the St. Johns’ crowd on its feet, OSU took advantage of their regained momentum and went ahead 10-8, after Penn State had grabbed an early lead in the fifth set.

The deciding set was a toss-up going into the final points of the game, as both teams saw their destiny hinge on the final three points of the set, with the score tied at 12.

A key kill by OSU junior Suzie Stiling put the Bucks up 14-12.

The Bucks won a dramatic final point to win the deciding fifth set and defeated the No. 6 ranked Nittany Lions.

“Beating Penn State is a big deal,” coach Jim Stone said.

Stone said the key to the match was that OSU didn’t allow the errors they made early on to affect them.

“Penn State is a great team, but we overcame them, and that was awesome,” OSU senior Anne Botica said.

Botica said that the great thing about this year’s OSU team was that anyone can step up big at any time.

The Bucks came into the match No. 15 in the nation, and the win against Big Ten power Penn State will likely push the Buckeyes even higher in the polls.

The win gave the Bucks an 11-0 unblemished record (3-0 in the Big Ten.)

The Bucks will host the Purdue Boilermakers at St. Johns Arena today at 7 p.m.

Purdue comes in to the game with a 1-1 record in Big Ten play, but only a 1-7 record overall.

“We really have to be ready for Purdue,” Stone said. “They are going to be waiting for us.”

“We have to keep building on our season when we face Purdue,” Botica said.