Freshman right side hitter Taylor Sandbothe (10) lines up in front of her teammates during a match against Michigan Sept. 27 at St. John Arena. OSU won, 3-1.
Credit: Mark Batke / Lantern photographer
The No. 12 Ohio State women’s volleyball team returns from its first road trip of Big Ten play with one win and one more loss.
The Buckeyes (14-2) still sit at .500 in conference play after their win over Indiana in Bloomington Saturday. The Hoosiers kept it close all the way as it took OSU five sets and a few extra points to come out on top.
OSU won the first set before splitting the next two. Indiana jumped on the Buckeyes for a 25-17 set win in the fourth before OSU finished off an extended fifth set 17-15.
Senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Leary led all players with 22 kills in the match while also notching 11 digs, marking her eighth double-double of the season. Junior setter Taylor Sherwin also filled up the stat sheet, finishing with 45 assists and 10 digs of her own.
Sophomore middle blocker Andrea Kacsits added 10 kills and a .364 attack percentage while freshman right side hitter Taylor Sandbothe tallied 11 kills and eight errors.
Two more Buckeyes finished with double digit digs. Senior defensive specialist Julianna Mandolfo led the team with 15 while freshman defensive specialist Valeria León had 10.
For the Hoosiers, sophomore middle blocker Awele Nwaeze led the way with 15 kills. Freshman setter Megan Tallman and senior defensive specialist Caitlin Hansen posted match highs for Indiana with 48 assists and 24 digs respectively.
Before the match against Indiana, the Buckeyes dropped two straight in conference play, including one at No. 24 Purdue Friday.
The Boilermakers came out with a victory in set one and never looked back as they swept OSU in three straight sets (25-23, 25-15, 25-21).
The Buckeyes have lost two of their last three matches after starting the season on a 13 game-winning streak.
For OSU, Leary had a match high 15 kills but the next best for the Buckeyes was six in a tie between Sandbothe and sophomore outside hitter Katie Mitchell.
Sherwin finished with 26 assists and Mandolfo led the team with 11 digs.
For Purdue, junior Val Nichol had 10 kills, 15 assists, seven digs and five block assists. Redshirt-senior Rachel Davis added 22 assists and redshirt-senior Carly Cramer tallied a match high 14 digs.
The Buckeyes are scheduled to return to the Columbus court this weekend for matches against No. 23 Wisconsin Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 8 Minnesota at the same time Saturday.
