Junior opposite hitter Emily Londot (22) jumps during the Ohio State-Michigan game Wednesday. Ohio State won 3-0. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
It took multiple come-from-behind set victories for the No. 6 Ohio State women’s volleyball team to take a 3-2 victory Saturday at No. 11 Penn State’s Recreation Building.
Penn State (17-6, 6-6 Big Ten) jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first set, forcing Ohio State to take a timeout. The Buckeyes (15-5, 11-1 Big Ten) chipped away, getting within one at 20-19, but after a timeout, the Nittany Lions grabbed the first set 25-19.
Ohio State allowed a .341 hitting percentage in the first set but ended up holding the Nittany Lions to a .186 percentage for the match. The Nittany Lions had 65 kills on the night, and 37 came in the first two sets.
Ohio State’s first match lead came in the second set at 4-3 but took a timeout trailing 24-21. The set had 12 ties and five lead changes, with the Buckeyes tying the set at 24 points and scoring the following two points with junior outside hitter Emily Londot’s 10th kill of the match.
The Buckeyes collected 19 kills in the set, 71 in total, with Londot leading the team with six of her 16 on the night.
The Buckeyes scored first in the third set but quickly fell behind 10-3. Penn State surrendered the lead and clawed its way back from down 25-19 to win 28-26, behind 11 errors by Ohio State.
Penn State had five players with at least 10 digs, outperforming Ohio State 82-76. The Buckeyes had four players hit double digits.
Trailing 2-1 in sets, Ohio State scored first but quickly fell behind and tied the score at six, seven, eight and nine before taking the lead for good 10-9 in the fourth frame. Senior setter Mac Podraza recorded an ace and for the Nittany Lions to take a timeout, and the Buckeyes outscored Penn State 11-4 down the stretch, including ending the set on a seven-point run 25-14.
Junior middle blocker Rylee Rader had three kills and two block assists in the set.
Now tied at two sets apiece Ohio State continued its momentum, opening the scoring in the fifth set, but Penn State took an 8-6 lead into the media timeout. Ohio State rebounded, going on a 4-1 run to take an 11-10 lead.
The score was tied 11 times in the set, including at 15, before senior outside hitter Gabby Gonzales killed two balls to give the Buckeyes the set 17-15 and the game.
Defense first
Senior defensive specialist Kylie Murr collected 22 digs in the match. She passed 10 digs for the 19th time and 20 digs for the fourth time this season. She currently sits less than 100 digs away from the program record.
Double-doubles
Podraza recorded her fifth double-double of the year with 53 assists and 13 digs. Gonzales reached 10 kills for the 13th time this season and at least 20 kills for the second time, finishing the match with a career-high 24 kills and her seventh double-double with 10 digs.
Career-highs
On top of Gonzales’ career high in kills, senior outside hitter Adria Powell collected seven blocks and junior defensive specialist Sarah Sue Morbitzer had 16 digs, all career highs. Murr tied her career high in assists with nine.
Up next
Ohio State travels to Evanston, Illinois, to take on Northwestern Friday at 8 p.m.
