The Ohio State women’s volleyball team sings Carmen Ohio after the Ohio State-Nebraska match Sunday. Ohio State won 3-1. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
The No. 5 Ohio State women’s volleyball looks to extend its Big Ten Championship hopes this weekend at Maryland Friday and home against Indiana on Sunday.
The Buckeyes (19-5, 15-1 Big Ten) enter the weekend on a 14-match winning streak, after beating No. 4 Nebraska in four sets on Sunday at Covelli Center.
Junior opposite hitter Emily Londot’s season-high 23 kills and career-high 21 digs against the Cornhuskers earned her the GameChanger/AVCA Player of the Week—the first Buckeye since 2016. She said her success comes from consistency in practice.
“We just always come in to practice the next day,” Londot said. “Tuesday we came in and we worked the same way we would have worked the week before. We come in every day as a new day, and I think that’s going to really just help me and just the whole team prepare for each game to come.”
Ohio State’s offensive attack features three outside hitters each averaging more than 3.10 kills per set. Senior Jenaisya Moore’s 3.13, senior Gabby Gonzales’s 3.45 and Londot’s 3.87 kills.
Gonzales credits the success of her and her teammates to her back-row defenders. The Marietta, Georgia, native, said having players like senior libero Kylie Murr and junior Sarah Sue Morbitzer adds weapons to an already great team.
“That’s something that’s so great about our team is we do have so many weapons, we have so many great people on the court, off the court, and it just makes everyone’s play rise to another level,” Gonzales said.
Murr ranks second in the Big Ten in digs per set with 4.36, and is just 11 off the 1,795 mark for first-place all-time in career digs.
Buckeye senior setter Mac Podraza ranks first in the Big Ten with 11.06 assists per set, to feed an Ohio State offense that ranks first in the conference averaging 14.25 kills per set.
“There’s just so many great weapons. I think that it’s nice to see everyone have their own little time to shine,” Gonzales said.
Maryland
Maryland (14-14, 5-11 Big Ten) enters after being swept in its last two matches against No. 9 Minnesota and then-No. 3 Wisconsin. The Terrapins record against ranked opponents is 1-6 with their lone victory coming in a sweep over then-No. 9 Purdue on Oct. 16 in College Park.
The Terps are the best blocking team in the conference this season, averaging 3.3 blocks per set. Although Maryland allows opponents 1.7 blocks per set.
Gonzales said the team is focused on the matchup against Maryland, without looking ahead past this weekend.
“I think we play in a conference where it’s kind of hard to look ahead because everyone is so good,” Gonzales said. “Maryland’s one of the best blocking teams in the Big Ten. So, right now we’re focused on them, we’re focused on how to beat them, it’s easy to look ahead and look at all these big things that we’re capable of doing.”
Maryland ranks third in the Big Ten in total points but is averaging just 16.46 points per set. The Terrapins offensive attack primarily comes through junior outside hitter Sam Csire’s 3.29 kills per set.
This is the first meeting of the season for the two teams. Ohio State leads 16-5 in the all-time series against Maryland and is 5-3 when facing the Terrapins in College Park.
“Looking ahead really fuels our fire as a team and to reach our goal we do have to take it day-by-day and game-by-game, just using the future as our motivation,” Londot said.
Last season, the Buckeyes earned sweeps in both meetings with the Terrapins, winning 25-21, 25-18, 25-19 at home Oct. 2, 2021, and 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 Nov. 26, 2021.
Indiana
The Hoosiers (13-15, 6-10 Big Ten) and were swept at No. 9 Minnesota on Sunday. The Hoosiers are 1-10 against ranked opponents this season, earning a four-set win against then-No. 25 Michigan on Oct. 21 in Ann Arbor.
The Hoosiers’ offense is led by sophomore outside hitter Mady Saris, who is averaging 3.62 kills per set this season. Senior libero Paula Cerame leads the Indiana defense with 3.86 digs per set.
Gonzales said the Hoosiers are a scrappy team, and the Buckeyes cannot overlook this game either.
“They’re a really scrappy team, so our defense needs to be really good because they have a couple of offensive players coming at us from different angles,” Gonzales said.
Indiana sophomore setter Camryn Haworth ranks second in the Big Ten in service aces, averaging .41 per set, while also averaging 9.06 assists per set.
Ohio State leads 54-26 in the all-time series with Indiana. The Buckeyes are 31-7 all-time when facing the Hoosiers in Columbus.
“Just like our team, they’re a team that’s been fighting for those big wins. They’ve been super close here and there against big teams. making sure we focus on our side and our team and work together,” Gonzales said.
Ohio State beat Indiana in four sets on Oct. 1 in Bloomington earlier this season and won the last three matches against the Hoosiers.
