Women's Volleyball: Buckeyes open season with undefeated weekend

Ohio State came out firing on all cylinders in its season debut at the Northern Kentucky Tournament Friday through Sunday in Highland Heights, Kentucky.

The No. 14 Buckeyes swept Northern Kentucky, battled in a hard-fought, five-set victory versus Bowling Green and completed the weekend with their final sweep against East Tennessee State, solidifying a 3-0 start to the season.

Northern Kentucky 

The first matchup of the weekend was an offensive clinic for the Buckeyes.

In the first set, the Norse began the scoring with an Abby Kanakry kill, but the tables quickly turned as Ohio State scored 7 straight points following the graduate middle blocker’s point. 

The Buckeyes and the Norse then traded points for most of the first set until Ohio State went on a 6-point run, resulting in its 25-17 triumph. 

The second set was a closer contest. After a 5-0 Buckeye lead, the Norse stormed back to make it 9-8, only trailing by a point.

From there it remained tight, with seven lead changes throughout the set culminating in an Emily Londot — the senior outside hitter and four-time Big Ten Player of the Week — kill to win it 25-21 for the Buckeyes. 

The third set was another nail-biter, resulting in a second-consecutive 25-21 Buckeye victory and completing the sweep of Northern Kentucky on its home court.

The Norse led early 6-2, but Ohio State took it back 7-6 and only lost the lead twice for the rest of the set in a close win. 

Londot led the winning squad with 19 kills, followed by sophomore Chelsea Thorpe’s nine and freshman Grace Egan’s eight. 

Another freshman stood out for the Buckeyes, setter Mia Tuman dished out 37 assists on the night as the centerpiece of the efficient Buckeye offense. 

Bowling Green 

The second Buckeye match of the tournament was a closer affair, as Ohio State defeated the Falcons in a best of five sets.

Ohio State took the first set with a decisive 6-point streak to pull away from a 20-19 deficit late after 13 prior lead changes. The Buckeyes won it 25-20.

The second set was all Bowling Green. It was a back-and-forth matchup until a 12-12 tie, in which the Falcons ripped through the Buckeye defense for a 13-3 run to end the set 25-15. 

The Falcons took the third in a 25-23 close victory. Bowling Green won with back-to-back kills to end the set, courtesy of freshman setter Amanda Otten and junior outside hitter Mia Tyler. 

Down 2-1, the Buckeyes won the next two sets to seal the deal.

They responded well after getting beat by double digits in the second set, rebounding to beat the Falcons by 9 points in the fourth set. Thorpe set the tone for the set with a first-ball kill, and the Buckeyes held the lead from that point on to win 25-16. 

In the decisive fifth set, the Buckeyes rode their momentum to a 15-7 victory to seal the comeback with a 3-2 match win. The Buckeyes put up big numbers on Saturday, again led by Londot,  who racked up a double-double with 26 kills, pacing both teams and 10 digs.

This total moved Londot up in the record books to 16th of all-time at Ohio State in kills with 1,217 and 17th in points with 1,393.5. 

Tuman was setting up her hitters with precision again, putting up 55 assists and adding 14 digs for another double-double. Egan added to the action herself with 12 kills and 10 digs, notching her first career double-double. 

East Tennessee State 

Coming off a tough five-set victory, Ohio State won the first two sets in quick 25-15 and 25-13 decisions versus the Buccaneers Sunday, only trailing once before the third set.

In the final set, the two went toe-to-toe, with each team failing to pull further than 2 points ahead. Ohio State snagged a 16-13 lead and took it to a 24-16 match point. 

The Buccaneers attempted a comeback after a challenge that kept the set alive and then scored 3 straight, but the Buckeyes finished business. 

Ohio State was not as dominant offensively as they were at times in the first two games of the weekend, but they didn’t need to be, as they notched the sweep on the back on Londot’s three blocks.

A couple of defensive specialists anchored the receiving end for the Buckeyes.

Junior Sydney Taylor picked up 10 digs, while senior Sarah Sue Morbitzer, along with Egan, picked up five apiece. Londot paced both teams in kills with 12, Tuman led with 24 assists and sophomore setter Kamiah Gibson put up 16 assists against the Buccaneers in her Ohio State debut.

Fourteen Buckeyes saw the court this weekend and three made their first college appearances. 

Ohio State will return home to host the Sports Imports Classic versus Georgia Tech Friday and Saturday.