Former Ohio State senior outside hitter Gabby Gonzales (8) hits a ball during the first set of the No. 6 Buckeyes’ match against Illinois at the Covelli Center Wednesday. Ohio State won/lost. Credit: Casey Smith | Lantern File
The Buckeyes couldn’t get it done against an old friend.
No. 15 Ohio State (3-4) dropped Saturday’s matchup against No. 6 Oregon (7-1) in four sets (28-26, 25-27, 25-20, 25-19) to close out the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Stanford.
The old friend in question was graduate Gabby Gonzales, an ex-Buckeye outside hitter. She led the Ducks with 19 kills on a red-hot .412 hitting percentage to go with 11 digs.
This came after her 18-kill effort against Minnesota the night before, capping off a great weekend for the first-year Duck. Gonzales and the rest of Oregon combined for a .327 hitting percentage, which gave them the edge in Saturday’s match.
“Oregon was a good test for us because of their speed and strength on both pins,” Ohio State head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg said.
The Buckeyes had a tough time on offense, hitting only .208 as a team and committing 26 attack errors in their fourth consecutive loss. Despite the inefficient attack, freshman setter Mia Tuman recorded 50 assists, the second-highest total of her career.
On the defensive side, freshman libero Kaitlyn Hoffman set a career-high 18 digs. The first set saw the two squads trade the lead the whole way, as neither team would gain a lead greater than 3 points.
Oregon ultimately won the set 28-26 in the first of two overtimes, with none other than Gonzales leading the attack, racking up six kills.
In the second game, Oregon seemed to have it in hand, mounting a 15-8 lead. That didn’t stop the Buckeyes, as they rallied to beat the Ducks 27-25 in set two, going on a 19-10 run.
“It was also good to see us fight,” Oldenburg said, “especially in the second set when we were down 13-20.”
The third set was a close one again until a score of 20-20 sparked a 5-0 run that won Oregon the set, 25-20. In the fourth set, the Ducks finished the job, ending the match with a 25-19 final set victory while controlling the lead the whole way, reaching a 9-point lead at one point.
Ohio State will look to right the ship next time out as they travel to Waco, Texas, to face the No. 7 Longhorns Thursday in their second-to-last nonconference battle.
