The Buckeyes (14-14, 7-11 B1G) celebrate senior night during their game against Indiana (13-15, 6-12 B1G) Sunday at the Covelli Center. The Buckeyes secured a 3-2 win over the Hoosiers. Credit: Michael Misel | Lantern Photographer
It was a night to remember for the seniors in Columbus.
After trailing two sets to one, the Buckeyes (14-14, 7-11 Big 10) came back to beat Indiana (13-15, 6-12 Big 10) in five on Ohio State’s senior night and final home game of the season Saturday night at the Covelli Center.
Two kills from outside hitter Emily Londot helped the Buckeyes take an early 4-1 lead in the first set.
The Buckeyes then rallied to a 9-2 lead with a 3-0 run, led by two kills from outside hitter Grace Egan.
Middle blocker Eloise Brandewie and Londot shared a block to give the Buckeyes a 10-point lead, their largest of the set. However, Indiana scored five straight, causing the Buckeyes to call a timeout.
Outside hitter Emmi Sellman got a block for set point, before Londot got a kill two plays later to win the first set 25-19.
“We came out attacking them first and talked about that a lot, just being the attackers. And we out-dug them in that set,” setter Megan McCann said. “I think that kind of set the tone for where we wanted to go throughout the set.”
Early in the second set, middle blocker Rylee Rader got a quick hit to the left to help the Buckeyes take an early 3-2 lead.
The set went back and forth as Rader got a kill to take a lead of 12-11.
The Buckeyes continued their lead at 17-13, although Indiana shifted the momentum and completed a comeback to win the set 25-23.
In the third set, Sellman got back-to-back kills to help the Buckeyes take an 8-4 lead, but Indiana tied the game at eight.
Rader got a kill to tie the set at 12, before Indiana scored the next three points,taking the lead 15-12.
After Indiana scored two straight points to take a 23-22 lead, the Hoosiers scored two of the next three points to take the set 25-22.
Head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg said Indiana took advantage of the team’s missed opportunities in the second and third sets.
“They were starting to score in places that we weren’t in, our block wasn’t in a good setup. So they were scoring a higher clip than we were,” Oldenburg said. “We were making a little bit more errors and were late in the sets, which went in Indiana’s favor. So, they took advantage of our missed opportunities.”
In the fourth, Brandewie and setter Mia Tuman got a block to help the Buckeyes take an 11-7 lead.
Rader got a kill and moments later, Londot got back-to-back kills to increase the lead to 15-9.
Rader then got a kill for set point at 24-16, and two plays later, Londot won the fourth set for the Buckeyes with a kill.
In the fifth set, the Buckeyes jumped to an 8-3 lead behind two kills and a block from Londot.
The Buckeyes continued the momentum to 13-7, forcing Indiana to call two timeouts.
Sellman and Rader shared a block before a Sellman kill led to a set point.
For the final point, senior setter Sydney Taylor subbed into the game to serve.
“It was really fun. Well, they’re like [the team], ‘you’re going in to set.’ And I was like, ‘for who?’ And then I realized I was going in for Mia to serve and set,” Taylor said. “I think the team did a great job of obviously getting a little bit of a lead to make that happen, which I love them for that.”
Taylor’s first serve ended the match as well with a kill.
“I wanted to get [Taylor] in at some point, Oldenburg said.“[Taylor] has worked her butt off every single year and holds the standard for our team in that aspect, and we wanted to reward her.”
McCann said the team communicated well after the third set to help execute in the final two sets of the game.
“I feel like we talked about communication already, but we had that little dip. And I think we kind of regrouped and talked about it after that third set,” McCann said. “We were going over the game plan and how we want to attack them and what we want to do to get them out of the system as well.”
Next up, the Buckeyes take on the Badgers in Madison, Wisconsin Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
