The crowd celebrates as the Ohio State women’s volleyball team records another point during Ohio States matchup against The University of Texas. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
The No. 8 Ohio State women’s volleyball team earned a pair of top-10 victories to bring its record up to .500 for the first time this season.
The Georgia Tech Classic was just that for the Buckeyes (3-3), who emerged in a four-set victory against the team that ended Ohio State’s season last year in No. 5 Georgia Tech Sunday. Ohio State also defeated No. 10 BYU in three sets to record its third-consecutive win over a top-10 team.
BYU
Ohio State swept No. 10 BYU (5-3) in the first matchup in Atlanta to kick off the fifth-consecutive ranked matchup of the year.
The Buckeyes went ahead 8-1 in the first set and at one point took an 11-point lead. Ohio State got ahead 20-10 and ultimately won the set 25-19 thanks to 11 errors by BYU.
The second set saw Ohio State take the initial lead, and after a 1-1 tie, the Buckeyes held onto the lead for the rest of the set. The Cougars made things difficult for the Buckeyes, bringing the set within one point four times before Ohio State put BYU away 25-16.
The third and final set began similarly to the first two sets, with an Ohio State first point but this time entered into extra points. The Cougars matched the Buckeyes point-for-point, tying the match six times, before a kill by senior outside hitter Gabby Gonzales and a match-ending block by senior outside hitter Adria Powell gave the Buckeyes the set win 27-25.
Junior outside hitter Emily Londot finished the match with a double-double finishing with 13 kills and 12 digs. Senior setter Mac Podraza had 41 assists and senior outside hitters Jenaisya Moore and Gonzales added 12 kills of their own.
BYU junior outside hitter Erin Livingston had 12 kills and eight of the Cougars’ 13 match errors. Senior setter Whitney Bower led BYU with 25 assists.
Georgia Tech
The No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes got their revenge from No. 5 Georgia Tech 3-1, with the Buckeyes’ third win in a row bringing their record even for the first time this season.
Ohio State fell behind 2-0 initially in the opening set but eventually took an eight-point lead that was too much for the Yellow Jackets to overcome. The Buckeyes took the set 25-19 in part because of Moore, who led the way for Ohio State in the first set and ended with four kills.
Moreover, the Buckeyes rolled in the first set with a team kill rate of .386 and 17 team digs on the defensive side.
The Buckeyes fell behind 2-0 in the second set and faced a five-point deficit multiple times. But they battled back within two points of the Yellow Jackets’ lead.
However, Georgia Tech’s defense was too much for Ohio State to handle, and the set went to Georgia Tech 25-20.
The Yellow Jackets had 14 digs and four blocks in the set. The reigning Big-Ten Co-Player of the Week, Londot, had five kills in the set, and Podraza ended with nine assists.
Gonzales stole the show in the third set, getting her first double-double of the season in Ohio State’s
25-21 third-set victory. The Buckeyes scored first and took a 5-4 lead they would not look back from.
The Buckeyes offense was the difference in the third set with a .235 hit rate and a .382 kill rate. Ohio State also had a match-high 13 assists in the set.
The fourth set was contentious the entire way, with 10 ties before the 12-12 stalemate was broken by a 4-0 run into the media timeout by Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets offense got ahead 18-13 before being outscored 12-5 in the final stretch by the Buckeyes in the 25-23 match-winning set victory.
Senior defensive specialist Kylie Murr’s presence was felt the entire match as she continued her streak of four consecutive matches with at least 10 digs, collecting 14 in the match and 29 in the weekend.
Yellow Jackets junior outside hitter Julia Bergmann led all players with 21 match kills. Ohio native and junior setter Isabella D’Amico had the lone double-double for Georgia Tech with 38 assists and 13 digs.
Londot continued her streak of at least 10 kills in every match of the season so far as she, Podraza and Gonzalez all finished the match with a double-double.
The Buckeyes will travel to Pittsburgh and first content Tennessee Saturday before closing nonconference play Sept. 18 against Pitt.
