Ohio State graduates Emily Londot and Rylee Rader block a ball against UCLA Sunday, ultimately losing 4-1. Credit: Ohio State Athletics
Ohio State’s opening weekend of Big Ten play did not go as planned for the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes (7-5 0-2 Big Ten) were defeated by the No. 10 University of Southern California Trojans in five sets and the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins in four sets in Ohio State’s opening weekend of Big Ten conference play.
Game 1:
The Buckeyes lost in five sets (25-19, 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 13-15) to the No. 10 USC Trojans (9-2 1-0 Big Ten) in Los Angeles on Friday night.
Ohio State jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first set.
But the Trojans responded and went on a run of their own, tying the game at nine. A kill from senior outside hitter Emily Londot set the momentum shift late to allow the Buckeyes to take the first set 25-19.
USC opened the second set with an 8-2 lead, causing a timeout. The Trojans continued to dominate and eventually took a 19-14 lead, resulting in another Buckeye timeout. Ohio State dropped the set to the Trojans 25-21.
The Trojans used the momentum from the second set to open up set three with an 8-3 lead. The Buckeyes cut the lead to four but a 7-0 Ohio State run, led by redshirt freshman outside hitter Grace Egan’s back-to-back aces, tied the score at 16. But USC regained the lead, causing the Buckeyes to take a timeout before ultimately losing the set 25-20.
The Buckeyes came out with a 10-5 lead in the fourth set, forcing USC to call their first timeout. The Trojans then scored four straight points to bring them within one at 12-11. Londot recorded a career-high eight blocks for Ohio State en route to a 25-20 win, forcing a fifth set. The teams traded points, but it was no match for Londot’s career-high eight blocks and the Buckeyes.
The Trojans went on an early 5-0 run, gaining momentum and causing the Buckeyes to call a timeout. Ohio State traded points with USC throughout but fell short in the end, 15-13.
Game 2:
Ohio State was defeated in four sets (16-25, 22-25, 25-23, 14-25) by the UCLA Bruins (7-4 1-0 Big Ten) Sunday afternoon.
The Buckeyes opened the first set with a 4-2 lead. However, the Bruins took complete control, leading by as much as seven points. Ohio State called a timeout at 20-13 to attempt to regather, although, the Buckeyes couldn’t recover as UCLA took the first set 25-16.
The second set started close, as the Buckeyes and Bruins traded points. Ohio State eventually built a four-point lead, until UCLA flipped the script, scoring five final points to win the set 25-22.
The third set started with kills from graduate Buckeyes middle blocker Rylee Rader and outside hitter Emily Londot.
The Bruins attempted to make a late comeback after Ohio State built a six point lead,reaching within one point at 24-23. Although Londot helped the Buckeyes take the third with a set-winning kill.
Ohio State redshirt freshman outside hitter Grace Egan started the fourth set by earning her eighth kill of the game. The teams were deadlocked at 10 apiece, before UCLA went on a 4-0 run, taking control of the set. A dominant 9-3 run by the Bruins to finish the match earned UCLA a 25-14 set win to seal the match.
