OSU sophomore middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe (10) makes a play on the ball during a match against Florida Gulf Coast Sept. 6 at St. John Arena. OSU won 3-1.
Credit: Emily Yarcusko / For The Lantern
After a failed comeback attempt at No. 17 Minnesota last week, the Ohio State women’s volleyball team was swept by No. 5 Wisconsin on Sunday.
Once the match began, momentum was with Wisconsin (10-2, 1-1), but the Buckeyes (9-5, 0-2) clawed their way back into each of the three sets.
In the first set, the Buckeyes and Badgers started off in a close battle until a 17-13 Badger lead turned into a 25-19 set win.
In the first half of the second set, the Buckeyes were down by as many as five points, but failed to get enough back-to-back points as the Badgers kept scoring. Wisconsin won again, 25-19.
As the Buckeyes were outplayed in the two sets, the team headed into the third looking to have similar results to the match against the Gophers. While the Buckeyes hadn’t won a set, they still had time to pull off an upset.
But instead of playing with a sense of urgency like against Minnesota, the Buckeyes saw themselves down 7-0, and eventually down 17-5.
However, OSU went on a 12-8 run to close the gap. But it was too late, as the Badgers went on to complete a clean sweep winning the third set, 25-17.
Junior outside hitter Katie Mitchell led the Buckeyes in kills with nine, senior setter Taylor Sherwin led with 23 assists and senior defensive specialist Alyssa Winner had 18 digs.
Badger senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Deme Morales, a native of Amherst, Ohio, had seven digs in the match.
The Buckeyes are scheduled have back-to-back games this week at Iowa and No. 8 Nebraska. The Iowa game is scheduled for Friday at 8 p.m., while the Nebraska game is set for Saturday at 6 p.m.
