CLEVELAND, Ohio – In their first-ever matchup of the season, the Ohio State Buckeyes (8-14, 5-8 B1G) lost to RV Minnesota (11-10, 7-6 B1G) on Friday night in Covelli on military appreciation night. The sets ended in 21-25, 25-14, 22-25, and 18-25.
Before a 5-0 Minnesota run late in the set created the distance required for the Gophers to win the set 25–21, the first set was back-and-forth. Ohio State did not look back en route to a 25-14 set victory after the two teams were tied at eight in the second set. Using a run halfway through the set to take a lead they wouldn’t let up, Minnesota won the third set 25-22 to reclaim the advantage in the match. In the fourth set, Minnesota overcame an early OSU lead to win 25–18 and end the match.
For the 20th time this season, Emily Londot became the first player in the match to reach double digits in kills (18), and she also added 11 digs to record her 10th double-double. This occurred in the second set. In the game, Anna McClure was the first to record ten digs, and she finished with a career-high thirteen. For the sixth time this season, Sarah Sue Morbitzer tallied 17 digs, just one short of her career high. For the seventh time this season, Rylee Rader finished with more than ten kills—11 total. With seven service aces, Lauren Murphy recorded a career-high.
How it occurred
Rylee Rader’s kill to start the match tied the score at each point until an early 3-0 Buckeye run put Ohio State ahead 6-4. Minnesota went on a 3-0 run to take an 11-10 lead after the game was tied at eight. Although Ohio State took the lead back, the Gophers were ahead 15–14 at the media timeout. After Minnesota went ahead 19–17 thanks to a 3-0 run, Ohio State called a timeout. The Gophers increased their advantage to 21-17 in the
timeout, either team’s biggest lead of the set. Before a Minnesota timeout, the Buckeyes scored two straight points to trim the deficit to 21-19. OSU lost the set 25-21 after calling a timeout with a 24-20 deficit.
In the second set, Minnesota led 4-0 at the beginning of play and maintained that lead until an Ohio State run of four points put the Buckeyes ahead 7–5. OSU took a 12-8 lead with a second 4-0 run, which prompted Minnesota to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Buckeyes increased their lead to 14-8 and their run to 6-0. After Ohio State scored five straight points to extend its lead to 19-9, the Gophers were forced to call another timeout. OSU took a 20-9 lead at one point and won the 25-14 set to tie the game.
In the third set, the Buckeyes took the lead 11–7 thanks to a 7–0 run that included three straight aces from Murphy on the service end. Before a 5-0 Minnesota run during an Ohio State timeout put the Gophers ahead 15–14, Ohio State was ahead 14–10. Minnesota’s lead was increased to 19–15 after a 4-0 run, and then to 23–17 after another 4-0 run. The Gophers won the set 25–22, despite the Buckeyes’ best efforts to tie the score at 24–22.
On a Rader ace, Ohio State scored the opening two points of the fourth set and took an early 7-2 lead. After forcing an OSU timeout, Minnesota used a 3-0 run to pull within one at 9-8 and a 4-0 run to tie the game at 12. Coming out of the timeout, the Gophers grabbed their first lead of the game, going on a 7-0 run to take a 15–12 lead. Ohio State called another timeout as Minnesota’s lead grew to 19-14. To end the match, the Gophers went on another 4-0 run and won the set 25–18.
Introduction S2: One-arm kill by Rylee Rader
S2: Murder by Mia Tuman, save by Sydney Taylor
S2: Point of set
S3: Ace Lauren Murphy
S4: Killing Emily Londot
Notes on Matches
Tonight, Ohio State combined for a season-high 11 aces.
For the twentieth time this season, Emily Londot finished with more than ten kills (18 tonight), and she added eleven digs for her tenth double-double.
With a career-high 13 digs, Anna McClure was the first player in the match to reach 10 digs.
Lauren Murphy led Ohio State with 28 aces this season and finished with a career-high seven aces, including three in a row in the third set. In a game this season, this is the most any Ohio State player has produced. Before today’s match, she had the seventh-best aces/set record in the Big Ten.
Sarah Sue Morbitzer has used more than one ace in four of her matches this season. This season, Morbitzer also achieved the milestone of 10+ digs for the sixth time. She ended with 17 digs, one shy of her career high. She has more than 400 career digs as well.
S1: There were seven lead changes and thirteen ties in the set. At least two kills were recorded by five different Buckeyes in the set.
S2: Ohio State batted.571 in the set while Minnesota batted.174.
S3: Murphy hit five aces during the third set.
“When you have highs and lows, obviously with the highs, everyone is in good spirits and you’re competing hard,” said head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg. Tonight, we experienced some pretty low lows. The outcomes aren’t in our favour when we’re all riding those waves. The players discuss sticking to a routine. Whether it’s during practise or a game, we preach that every single day, and we just didn’t have that tonight. We need to be more consistent for the duration of the game because there were definitely times when we were awful and times when we were really good.
Anna McClure, a sophomore defensive specialist: “I believe I was extremely well-prepared. I believe that by constantly challenging Emily Londot during practise when I wasn’t a starter, I improved myself, her, and the team as a whole. I feel so well-prepared for matches like this as a result.”
Lauren Murphy, a rookie outside hitter, said, “I think tonight was a great learning experience with facing a block that size. As a freshman, I’ve been trying to learn through the game.”
Next Up
Ohio State will play host to Michigan State on Wednesday and Indiana on Saturday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
There are tickets available for the Buckeyes’ 2023 home season. Tickets for individual games are available HERE, and mini-plans are available HERE. All tickets will be subject to applicable service fees. Call the Ohio State Ticket Office at 1-800-GO-Tickets if you have any questions about tickets or would like to request group tickets (10+ tickets and in advance only).
