Ohio State volleyball beats Purdue in top-10 Big Ten battle

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 7-3 early lead in set four. They want to end this thing and they want to end it now, with no fifth set needed. Mia Grunze, Rylee Rader and Emily Londot are all performing great, they are serving aggressively and they went on an early 4-0 run to set the tone. 

They haven't let up on the momentum and lead 17-12 in set four. 

Purdue, down five, will need to put together a big comeback effort if they want to force a fifth set. v

S4 | @ryleerader flying solo on this #BuckeyeBlock!!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/k26RxKhWKe

— Ohio State Women's Volleyball (@OhioStateWVB) October 16, 2021

Purdue took the third set 25-19 to force a fourth set and avoid the sweep. Ohio State had 12 errors in the third set and Purdue looked like a different team out there. Grace Cleveland showed up big time in the third set after a slow start to the match. She is up to 10 kills to go along with eight blocks and is up to .270 hitting efficiency. She is 100 percent the difference maker for the Boilermakers, and her performance is a big change of pace from set one. More than half of her kills on the match came in the third set. 

Purdue came out strong in this set and then never wavered. Their All-American came alive and they forced a lot of Ohio State mistakes. They went on a 4-0 run at the end of the set off of four straight OSU attacking errors. 

Here is one of those big-time blocks from Purdue in that set ⬇️

Block No. 4️⃣ of the night for Taylor Trammell. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sczxasy49d

— Purdue Volleyball (@PurdueVB) October 16, 2021

Ohio State just took a 2-0 lead on the match after staving off a Purdue comeback effort late in set two and winning the set 25-21. 

The Boilermakers took their first lead and completely changed the narrative with a 21-20 lead in set two. They did it with some tough serving and a 5-1 scoring run. But then Ohio State went on a scoring run of their own and when it mattered most with a 5-0 run to take the set. Emily Londot was able to tie things up at 21 when she tooled the block and then Arica Davis hammered down another to take a 22-21 before they called a timeout. Then three consecutive blocks sealed the deal. 

So far, the momentum and home crowd is in the Buckeyes favor and they seem to be feeding off of the success. Their offense is working wonders right now with five players with six or more kills and five of those six hitting above .300. Rylee Rader is hitting .667 with six kills, and Grunze leads the scoring effort with eight kills. The Boilermakers are struggling a bit offensively and hitting below average compared to their usual. 

Check out the crowd going wild as they took set two: 

S2 | The FIFTH block of the night for Arica Davis and @emilylondot seals the second set!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/01sXPqU2PM

— Ohio State Women's Volleyball (@OhioStateWVB) October 16, 2021

The Ohio State Buckeyes kept the momentum rolling into the second set. They are playing with some big-time energy in this rematch against Purdue. Mia Grunze is up to seven kills on .583 hitting for the Buckeyes. The Boilermakers are still hitting lower than usual in this set. 

The Boilermakers called a timeout to regroup when down by five and then they were able to get this thing within one point. They are starting out slow each set before improving. They will need to stay consistent the whole way if they want to win this matchup. 

When @gracecleve and Taylor Trammell go up for the block...watch out. 🤫 pic.twitter.com/TwbhFCncgl

— Purdue Volleyball (@PurdueVB) October 16, 2021

The crowd is rocking right now as the Buckeyes lead 21-18 in set one. This is a tight match, and I can tell already it is going to be a good one. The Buckeyes were significantly out-hitting the Boilermakers and that was clearly making the difference. But, the Boilermakers improved their hitting to .107 and the score reflected it as they got the score within one. 

Emily Londot and Mia Grunze are off to great starts with four kills apiece, and Caitlyn Newton leads Purdue with three kills. 

S1 | Here's a kill from @miagrunze!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/SBbgmvFHkX

— Ohio State Women's Volleyball (@OhioStateWVB) October 16, 2021

Two top-10 Big Ten programs are set to meet on Friday night. Here's how you can watch Ohio State against Purdue. When they last played, Purdue beat then-undefeated OSU in five sets on Sept. 24.

• Who: No. 6 Purdue at No. 7 Ohio State
• Time: 8 p.m. ET
• Date: Friday, Oct. 15
• Location: Columbus, Ohio
• TV channel: Big Ten Network

We have got a rematch for our second top matchup of the week. No. 6 and No. 7 will face off this Friday for the second time this season after Purdue pulled out a five-set win over the Buckeyes on Sept. 24. The Boilermakers were down two sets to one before rallying to come back behind 15 kills apiece from Grace Cleveland and Caitlyn Newton. Hayley Bush has been a big-time performer for Purdue. In the win over OSU she had 47 assists and 13 digs. 

The point is though, that it was a close one, and now we get to see round two. Ohio State has swept its last four opponents since losing back-to-back matchups to Purdue and Penn State, but now it is facing its first highly ranked opponent since the two ranked losses. Purdue, on the other hand, beat Ohio State then loss to Illinois in five sets, then avenged the loss with a five-set win over Illinois the following the week. So both Ohio State and Purdue have something to prove here. 

VB RANKINGS: Latest Power 10 | AVCA breakdown

Any top-10 matchup is a good one right now, especially between these two Big Ten teams that have already faced in a tight matchup. You won't want to miss it.

Both the Boilermakers and Buckeyes are in the hunt for the Big Ten title. An Ohio State victory would pull the Buckeyes even at 5-2 in the conference with Purdue, though Nebraska is currently in first at 7-0.

Ohio State is No. 1 nationally in assists per set, averaging 14.04. The Buckeyes' Mac Podraza is second individually at 12.02.