COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State women’s volleyball team (2-0) defeated No. 4 Washington in a four-set thriller (23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-18) inside Nationwide Arena on Saturday night to wrap up the Sports Imports Classic. The Buckeyes are the first team in the country to defeat a top-five opponent this season.
How it happened
Washington and Ohio State began the match going toe-to-toe as the first set was tied at six. The Huskies strung together a 12-4 run to take their largest lead of the first set, 18-10. The Buckeyes responded with their own 12-4 run to tie the set at 22. After being tied at 23 and an unsuccessful OSU challenge, Washington scored the final two points to seal set one.
Neither team scored more than two consecutive points in the second set to open as the Huskies had the early 6-5 lead. The Buckeyes scored the next six points on the floor to take an 11-6 lead and would allow Washington to get no closer than three points (11-8) for the remainder of the set. Ohio State led by as many as eight points (24-16) and closed the set with the 25-19 advantage.
The Huskies took a 5-2 lead to begin the third set, but the Buckeyes strung together an 8-2 run to hold a 10-7 advantage and force a Washington timeout. Out of the timeout, Ohio State scored five of the six next points and the Huskies took a timeout trailing by seven, 15-8. The spread remained at seven as the Buckeyes held a 22-15 lead before Washington closed its deficit to 23-21. Ohio State took a timeout, but the Huskies trimmed its lead to one before the Buckeyes closed the set with back-to-back points.
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After being tied at one in the fourth set, Ohio State took a lead that it would not relinquish. Much of the first half was tight, as the Buckeyes held a 12-11 lead before scoring the next seven points on the floor. OSU built a nine-point lead (23-14) before four-consecutive Washington points forced a Buckeye timeout. Following the timeout, a kill from Emily Londot and a solo block by Mia Grunze sealed the victory.
Match notes
- Set one: The first set featured back-and-forth play with seven ties and one lead change.
- Set one: Mac Podraza had three services aces.
- Set two: Ohio State improved its hitting to .282 in the set.
- Set two: Mia Grunze was the lone player to hit 10 kills through the first two sets as she totaled 11 kills.
- Set three: The Buckeyes outhit the Huskies for the second-consecutive set (set three: .275-.143, set two: .282-.146).
- Set three: Mia Grunze and Emily Londot ended the set tied with the match-high 16 kills apiece.
- Set four: The Buckeyes limited the Huskies to just .024 hitting in the set.
- Set four: After being tied at one, Ohio State led the entire set.
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Up next
The Buckeyes travel to Lubbock, Texas for a trio of matches next weekend. Ohio State opens with a Friday match against Rhode Island at 3 p.m. ET. On Saturday, OSU takes on Texas State at 11:30 a.m. ET before playing host Texas Tech at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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