COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (1-3) beat No. 3 Louisville (5-1) in four sets (17-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-17) at the Cardinal Classic in Louisville, Ky. on Sunday, snapping the Cardinals’ 24-match win streak at home and handing them their first loss of the season. This is the first time in program history that the Buckeyes have beaten a top-three team that isn’t in the Big Ten.
Ohio State kept the first set close until a 4-0 Louisville run ended the set with the Cards on top, 25-17. The Buckeyes won the second set by a 25-15 margin, using a 7-1 after being tied at 10 to even the match. Ohio State led the majority of the third set and held off a Louisville comeback near the end to win the set 25-23. The fourth set was close until an 8-1 OSU run ended the match with a fourth-set 25-17 victory.
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How it Happened
Louisville began the match with back-to-back points before Ohio State got on the board with a kill from Adria Powell. The Cards got out to an early 5-2 lead, but a 3-0 Buckeye run tied the set at five. Louisville responded with the next three points and extended the lead to 10-6. OSU responded to get back within one at 12-11 but trailed 15-11 at the media timeout. Rylee Rader laid down a solo block as the Buckeyes trailed 16-15. The Cards forced an OSU timeout with a 4-1 run to lead 20-16. Louisville ended the first set with a 4-0 run to win the set by a 25-17 mark.
Rader had her second solo block of the match to begin the second set and led the Buckeyes to an early 4-1 lead. The Cardinals tied the set at five and six and took their first lead of the set at 7-6. OSU built a 10-8 lead but Louisville tied the set again at 10. The Buckeyes scored five of six points to lead 15-11 at the media timeout. Kylie Murr scored on a dig and kill out of the media timeout. Louisville called timeout after a block from Mac Podraza and Rader gave OSU the 17-11 advantage. Following a pair of points by the Cards, the Buckeyes responded with a 3-0 run to extend the lead to 20-13 and force another Louisville timeout. Ohio State evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-15 set win, ending the set on a 5-1 run.
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The Cardinals scored first in the third set, but the Buckeyes used three-straight points to take a 4-2 lead on back-to-back kills from Emily Londot. OSU held the narrow lead until Louisville tied the set at eight and then forced a Buckeye timeout with four-unanswered points to take a 12-9 lead. Ohio State went on a 6-1 run out of the timeout, including kills from five different players, to take a 15-13 lead and force a Louisville timeout. The teams traded points until back-to-back Louisville points cut the OSU lead to one at 20-19 and then tied the set at 23. A kill from Rader sealed the 25-23 set win and put the Buckeyes up two sets to one.
Louisville scored first again in the fourth set, but Ohio State responded immediately with a 4-0 run. The Cardinals tied the set at five and six before taking the lead back at 7-6. The Buckeyes used three-unanswered points and a 5-1 leading into the media timeout with a 15-12 lead. The Cardinals cut the Buckeyes’ lead to 17-16, but four-unanswered points forced a Louisville timeout with Ohio State ahead 21-16. The Buckeyes ended the match on a 4-0 run, including three-straight kills from Jenaisya Moore and an ace from Londot to seal the win.
