Badgers Halted by No. 8 Buckeyes
November 13, 2004 | Volleyball
The Wisconsin volleyball team dropped its third-straight match to a nationally-ranked team as it fell to No. 8 Ohio State 30-18, 32-30, 30-23 on Saturday. Wisconsin remains tied with Illinois for fourth place in the Big Ten Conference at 10-6 and falls to 16-8 overall. Ohio State remains tied with Minnesota for first place in the league at 14-2 and 24-2.
'Last night, I felt that even though we lost at Penn State, we still played some very good ball,' Wisconsin head coach Pete Waite said. 'But we came in here tonight and we were just off our game, and Ohio State is playing like a machine right now.'
The Buckeyes dominated the match, led by a match-high 19 kills from All-American Stacy Gordon. As a team, Ohio State put down 53 kills compared to only 42 for Wisconsin. The Badgers were led by junior Aubrey Meierotto's 13 kills while junior Sheila Shaw recorded 10 slams.
Ohio State's defense allowed Wisconsin to hit at just .175 as a team and out-blocked the Badgers 9-6. The Buckeyes also had 48 digs compared to 39 for Wisconsin. Sophomore Amy Bladow led the Badgers with four blocks, including one solo, while freshman libero Jocelyn Wack notched 11 digs for Wisconsin.
'Ohio State is a really good defensive team,' Waite said. 'I think their offense was balanced, and that comes from a good defense. The combination of their getting the setter the ball in good locations to keep our blockers off-balance and our own hitters being off made it tough to come back.'
As a team, the Buckeyes hit .351 and also scored on six service aces. On the serving line, the Badgers recorded three aces, but were hurt by nine errors, including five in a tight game two.
Ohio State used 6-2 and 4-0 runs to pull away from Wisconsin in game one. With the Badgers trailing 11-10, the Buckeyes scored on six of the next eight points to take a 17-12 lead. Wisconsin cut the lead to three at 17-14, but a 4-0 run gave the Buckeyes the 21-14 advantage. Wisconsin struggled with its passing and Ohio State 's block for the rest of the game, hitting just .081 in the period. The Buckeyes, who hit .444 in the first frame, had seven team blocks and also tallied three service aces.
Game two was a close battle with 11 early ties, including at 15-15. The Buckeyes led by as many as three points several times, including at 25-22 before the Badgers rallied back. A kill and service ace from Shaw keyed a 3-0 Wisconsin run to tie the game at 25. The period was tied three more times before Ohio State served for game point at 29-28. A kill by senior Marian Weidner followed by a Buckeye hitting error gave the Badgers a chance to take the game at 30-29. A kill from Gordon tied the game once more at 30 before a UW blocking error and a service ace from Briana McCarthy put Ohio State up two games to none.
'We had a shot in game two,' Waite said. 'Again, it's a point here and there or an inch in the other direction and we could have had that game, and it could have been a whole different outcome. '
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 5-1 lead in game three and the Badgers got no closer the remainder of the period. Ohio State led by as many as eight points, including at 23-15. Wisconsin cut the lead to four at 24-20 on a service ace from Jill Odenthal, but the Buckeyes took advantage of Badger errors to complete the sweep.
'It was a disappointing road trip for us,' Waite said. 'It was three top-ranked teams three matches in a row, so we're going to have to come back after this and look ahead to the net two Big Ten weekends and improve our game.
'These matches taught us some lessons in our ball control and serving that we have to take and learn from.'
Wisconsin returns home to the UW Field House next weekend for matches against Michigan and Michigan State. The two matches are the final Big Ten home contests for the Badgers this season.
'We're glad to be going back home,' Waite said. 'We've got to crank up our game to get these wins because they 're important to where we finish in Big Ten play and for our seeding in the NCAA Tournament, so we need to play better as a team.'
