Ohio State is steamrolling in the back half of the first set, taking control of the game on a 3-0 run, 24-22.
Ohio State has the serve looking to take set one. Outside Hitter Owen Pickering steps back up after having three previous successful serves. He throws up the ball and jumps, “Smack,” hitting the ball with his right hand.
The ball goes flying right down the middle, flying over the net, heading right for Matt Cosgrove. Cosgrove goes for it, trying to dig the ball up. “Bump,” the ball goes wild, going straight to the left, flying into the stands. No Norse is fast enough to get there.
The whistle blows, giving OSU the point and the set win. They took the 1-0 lead and never looked back, sweeping the Norse 3-0, grabbing their first conference win of the season.
This loss for the Norse moves them to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in MIVA play, while for the Buckeyes, this big win propels them to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in MIVA play.
The star of the game was the Buckeyes’ Shane Wetzel, who had a game-high 14 kills, also tallying seven digs. Daniel Henwood Rodriguez was also a bright spot for OSU, putting up a game-high 33 assists and two serve aces.
Cosgrove led the Norse, finishing with nine kills, two blocks and four digs. Kyle Saurer played big minutes for NKU, posting a team-high 11 assists to go along with two blocks and three digs
The first set was a battle, with both teams not wanting to give up any ground. It wasn’t until the game sat at 17-16 in OSU’s favor. Then, the Norse went on the biggest run of the set so far, going on a 3-0 run to snatch the lead 19-17. But it wouldn’t remain as Ohio state took it right back.
The Norse had the one-point lead, 21-22, and all the momentum after a 2-0 run, but Ohio State got a powerful kill by Wetzel to tie it. Then, two errors from the Norse brought the game to the set point, with Ohio State winning off a serve ace. Ohio State ended the set on a 4-0 run and a 25-22 win.
In set two, the Buckeyes started it out with a bang, going on a 6-0 run. The Norse didn’t have a response, getting as close as four early in the set, but OSU went on multiple little runs in the set to win it 25-18.
In the final set of the night, the Norse and the Buckeyes battled, with the Buckeyes sticking out front. They went on a 3-0 run just off NKU errors and kept up the play from there. They tallied on three 2-0 runs in that stint, pushing the Norse away, getting the set win 25-18 and the 3-0 win.
Ohio State came into this game sitting at number 12 in the rankings. This was the first game in Regents Hall this season in which the volleyball team was playing a ranked opponent. Head Coach Jim Palilonis believes it was a great experience having them here, even in the loss.
“It was great to have Ohio State here. They’re a great team. I always expect a good match, and I like the way we performed and hung in there with them,” Palilonis said. “I would have liked a better outcome. I think we had the opportunities, but we get another chance at them later in the year and down the road.”
With the Palilonis squad being so young, they go through a lot of high and low moments. He believes they learned a lot from this game that they can take into the next games.
“We need to be better with that first ball contact. So we were out of system quite a bit tonight. I think we got to solidify our ball control and serve reception. And if we can just settle that down, it’ll open up the opportunities for some of our guys to get offensive. Right now, when you’re out of system that much, it’s hard to put up good numbers and be terminal,” Palilonis said.