The No. 19 Ohio State women's volleyball team put a hurting on the state of Michigan over the weekend, defeating Michigan State Friday and Michigan Saturday.
On Friday, OSU (12-5 overall, 5-3 Big Ten) scored the first five points of the opening game against Michigan State (9-8 overall, 2-5 Big Ten) and held a lead of 18-12 midway through after two kills from sophomore middle blocker Nicole Britenriker. The Spartans rebounded and scored six of the next seven points en route to a 30-26 win in the first game.
The Buckeyes bounced back in the second game and with the score tied at 10, OSU took control with a solid team effort and won 30-18. The win was a result of superb play from junior setter Marisa Main, who was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after notching 103 assists on the weekend.
In game three, it was much of the same for OSU as the Buckeyes took control halfway through the game. With the score 12-8 in favor of the Buckeyes, OSU rattled off three straight points and never looked back, once again winning 30-18.
Game four was complete domination as OSU scored the first nine points of the game, led by three kills from sophomore outside hitter Ami Stevens. OSU built leads of 15-3 and 23-9 before eventually winning the final game 30-14, and the match 3-1.
"We didn't start off strong, but we put it together at the end," Britenriker said. "We worked real hard to come back."
Britenriker has been a spark for the Buckeyes in recent matches and coach Jim Stone said OSU has seen improvement since she was inserted into the starting lineup.
"We're getting a lot more offense out of Nicole. Each weekend she's getting a little bit better and getting back into it," Stone said. "She's coming off a pretty bad injury and I think her progress has been significant."
Saturday OSU dominated from beginning to end, winning the match 3-0 against rival Michigan (9-8 overall, 3-5 Big Ten).
In the first game, neither team could muster any kind of run, and until OSU scored the final point to win 30-27, neither team led by more than two points. The Buckeyes had a great team effort early in the game and were led by Main, who was on her way to her second triple-double of the season. She finished with 11 kills, 47 assists and 10 digs against the Wolverines.
Game two was much of the same until OSU jumped out midway through to take a commanding 24-15 lead. Michigan battled back and took a 27-26 lead after a 12-2 run. OSU avoided a dramatic collapse and went on to win the game 30-27.
In game three the Buckeyes battled from behind the entire way and trailed 29-26 before fighting off three straight game points to tie the score at 29. After a block from Stevens and sophomore middle blocker Danielle Meyer, OSU led 30-29. Michigan avoided a loss with a kill to tie the game at 30, but back-to-back kills from Main and Meyer gave OSU the game 32-30, and the match 3-0.
"We worked hard together and fought hard to win," junior outside hitter Ashley Kiel said.
Kiel has also been a spark for the Buckeyes in recent matches since switching positions.
"We moved Ashley to a different position and I thought she did a good job this weekend," Stone said.
Winning two straight at home was key for OSU before heading back on the road.
"It's extremely important to win at home and stay near the top of the Big Ten," Kiel said. "As a team we stuck together and stayed focused through the match and especially in the third game."
Up next for the Buckeyes are road games against Minnesota (16-3 overall, 6-2 Big Ten) Friday and Iowa (13-8 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) Saturday.
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