Each serve caused complete silence from the enthusiastic crowd. Every point was earned through sweat and determination.

For the Ohio State women’s volleyball team, the weekend ended in double losses to Michigan State and Michigan, but the cause wasn’t effortless play or lack of talent.

“We gave away too many points to win,” OSU coach Jim Stone said. “I think what Michigan did better than us is they didn’t make any more good points than us. They just didn’t make any more bad.”

The Buckeyes totaled 16 service errors, and although OSU showed improvement offensively, the defeat is the result of inconsistency, Stone said.

“I think generally between points 1-20 we’re OK,” he said. “Between points 20-30, we haven’t learned to win yet.”

Sophomore outside hitter Katherine Grant also said the scoreboard didn’t reflect the effort on the court.

“I thought we really played hard,” she said.

Junior outside hitter Stacey Gordon was honored Friday night for her accomplishment of breaking the career kill record at OSU. She again outplayed her competition, recording 30 kills against the Spartans and 28 kills against the Wolverines.

Sophomore outsider hitter Amanda Miller also added points, tallying 16 kills Friday night and 17 kills Sunday afternoon.

The Buckeyes are still struggling with conversing during competition and winning tough plays, Miller said.

“We work everyday at communication and fighting for every point,” she said. “We’ll fight until the end.”

New faces also graced the court this weekend. Sophomores Holly Cram and Jackie Schardt saw additional minutes in the matches. Stone said the changes in the roster were to add greater variety to the lineup.

“(It was to) try to mix things up,” Stone said.

The losses brought OSU’s record to 10-14 overall and 4-12 in the Big Ten. Stone said while a bid to the NCAA tournament is unlikely, the team is still working towards making progress.

“We have to have a little more play for our own goals,” he said.

The Buckeyes finish their home play this week with matchups against Penn State tomorrow and Wisconsin Friday. Both teams are in the hunt for NCAA tournament bids, which makes for laborious matches, Stone said.

“We are in a tough position,” he said.