The 11th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (18-3, 8-1) defeated Ohio State (10-11, 1-8) in three sets by scores of 25-18, 26-24, 25-21 at St. John's Arena in Columbus on Friday, Oct. 24. With the win, Minnesota moved to 3-0 in road Big Ten matches, and 8-1 away from home on the season.
Minnesota was led by Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) who had 16 kills, 10 digs and four blocks (three solo blocks). Sophomore middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) collected nine kills and five blocks.
Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) had a match-high 13 digs and a service ace. Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) had 28 assists and two blocks, while Pam Luiz (Limeira, Brazil) tied a career-high with five blocks.
The Golden Gophers outhit the Buckeyes .219 to .150 for the match. Minnesota also outblocked Ohio State 12.5-to-3.0. The Buckeyes did have 44 kills to 33 for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota also had four service aces on the match.
Minnesota jumped out to an early 11-7 lead in the first set, but Ohio State quickly answered with a 5-0 run to take its first lead of the set at 12-11. The Golden Gophers scored the next three points and moved ahead 14-12 when Hartmann and Gibbemeyer combined on a block.
Ohio State cut the lead to 16-15 with three of the next five points. However, the Golden Gophers went on a 7-0 run and took a 23-15 lead on a Schmidt kill. The Buckeyes fought back with three straight points to make it 23-18 to force a Minnesota timeout. Out of the timeout, Dieter had a kill and Luiz delivered a solo block to give Minnesota the first set 25-18.
Minnesota outhit Ohio State .171 to -.034, and had 12 kills to eight for the Buckeyes. The Golden Gophers also outblocked Ohio State 6.0-to-1.0. Dieter led the Golden Gophers with six kills, five digs, two solo blocks and a service ace in the first set.
In the second set the Buckeyes jumped out to an early 3-2 lead. The two teams traded the lead five times before Minnesota moved ahead 8-7. The Golden Gophers scored the next two points to make it 10-7, but Ohio State scored five of the next seven points to tie the set at 12.
Minnesota responded with a 5-0 run to make it 17-12 paced by a pair of kills and a pair of combined blocks by Gibbemeyer. With the score at 18-13, the Buckeyes six of the next seven points to tie the set at 19. Dieter followed with a kill to make it 20-19. After the Golden Gophers made it 21-19, Ohio State answered with two of the next three points to make it 22-21.
Dieter followed with a head's up play when she pushed ball to the back right corner for a kill to make it 23-21. Jessica Granquist (Blaine, Minn.) gave Minnesota set point at 24-21 with a service ace. The Buckeyes answered with three straight points to tie the set at 24. However, Gibbemeyer and Dieter delivered a consecutive kills to give the Golden Gophers the second set 26-24.
Minnesota outhit Ohio State .241 to .159 in the set, despite the fact that the Buckeyes had 18 kills to the Golden Gophers 10 in the set. In the second set, Minnesota outblocked Ohio State 5.0-to-1.0. Gibbemeyer led the Golden Gophers with five kills and two blocks in the second set.
Ohio State jumped out to a 10-8 lead in the third set, but Minnesota scored three of the next four points and tied the set at 11 on a kill by Roehrig. The Buckeyes led 13-12, but the Golden Gophers answered with four of the next five points and took a 16-14 lead on a kill by Dieter.
The Buckeyes tied it at 16, but Roehrig followed with a kill and Tan delivered a service ace to make it 18-16. With score at 19-18, the Golden Gophers scored consecutive points and went up 21-18 on a kill by Dieter. The Buckeyes scored consecutive points to cut it to 21-20, but Gibbemeyer delivered a kill out of a timeout to give Minnesota a 22-20 lead. The Golden Gophers pushed it to match point at 24-20, but the Buckeyes fought off the first match point. Dieter delivered a kill to give Minnesota the three-set victory.
Ohio State was led by Katie Dull who had a match-high 20 kills and nine digs. Kelli Barhorst finished with eight kills and a solo block, while Susan Halverson had a team-high 11 digs.
Minnesota will be back in action when it travels to Ann Arbor to face No. 20 Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. (CT). That match will shown on a tape-delayed basis on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 3 p.m. (CT).
