COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State (21-7 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) women's volleyball team, behind a 25-point performance by Katie Dull, defeated Northwestern (14-13, 5-10), 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-10, 25-15) Friday night in St. John Arena. Dull posted match-highs of 20 kills (.333), six total blocks (two solo, four assists) and had one ace serve in the victory. OSU's Anna Szerszen added 12.5 points with nine kills (.304), two ace serve and three assist blocks. Alexandra Ayers had a team-high 13.5 points for Northwestern with 11 kills, two ace serves and one assist block. Sabel Moffett added 12 points with 10 kills, one solo block and two assist blocks for the Wildcats.

Set one opened with six ties and five lead changes. Tied at six, the Buckeyes would score six consecutive points to open a 12-6 lead. The run began with a kill from Dull, two ace serves from Szerszen and a Kristen Dozier-Katie Dull block to make it 10-6. Kills from Ashley Hughes and Dull made it 12-6. The run was stopped by a Naomi John kill at 12-7. A Wildcat error, a Dull solo block and a Dull-Kelli Barhorst block made it 15-7. The Buckeyes expanded the lead to 11 at 21-10. At 23-12, an Ariel Baxterbeck kill and an OSU error cut the lead to nine at 23-14. The lead was eight, at 23-15, with a kill from Kathryn Chrystal. A Wildcat error made it 24-15 and set point for Ohio State. Baxterbeck, with a kill, stopped the set point at 24-16. A Wildcat error ended the set at 25-16 for Ohio State, giving the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .231 for the set to .108 for Northwestern.

Northwestern opened set two with a Naomi John ace serve, a Moffett-Ayers block and an OSU error for a 3-0 lead. A Wildcat error, an Emily Danks kill and a Szerszen-Barhorst block tied the set at three. At five-all, two ace serves from Ayers and an OSU error gave Northwestern an 8-5 lead. At 12-9 Wildcats, two kills from Dull cut the lead to one at 12-11. At 13-12, a Wildcat error tied the set at 13. A Buckeye error and a Susan Oxnard ace serve put Northwestern ahead, 15-13. OSU trailed 21-17 when a Dozier kill, a Wildcat error, a Chelsea Noble ace serve and a Hughes-Barhorst block tied the set at 21. A Northwestern error and a Noble ace serve gave Ohio State a 23-21 lead. A Baxterbeck kill made it 23-22. OSU reached set point at 24-22 with a kill from Hughes. A Kathryn Chrystal kill stopped the set point and a Moffett kill tied the set at 24. A Buckeye error gave Northwestern set point at 25-24. OSU stopped the set point with a kill from Dull at 25-25. A Buckeye error made it 26-25 with Northwestern serving set point. An OSU error ended the set at 27-25 for Northwestern to tie the match at 1-1. Ohio State hit .143 for the set to .122 for the Wildcats.

A kill from Dull, a Sarah Mignin ace serve and a Wildcat error gave OSU a 3-0 lead in set three. A kill from Ayers and a Moffett block cut the lead to 3-2. OSU scored the next 10 points to open a 13-2 lead. The run began with a kills from Dozier and Dull, two Wildcat errors and an ace serve from Noble to take the lead to 8-2. Two kills from Dull, one from Barhorst and two Wildcat errors completed the run. At 16-6, kills from Barhorst and Allie Schwarzwalder, two from Szerszen, a Szerszen solo block and a Szerszen-Hughes block gave the Buckeyes a 22-6 lead. Kills from Natalie Taylor and Ayers cut the lead to 22-8. Kills from Szerszen and Hughes gave OSU set point at 24-8. An OSU error and a Johnson-Chrystal block stopped two set points at 24-10. Ohio State won the set, 25-10, with a Dozier-Hughes block to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .423 for the set to -.120 for Northwestern.

Ohio State opened set four with a kill from Dozier and a solo block from Dull for a 2-0 lead. An Ayers kill cut the lead to 2-1. A Barhorst-Hughes block, a kill from Schwarzwalder and a Schwarzwalder-Dull block gave Ohio State a 5-1 lead. An OSU error and a kill by Schwarzwalder made it 6-2. A Dull-Barhorst block and an OSU error made it 7-3. Kills from Szerszen and Schwarzwalder gave OSU a six-point lead at 9-3. At 18-12, two Szerszen kills made the lead eight at 20-12. A Johnson kill and a Northwestern error made it 21-13. An OSU error and two kills from Dull made it 23-14. Ayers, with a kill made it 23-15. OSU reached match point at 24-15 with a Wildcat error. The Buckeyes won the set, 25-15 with a Schwarzwalder kill to win the match, 3-1. Ohio State hit .424 for the set to .088 for Northwestern.

For the match, Ohio State hit .291 to .066 for Northwestern. OSU had a 53-41 advantage in kill and an 8-4 margin in ace serves. OSU's Noble posted a match-high three aces. The Buckeyes gave up eight service errors to five for Northwestern. Defensively, the Wildcats had a 50-49 edge in digs. OSU's Noble posted a match-high 20. At the net, Ohio State had a 13 to five margin in team blocks. OSU's Dull posted a match-high six blocks with two solos and four assists. At setter, Hughes posted a match-high 39 assists for Ohio State. Elyse Glab recorded 32 for Northwestern.

Ohio State continues the home stand when they host fifth-ranked Illinois (20-4, 12-3) at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon in St. John Arena.

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