COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State (15-6 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) women's volleyball team lost a 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 17-25, 22-25) decision to 11th-ranked Michigan (17-4, 5-3) Saturday night in Cliff Keen Arena. OSU's Emily Danks had a team-high 13.5 points with eight kills, three ace serves and five assist blocks. Katie Dull added 12.5 points with 11 kills and three assist blocks for the Buckeyes. Michigan's Alex Hunt posted a match-high 16.5 points with 15 kills, one ace serve and one assist block. Lexi Zimmerman added 13.5 points with 11 kills, two ace serve and one assist block.
From a 1-1 tie in set one, a Dull-Kristen Dozier blocks, a Michigan error and a Danks-Dozier block gave OSU a 4-1 lead. At 8-6, a Hunt kill and an OSU error tied the set at eight. Tied at 10, a Juliana Paz kill and a Courtney Fletcher ace serve gave Michigan a 12-10 lead. Trailing, 13-11, Ohio State scored the next six points to open a 17-13 lead. The run began with two kills from Dull and one by Ashley Hughes. Two Michigan errors and an ace serve from Danks completed the run. The Wolverines cut the lead to three at 21-18 before two OSU errors and a Hunt ace serve tied the set at 21. Tied at 23, a Michigan error gave OSU a set point at 24-23. Michigan stopped the set point with a kill from Megan Bower. OSU earned a second set point at 25-24 with a kill from Danks. The Buckeyes won the set, 26-24 with a kill from Danks to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .346 for the set to .132 for Michigan.
In a close set two that saw 10 ties and six lead changes, the largest lead in the set was three points. Michigan held a 13-12 lead before an Anna Szerszen kill and two Michigan errors gave Ohio State a 15-13 lead. At 19-16 OSU, Buckeye errors and a Paz ace serve gave the Wolverines a 20-18 lead. At 21-19 Michigan, a Dozier kill and a Michigan error tied the set at 21. Kills from Dozier and Zimmerman made it 22-all. A kill from Bower and an OSU error gave Michigan set point at 24-22. OSU stopped the set point with a kill from Szerszen at 24-23. The Wolverines, with a Hunt kill, won the set, 25-23 to tie the match, 1-1. Ohio State hit .261 for the set to .222 for the Wolverines.
Michigan opened set three with a Hunt kill, a Zimmerman-Veronica Rood block, a Paz ace serve and an OSU error for a 4-0 lead. The Wolverines never trailed, reaching set point at 24-16 with a Hunt kill. OSU stopped a set point at 24-17 with an Amanda Peterson kill. A Buckeye error ended the set, 25-17 for Michigan giving the Wolverines a 2-1 lead in the match. Michigan hit .097 for the set to OSU's .111.
Set four opened with a Kelli Barhorst-Danks block for a 1-0 Ohio State lead. A Rood kill and an OSU error gave Michigan a 2-1 lead. A Dull kill tied the set at two. Michigan took a 4-2 lead with a Zimmerman kill and a Buckeye error. With OSU trailing, 12-6, kills from Barhorst and Danks, a Michigan error and an ace serve from Szerszen cut the lead to two at 12-10. A Rood kill made it 13-10. A Michigan error and a kill from Danks cut the Wolverine lead to one at 13-12. At 14-13, a Bowler kill and a block from Paz and Fletcher gave Michigan a 16-13 lead. The Wolverines held the lead reaching match point at 24-20 with a Hunt kill. A Dull-Dozier block stopped the match point at 24-21. OSU stopped a second match point with an ace serve from Danks at 24-22. Michigan closed out the set with a Zimmerman kill, winning the set 25-22, to take the match, 3-1. The Wolverines hit .279 for the set to .212 for Ohio State.
For the match, Michigan hit .189 to OSU's .174. The Wolverines had a 57-38 advantage in kills and an 11-5 margin in ace serves. Fletcher and Paz shared match-high honors with three ace serves each for Michigan. The Wolverines gave up 14 service errors to eight for Ohio State. Defensively, Ohio State had a 57-47 margin in digs. Sloane Donoff posted a match-high 13 digs for Michigan with Chelsea Noble collecting a team-high 12. At the net, the Buckeyes had an 11 to five margin in team blocks. OSU's Dozier posted a match-high six total blocks with a solo and five assist blocks. At setter, Zimmerman had a match-high 37 assists for Michigan with Hughes recording 29 for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes return home next week to host two matches in St. John Arena. OSU will face Purdue Friday and Indiana Saturday in 7 p.m. matches. The Saturday match will feature a homecoming reunion of former players.
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