He's inviting Mari Hole and Emily Danks to a cookout.Ohio State operates the NCAA's second-largest athletic department. Eleven Warriors is committed to keeping you informed of what's happening with those sports that make Ohio State athletics more than just football and basketball. Around the Oval will be your weekly update on these teams.
Welcome back to another edition of "Around The Oval", Eleven Warriors look at the non-revenue sports at the greatest university in the United States.
We took last week off from ATO to bring you a look at Buckeye basketball legend Dennis Hopson, and I hope that was "ok" with you, the readers, since most of the "other" Buckeye teams had the week off. This week, though, the teams are back in action and once again making headlines around Columbus.
As we get back into the flow of things this week, we will take a look at how those "less recognized" Buckeyes continue to dominate the national scene.
Sound good? Good.
Can't stand the heet?
Do you remember what you were doing October 20th?
If you're anything like most Buckeye sports fans, you were still a bit shocked Ohio State's football team beat up a ranked Illinois team after two straight demoralizing losses to Michigan State and Nebraska, and went into a rare mid-B1G schedule off-weekend looking to escape this football season that wouldn't die.
If however, you're a Buckeye hockey player, you were in East Lansing, Michigan, getting drubbed 3-0 by the Spartans in the legendary Munn ice arena. You left that game with a record of 3-3 heading into the series finale, and you were probably wondering where does the team go from there?
That answer came quickly as the Buckeyes handled the Spartans 5-2 the following night, and have not looked back since.
This past weekend Ohio State hosted #11 Lake Superior State and looked to extend an 11 game undefeated streak, and more impressively, a seven game winning streak (including sweeps of nationally ranked Northen Michigan University and the University of Michigan). After a week off, perhaps a letdown was inevitable, maybe expected - but don't tell that to the Buckeyes icers.
Lake Superior State vs Ohio State The Lakers made their way to Columbus and they got a first-hand glimpse of the showtime that Ohio State opponents have come to expect during the Buckeyes' 9 game unbeaten run, and they got that glimpse early and often.
Alex Lippincott and Chris Crane each scored first period goals, their 4th and 8th respectively, as Ohio State ran out to a two-goal first period lead against LSSU. The Buckeyes controlled both ends of the ice on their way to a 17-4 advantage in shots on goal in the opening stanza.
Despite out-shooting Ohio State 13-8 in the second period, the Lakers were unable to get the best of Buckeyes' goalie Cal Heeter, as Heeter stopped all 13 shots against him in the frame.
As the decisive period got underway, Ohio State's Danny Dries scored his ninth goal, and stretched the Buckeyes lead to 3-0 at 4:50 into the third. The Lakers finally got on the board five minutes later when Kevin Czuczman beat Heeter on a Laker powerplay to make it 3-1. Ohio State's Alex Szczechura and LSSU's Buddy Robinson traded goals in the next six minutes and the score stood 4-2 at five minutes left on the clock before Dries put away his 10th goal, and the game two minutes later. 5-2 Buckeyes over #11 LSSU. Eight wins in a row, 10 straight without a loss.
"We had a very good talk this morning. Our guys responded really well. They have been taking criticism and coaching very well. The captains settled guys down and did a good job of getting the guys ready to play."
Ice, Ice, Baby - the Buckeyes are stone cold chillin'Generally speaking, when a team has won 8 straight games, it's not necessary for a coach to have a "pep talk" or "criticize" in order to motivate, but Buckeye head coach Mark Osiecki did just that as Ohio State headed into their second game against LSSU on Saturday evening.
Bad news for the Lakers - it worked.
The Buckeyes did not rest on their laurels, and once again came out playing hard, even if things weren't quite as "easy" as they were in game the night before.
On a typical Saturday night game, both teams battled a bit of lethargy early and played to a 0-0 first period stand-off.
The second period started with a bit more ferocity, and the team's traded mid-period goals and settled in for a third period showdown knotted up at one. Ohio State's Nick Oddo picked up his third goal of the year to even up the scoreboard.
With the third period underway, the Buckeyes and Lakers skated as evenly as they had all night, but Chris Crane's ninth goal of the year at 6:59 into the period gave the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead. Heeter and the defense did the rest and Ohio State escaped with another win, #9 in a row and their 11th straight without a loss.
With the win, Ohio State improved to 12-3-1 overall, and increased their CCHA lead to five points over second place Notre Dame. Ohio State sits atop the RPI poll and moved into 4th in the USCHO poll.
Heeter was named the CCHA Goalie of the Week for his efforts against Lake Superior State. He stopped 58 of 61 shots that he faced on the weekend and now sits at 11-1-1 on the year between the pipes for the Buckeyes.
volleyball's net worth greater than b1g value
For the second straight year, the Ohio State women's volleyball team found itself struggling in a stacked conference but receiving a coveted invitation to the NCAA volleyball tournament. For the second straight year, the Buckeyes entered the aforementioned tournament looking to re-establish themselves as a team to be reckoned with and for the second straight year, the lady Buckeyes made their way from hoping to receive an invite to a secondary invitation: to the sweet 16.
The Buckeyes traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee and faced Middle Tennessee State in their tournament opener, and were able to quickly dispatch of the Blue Raiders 3-1 (25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 25-18). Mari Hole and Emily Danks once again led the Buckeyes (20-14) to put themselves in a head-to-head with host Tennessee, the 14th seed in the tournament.
As Ohio State entered Friday's contest with the Volunteers, the Buckeyes knew they had to play one of their best matches of the season in order to survive another day.
"Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick has a team with very few weaknesses," head women's volleyball coach Geoff Carlston, said. "We knew we had to play nearly perfect to win."
While the Buckeyes didn't play perfect, they certainly played well enough to give themselves a chance, and they made the most of that chance, once again on the shoulders of all B1G selection Mari Hole.
Hole finished the match with 22 kills, and was supported once more by Danks' 18, and the Buckeyes withstood a run from the hometeam to win 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 15-12) and advance to the sweet sixteen where they will face #3 seed and Big Ten rival, Illinois. The Illini have gotten the best of Ohio State twice this year, 3-0 and 3-1. That match will be Friday in Gainesville, Florida.
buckeye bits
Ohio State guard and sister of former Buckeye PJ Hill, Tayler Hill was named Big Ten Player of the Week as the lady Buckeyes hoops team advanced to 7-0 with wins over two ranked opponents, Florida State and at Oklahoma.
Ohio State's men and women both took home titles at the Ohio State Invitational this past weekend in Columbus.
The #6 ranked Buckeye wrestlers continued their winning ways, this time taking home the 2011 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational championship. Freshman Logan Stieber was the lone Buckeye to win his weight class, but the rest of the team performed well enough to earn them the title.
