Tonight I saw live women's volleyball for the first time. The OSU women played Minnesota in Minneapolis, and a friend who has season tickets (and knows I am a big Buckeye fan) asked me to join him. Coming into the game, Minnesota was ranked #5 and OSU was around 0.500, something like 8th in the B1G. So of course UMN was a heavy favorite on their home court tonight.

Several things surprised me about the match tonight, the first of which was the venue, Maturi Pavilion. There were around 5000 people in attendance, and it was almost a family atmosphere. There were quite a few students, but the fans were largely middle-aged adults with a lot of families with young kids. The venue was very accessible, and the sight lines were all pretty good.

Second, the women playing this game are amazing athletes. Some are very tall, some are powerfully built, and some are small and petite. Whatever their body type, I was impressed with the quickness, power, and athleticism they all exhibited in well over two hours of nearly continuous play. The force with which they slammed the ball as well as the finesse of ball placement was pretty incredible, and being there in person is a much different experience from watching it on TV or video.

As far as scoring, the huge underdog OSU women lost the first set, one the next two, got blown out in the fourth, and took UMN to extra innings although they finally lost 17-15 in the fifth set. The OSU women gave a top team everything they could handle tonight, and despite the loss they have much to be proud of. I was certainly proud of the toughness and resilience our team showed.

Women's volleyball is a sport that I have never followed nor was ever interested in, but I just may try to get to another game before this season is over. While the record of the OSU team is not the greatest at this point, they gave a top team everything they could handle tonight. I highly recommend seeing a match in person if you ever have the opportunity.