Ohio State excellence is not exclusive to the football field or the basketball court. Around the Oval is our way of keeping you informed of the amazing things happening with the other 34 varsity sports on campus.
women's volleyball goes dancing
The Ohio State women's volleyball team punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament and has now found its way to the Sweet Sixteen. The Buckeyes defeated Missouri State in the first round in three sets and Kansas State in the second, 3-2.
Ohio State took down the Bears in the first round of the tournament in a three set sweep (25-21, 25-15, 31-19). This was three sets of revenge for the Buckeyes as they lost to Missouri State early on in the season. Taylor Sandbothe set the pace for Ohio State with 16.5 points including six kills. Luisa Schirmer and Taylor Hughes each contribute 11 to the Buckeye victory. Ohio State's defense held Missouri State to just 46 points for the entire match.
Moving on the the next round, Ohio State battled with No.14 Kansas State for five sets. The Buckeyes won the first two (25-20, 25,22), lost the second two (22-25, 23,25) and battled to win the final set (17-15). Taylor Hughes came alive for the Scarlet and Gray, recording her second triple double of the season with 41 assists, 15 digs, and 14 kills. Luisa Schirmer led the team with an impressive 25 points, including 21 kills. Also putting up good numbers for the Buckeyes were Sandbothe with 19, Hughes with 16.5, and Audra Appold with 13.5 points for the night. On the defensive side, the team had 81 total digs, 24 from Valeria Leon, and 13 total blocks. Ohio State had to overcome a solid defensive game from Kansas State which included 17.5 team blocks
This was a special game for Sandbothe because she was facing someone familiar on the other side of the net, her younger sister Elle Sandbothe.
"To be a part of this and share that with my family and my little sister, that is something that dreams are made of. That is something that you cannot make up. Honestly, seeing her on the other side of the net makes me so proud of everything that she has accomplished," Sandbothe said of playing against her sister.
Tonight, @ohiostatewvball and Taylor Sandbothe take on younger sister Elle and @KStateVB.
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) December 3, 2016
This is not a current picture of them. #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/fKr38OS4TW
Ohio State will take on a familiar opponent on December 9 at 2 p.m. in the Sweet Sixtien, the No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers. The B1G makes up six of the remaining 16 teams in the tournament including No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 12 Michigan, No.16 Penn State, and Ohio State. The only B1G team that made the tournament and did not make it to the round of 16 is No. 9 Michigan State. Two B1G teams will be saying goodbye after this round, as Ohio State plays Wisconsin and Nebraska plays Penn State.
16 remain... pic.twitter.com/iNOMrXM0f3
— OhioStateWVolleyball (@ohiostatewvball) December 4, 2016
Men's hockey drops eight on No. 11 Minnesota
The No. 10 ranked Ohio State men's hockey team ended the first half of the season on a high note by defeating the No. 11 Minnesota Golden Gophers 8-1.
A for Ohio State vs Gophers tonight. Nice bounce back. @bigten has some depth this year pic.twitter.com/VXpfvRYnmI
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) December 4, 2016
Mason Jobst scored first for the Buckeyes off of an assist from Luke Stork to get the scoring started just 33 seconds into the first period. Tommy Parran scored ten minutes later to put Ohio State state up 2-0. To end the first period, Minnesota scored two back to back goals to even up the score.
In the second period, the Scarlet and Gray went on a four goal run. All four goals were scored within a five minute time frame by four different players. Nick Shilkey scored first off of an assist from Tanner Laczynski, then assisted Mason Jobst on a goal 14 seconds later. Tanner Laczynski and Josh Healey each scored one of their own to finish out the period and put Ohio State up 6-2.
The Buckeyes run didn't end there. David Gust scored at the beginning of the third off of the power play. Sasha Larocque scored the final Ohio State goal of the game to make the scored 8-2. Minnesota scored one last goal in the final minutes to end the game 8-3.
This was the team's final game before going on a break until they resume play on December 31 in Columbus, Ohio against Miami. As I recall, there is something pretty important going on in Phoenix that night.
Buckeyes end first half 9-2-4, 2nd in NCAA in scoring offense (4.53 gpg).
— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) December 4, 2016
16 goal scorers, 8 with 10+ points. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/7Ht6uRlsyB
Go Bucks!
