No. 6 Ohio State Wins at No. 11 Penn State in Five-Set Thriller – Ohio State Buckeyes

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes (15-5, 11-1 B1G) beat No. 11 Penn State (17-6, 6-6 B1G) in a five-set thriller (19-25, 27-25, 26-28, 25-14, 17-15) on Saturday night.

The first set was close throughout, but Penn State scored the final five points to earn the 25-19 set win. The second set was back-and-forth, with the Buckeyes rallying from a late 24-21 deficit to even the match with a 27-25 set win. The Nittany Lions fought off six set points to take the match lead with a 28-26 win in set three. Ohio State scored the final seven points of the fourth set to earn the 25-14 set win and force a fifth set. Though the fifth set is shortened, it featured 11 ties as the Buckeyes came away with the 17-15 win on a kill from Gabby Gonzales.

How it Happened

Penn State opening scoring on a long rally, but Ohio State quickly tied the set. The Nittany Lions used a 5-1 run to take the early 7-3 lead. PSU extended its lead to 10-4, forcing an OSU timeout. Ohio State used a 3-0 run, capped by a Rylee Rader ace, to get within four at 11-7. The Buckeyes put together another 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 13-10 on a block from Adria Powell and Emily Londot. OSU’s three-unanswered points for a third time trimmed the PSU lead to 20-18, forcing a Penn State timeout. The Buckeyes continued their run out of the timeout to get within one at 20-19, but the Nittany Lions responded with the next three points to lead 23-19 and cause a Buckeye timeout. Penn State won the first set by a 25-19 margin.

The Nittany Lions scored first as the teams traded points to begin the second set. Back-to-back kills from Rader gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the match at 4-3. Penn State scored the next three points to take a 6-4 lead before OSU tied the set four times to get the set knotted up at 10. Ohio State led 15-14 at the media timeout. The Nittany Lions tied it at the next three points before taking the lead back at 18-17 and forcing an OSU timeout at 19-17. The Buckeyes cut the deficit to one twice before Penn State used a successful challenge amidst a 3-1 run to take a 23-20 lead. Ohio State took a timeout trailing 24-21. The Buckeyes scored back-to-back, prompting a PSU timeout. OSU scored the next three points to tie the set at 24 and then took a 26-25 lead on a kill from Powell, forcing another Nittany Lions timeout. Londot sealed the 27-25 set win with her 10^th kill of the match.

Ohio State scored first in the…