No. 7 Buckeyes Fall in Four Sets to No. 2 Texas – Ohio State Buckeyes

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes (0-2) fell to No. 2 Texas in four sets (25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 13-25) in front of the second-straight sold-out Covelli crowd on Saturday evening.

Ohio State fought off Texas’ comeback attempts to secure the first set win. The Longhorns responded with a 25-18 second set after leading for much of the set. Texas took the third set after taking an early lead as the Buckeyes could not quite close the gap. The Longhorns won the match in the fourth set with a series of runs.

How it Happened

Texas opened scoring but OSU responded immediately with a block from Rylee Rader and Jenaisya Moore. The Buckeyes used an early 6-1 run to take a 7-5 lead. After Texas tied the set at seven, five of the next six points belonged to Ohio State to force a Longhorns timeout as OSU led 12-8. The Buckeyes led by as many as five at 15-10, but the Longhorns chipped away to get within one, 18-17, and force an Ohio State timeout. After being tied at three-consecutive points, OSU scored back-to-back to lead 22-20. The Buckeyes took the first set by a 25-23 margin.

The teams traded points to begin the second set before Texas jumped out to an 8-3 lead to force an Ohio State timeout. The Longhorns held a 10-3 advantage before the Buckeyes brought it back within four at 12-8. Texas used a 6-1 run to extend its advantage to 20-12 and force Ohio State to take its second timeout of the set. After trailing by nine, the Buckeyes scored the next five of seven points, but the Longhorns evened the match with a 25-18 set win.

Texas began the third set hot to take the 6-1 advantage. Ohio State chipped away to get within three at 13-10 and trailed 15-10 at the media timeout. The Buckeyes kept pace with the Longhorns and were able to trim Texas’ lead to 20-17 and force a timeout. Texas won the third set by a 25-20 margin to take the two to one advantage.

The Longhorns scored first again in the fourth set. Londot got the Buckeyes onto the board with two kills. Texas held the early 6-3 advantage before the teams traded points. Neither team scored more than two-consecutive points until Texas scored three to take a 15-10 lead into the media timeout. Ohio State then called a timeout trailing 17-11. The Longhorns closed the match with a 8-1 run to win the fourth set by a 25-13 margin.

Highlights

S1: Mac Podraza block

S1: Gabby Gonzales kill

S1: Rylee Rader kill

S1: Set point

S2: Emily Londot kill

S2: Adria…