Huskers Fall at No. 13 Ohio State, 3-2

Columbus, Ohio - The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team fell 3-2 to No. 13 Ohio State on Saturday night at St. John Arena, finishing a tough road trip with a split.

Just one day after defeating No. 1 Penn State at Rec Hall, the Huskers (12-2, 3-1 Big Ten) won the first set at Ohio State, 25-22, before falling in sets two and three, 18-25, 22-25. NU rallied to force a fifth set with a 25-17 margin in set four. But the Buckeyes (14-2, 3-1 Big Ten) got off to a quick start in set five and never trailed in a 15-10 win. 

Cecilia Hall had 12 kills and six blocks to lead the Huskers. Kelsey Fien also had 12 kills, while Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills and four blocks. Amber Rolfzen was also in double-figures with 10 kills and five blocks. Alicia Ostrander had six kills. Kelly Hunter had 50 assists, and Annika Albrecht had a team-high 17 digs.

Ohio State got a career-high 22 kills and 17 digs from freshman Audra Appold, who hit .450 for the match. Elizabeth Campbell added 20 kills and 17 digs. 

The Buckeyes outhit Nebraska .247 to .191. The Huskers had an 11-5 advantage in blocks, but OSU won the digs category, 79-63. 

The Huskers fell behind 16-11 in set one as OSU fed Appold for five kills. The Huskers strung together a 3-0 rally with a Fien kill and Hall block to cut it to 16-14. Ohio State answered with a 3-0 run of its own after a timeout to go back up 19-14. The Buckeyes led 21-16 before Nebraska stormed back with a 9-1 run to win 25-22. Ohio State committed five hitting errors, a service error and ball handling error, while Amber Rolfzen and Kadie Rolfzen slammed clutch kills with the set tied 22-22. NU outhit OSU .225 to .179 in the set.

Ohio State came back to win set two, 25-18, and even the match at 1-1. With the set tied 9-9, OSU won 10 of the next 13 rallies to go up 19-12, as the Huskers committed five attacking errors during the run. The Huskers hit .171 in the second set, while OSU hit .562.

The Buckeyes were the first team to gain any sort of separation in the third set when they taked an 11-8 lead. The Huskers drew even twice on blocks by Amber Rolfzen and Hunter, but followed both blocks with service errors. OSU pulled in front, 19-16, with three straight points. NU pulled within 19-18 on a kill by Fien and block by Hall and Ostrander and tied the set, 21-21, after Ostrander got a kill followed by an OSU hitting error. With the set tied 22-22, Ohio State scored the final three points with two more kills by Appold. 

A 5-0 run in set four gave the Huskers an 12-9 edge, as Hall and Kadie Rolfzen got a block, while Rolfzen posted two kills and Ostrander notched one as well. The Buckeyes cut it to 13-12, but Nebraska answered with a 3-0 run capped by an Ostrander kill to go up 16-12. Ohio State got within 16-14, but the Huskers pulled away down the stretch to a 25-17 win behind the strong defensive play of Hall and three late kill by Fien. 

Nebraska committed a service error and hitting error, and OSU followed with a block to take a quick 3-0 lead in set five. The Buckeyes went up 7-2 and maintained the five-point edge at 9-4. NU continued to fight will a kill by Amber Rolfzen and a long rally win after OSU hit long, cutting the deficit to 9-6. Hall added a kill to make it 9-7, but OSU won the next two rallies for an 11-7 lead. OSU pulled out the 15-10 win by taking four of the final five rallies.  

The Huskers host Michigan State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on BTN.