Volleyball: Virginia rallies from two down, drops five-set thriller to Ohio State

Virginia dropped the first two sets to Ohio State on Friday night, but rallied to force a deciding fifth set, which the Buckeyes took to record the win in the non-conference matchup at the Aquatic & Fitness Center.

Former Buckeye Reese Wuebker led the ‘Hoos (4-4) with 17 kills, while Emily Fowler matched her career high with nine blocks.

Ohio State (6-3) had three players in double figures, as Naomy Govou led the Buckeyes with 23 kills while Hannah Jones had 13 and Kalli Jioshvili-Ravva followed with 10.

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Set 1: Ohio State 25, Virginia 22

Virginia took an early 6-3 lead, but the Buckeyes stayed within striking distances and evened it at 11-11.

The ‘Hoos took another lead at 17-14, but a 5-0 run by Ohio State flipped the set in favor of the Buckeyes, who closed the set on an 11-5 run

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Set 2: Ohio State 25, Virginia 16 

Ohio State gained momentum after an early 4-4 tie and burst out to a 15-8 lead. The Buckeyes led by as much as 10 points at 21-11 before taking it 25-16.

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Set 3: Virginia 25, Ohio State 20

The ‘Hoos never trailed in the third set after jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Ohio State rallied to even it at 13-13, but Virgini responded with a kill by Wuebker and a block by Reagan Ennist.

Virginia held its lead through the remainder of the set, and ended it with a Wuebker kill and an OSU attack error.

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Set 4: Virginia 25, Ohio State 23

An early run from the ‘Hoos saw UVA own an early 13-6 lead. Virginia kept its seven-point lead at 16-9, but the Buckeyes responded with an 8-2 run to cut the UVA lead to 18-17.

OSU jumped ahead to a 21-19 lead, though a 3-0 run with a Wuebker kill and a pair of blocks put Virginia back in front.

Virginia finished with three of the set’s final four points, and clinched it on an OSU attack error.

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Set 5: Ohio State 15, Virginia 11

The two teams battled early on in the final set and were tied at 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10 before a late run from the Buckeyes was the difference.

OSU closed the match on a 5-1 run, which included the final three points.

Postgame

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“Anytime you go down 0-2 and are able to force a fifth set – how can you not be proud of the effort?” Virginia coach Shannon Wells said.

“I think we saw some really great improvement in set three and four, especially our blocking. It wasn’t our best offensive night, but to see us come in and serve and block and find other ways to score points was a really big deal for our team. We’re a great team. We’re getting closer and closer,” Wells said.