Olympic Sports Recap: Volleyball Lands A Massive Victory

It was another week that saw several seasons come to a close in Ohio State Olympic sports, with men’s soccer and field hockey both seeing their seasons end in the Big Ten tournament. All in all, it was a good week for the Buckeyes, with a 3-3 record led by big wins for volleyball and wrestling.

 MEN’S SOCCER

The men’s soccer team saw its season end in a 2-0 loss to Indiana on Nov. 10. With the Big Ten tournament serving as the final chance for Ohio State to extend its season, the Buckeyes were unable to knock off Indiana, widely thought of as one of the nation’s best teams. The Buckeyes were able to notch one tournament win on Nov. 9, 1-0 over Rutgers on a Devyn Etling goal.

A 7-11-1 finish to the season stands as a marked improvement for the program, following a one-win season in 2018. With such a young team, Ohio State could be in for a big year next season.

FIELD HOCKEY

Field hockey was unable to grab a win in their Big Ten tournament, dropping its first game in the tournament to No. 2 seeded Iowa, 4-1.

Mackenzie Allessie was the lone scorer for the Buckeyes, notching her time high 37th point of the year. Allessie, along with a talented young core, will be expected to produce at a high level next season for the Buckeyes following this year’s 9-9 campaign.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team picked up its biggest win of the season on Nov. 8 with a 3-1 win over No. 4 Wisconsin, the first Big Ten loss of the year for the Badgers. Gabby Gonzalez recorded a double double with 14 kills and 10 digs and the Buckeyes had a season high 10 servie aces. For the young team, such a massive win could serve as a rallying point, even with a 3-0 loss to Minnesota two days later. Ohio State sits at 13-13 on the season and will face Purdue on Nov. 15.

WRESTLING

The wrestling team christened the new Covelli Center with a blowout of Stanford in its first duals match of the season, 29-6. The winners for Ohio State were: 133 Quinn Kinner (D, 7-1),  141 Luke Pletcher (SV-1, 3-1), 149 Sammy Sasso (D, 3-1), 157 Elijah Cleary (SV-1, 10-8), 174 Kaleb Romero (MD, 16-7), 184 Zach Steiner (D, 9-6), 197 Kollin Moore (MD, 19-8), HWT Gary Traub (D, 4-3), 125 Malik Heinselman (D, 6-3). The only loss of the dual came from the 165 group, where No. 8 Shane Griffin beat No. 20 Ethan Smith (Fall, 6:15).

Quinn Kinner, Sammy Sasso and Zach Steiner all each made their varsity debuts. The Buckeyes take the mat next on Nov. 15 in Pittsburgh against the Pitt Panthers.