Around The Oval

By Evan Anslow on November 21, 2012 at 3:00 pm
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Although everyone will surely be focused on beating That School Up North all week, the show goes on for other Ohio State athletic teams.  We'll take a quick look-in at how they are performing.

Hill drives to the hoop against Cincy.

With the soccer season's coming to a close, other sports seasons are just getting started. One of those teams is the Ohio State women's basketball team, which is ranked No. 16 overall in the nation.

In the home opener at Value City Arena, the Buckeyes defeated Cincinnati, 87-49. Senior guard Tayler Hill led three Buckeyes in double figures with 21 points and five assists. Redshirt senior guard Amber Stokes and sophomore guard Raven Ferguson both chipped in with 16 points apiece while junior center Ashley Adams turned in a solid all-around performance with seven points, seven assists, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes.

OSU returned to action at St. John Arena on November 17, and defeated Winthrop by a score of 78-53.

A Buckeye trio of Hill (16), Darryce Moore (16) and Adams (14) scored in double digits to lead Ohio State to its 14th victory at St. John Arena since the 2004-05 season.  Head coach Jim Foster was pleased with the ball movement of his squad.

"Ball movement is big with this team. The more we move it, the more opportunities we have for open shots. It also makes it easier for our guards to breakdown the defense on the dribble."

The Buckeyes return to action Nov. 20 against St. Francis (Pa.) at 7 p.m. and against Wright State Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. Both games will be held at Value City Arena.

Men's Hockey

The Ohio State men's hockey team continued its home slate with a series against No. 19 Northern Michigan on Nov. 16-17.

Coach looks on as the boys sweep.

The Buckeyes played to a 2-0 win over the Wildcats on Friday night, as senior goalie Brady Hjelle stopped all 20 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season, while junior Travis Statchuk and sophomore Max McCormick scored for the Buckeyes and sophomore Ryan Dzingel had two assists.

Third-period goals from juniors Alex Szczechura and Chris Crane lifted Ohio State to a 4-2 victory and series sweep of Northern Michigan on Saturday night.  You just had to know OSU was going to defeat any team with the name Michigan in it. Redshirt freshman Riley Simpson and Ryan Dzingel scored back-to-back power play goals in a 1:42 span to give Ohio State the 2-1 lead early in the second period.

Simpson was ecstatic about his first goal as a Buckeye, stating ,“It feels really good, like a weight has been taken off my back.”

Ohio State will hit the road for the next two series, skating at Lake Superior State Nov. 23-24 and at Michigan State Nov. 30-Dec. 1. The team will then play three of its next four games in Columbus, hosting Robert Morris Dec. 7 in the first game of a home-and-home series before closing out the first half of the schedule vs. Miami Dec. 14-15.

Women's Volleyball

The Ohio State women's volleyball team traveled to No. 21 Purdue and came away with a 3-0 (25-19, 29-27, 25-11) sweep of the Boilermakers Nov. 16 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Senior Mari Hole led all student-athletes with 17 kills and totaled 10 digs for her 16th double-double of the season. Junior Kaitlyn Leary notched 14 kills in the win while classmate Davionna DiSalvatore had a team-high 11 digs. Senior Amanda Peterson finished with 25 assists for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State also traveled to Indiana the next day, earning its 22nd win of the season with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 26-28, 25-23) victory over the Hoosiers. Hole became the 20th Buckeye in program history to notch 1,000 kills after picking up 24 to lead all attackers. She is the third-fastest to reach 1,000 behind former Buckeyes Vanessa Wouters (1996-97) and Stacy Gordon (2001-04).

Leary had 16 kills and three blocks in the match, while senior Mariah Booth added 10 kills with three blocks. DiSalvatore had a match-high 16 digs and sophomore Anna Faul totaled six block assists.

The Buckeyes close out the 2012 regular season next week, traveling to No. 1 Penn State and hosting Michigan. Ohio State and the Nittany Lions face off Wednesday, Nov. 21 in State College at 7 p.m. ET. The Buckeyes then host the Wolverines Friday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. ET in St. John Arena. Ohio State's match vs. Michigan will also serve as senior night for the team's four seniors.

Wrestling

No. 5 Ohio State opened the dual season with a 40-3 win at Davidson Nov. 15. The Buckeyes scored 40 points for the first time since defeating Findlay, 42-3, Nov. 22, 2009, in Columbus during the Buckeye duals.

Senior Nikko Triggas, redshirt sophomore Randy Languis and redshirt senior C.J. Magrum provided six points each to the team score with pins, while redshirt sophomore Logan Stieber added a technical fall at 133 pounds and freshman Mark Martin and redshirt junior Peter Capone scored major decisions at 165 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.

Ohio State next traveled to Blacksburg, Va., to face Virginia Tech Nov. 17. Holding on to an 11-10 lead with four matches remaining, the Scarlet and Gray won four consecutive bouts between 174 pounds and heavyweight to pull out a 23-10 victory

The Buckeyes clinched their second dual win of the season on Magrum’s 7-4 decision over Derrick Borlie in the 197-pound match. Stieber put the Buckeyes on the board when he recorded a 19-4 technical fall over Erik Spjut at 133 pounds.

In their third dual match of the weekend, the Buckeyes defeated No. 18 Pittsburgh by a score of 26-13. In all, Ohio State won six of 10 matches and had a 23-0 lead at the halfway mark.

Back-to-back pins by Triggas and Stieber at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, immediately gave the Buckeyes a 12-0 advantage. Sophomores Hunter Stieber and Cam Tessari along with redshirt sophomore Josh Demas and redshirt junior Nick Heflin all put points on the board for the Buckeyes

Up next, Ohio State will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the CKLV Invitational Nov. 30-Dec. 1. The Buckeyes' next home match is at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 vs. Kent State in St. John Arena.

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