Northwestern Drops Tilt Against Buckeyes

10/14/2017 8:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Zach Wingrove

CHICAGO, Ill. — Coming off her best Big Ten performance of the season on Friday, first-year Alana Walker continued her stellar play against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday evening at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

Walker finished with a team-high eight kills for Northwestern, while hitting .316 and adding three total blocks on the match

Meanwhile, after recording a double-double against Maryland on Friday, senior Taylor Tashima finished just short of her eighth double-double of the season as she registered a team-high 24 assists and eight digs on the match.

Ohio State (11-8, 4-4 in Big Ten) went on to win the match 3-0 on Saturday evening.

After falling behind 12-4 early in the first set, Northwestern went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a kill from Nia Robinson, an ace from Tashima and a pair of blocks from first-years Alana Walker and Danyelle Williams to cut the OSU lead to 12-10. However, Ohio State went on to win the set 25-13.

Walker continued her strong play in the second set, pacing the 'Cats attack with five kills.

Sophomore Sarah Johnson, who entered Saturday ranked fourth in the Big Ten with 22 total aces, recorded back-to-back aces to cut the score to 20-17 late in the second set. But the Buckeyes finished strong, winning the set 25-18 and taking a 2-0 advantage in the match.

Ohio State closed out the match in the third set, winning 25-15 while hitting for a .351 clip in the set.

Robinson finished the match with six kills, while senior Gabrielle Hazen added six of her own while hitting for a .286 clip. Williams added four kills along with two total blocks, while first-year Lexi Pitsas continued her strong play serving the ball as she recorded an ace for the fourth consecutive match.

Chicago's Big Ten team will return to action on Friday, October 20 when it travels to Lincoln to face No. 4 Nebraska. One day later, the team will travel to Iowa City to face the Iowa Hawkeyes.