After its long, COVID-inspired hiatus, the Olympic sports recap has returned to break down all of the action at Ohio State in the past week, save for men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s hockey and wrestling, all of which have dedicated beat writers here at BSB.
Men’s Lacrosse
The men’s lacrosse team opened its regular season with a resounding victory over No. 20 Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, giving the Buckeyes six straight season-opener victories.
Six players scored for the Buckeyes, led by four from Tre Leclaire. The Buckeyes also got hat tricks from Griffin Hughes and Jack Myers.
It wasn’t a close match from the beginning, and Ohio State never really looked back from that. The Buckeyes leapt out to a 6-1 lead and led by as much as 9-2 before finishing out the match with a 14-8 victory. The closest that Johns Hopkins got was 10-6.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity we had today to get back out on the field playing the game that we love,” head coach Nick Myers said. “So many people worked so hard to get us to this point.
“We had a plan on both ends of the field and knew we needed to settle into the game early not knowing what to expect from Johns Hopkins. Give credit to our men for executing. Back home and back to work for our home opener next Saturday.”
Men’s Volleyball
It was a huge weekend for the Buckeyes as they managed to upset No. 11 Loyola Chicago, despite falling down two sets to open the match. Ohio State looked to be in bad shape after a 22-25 and 17-25 start to the battle, but rallied and rattled off sets of 25-23, 26-24 and 15-11 to grab the win on Feb. 20.
A day later, the Buckeyes again upset the Ramblers, this time in straight sets, 25-17, 25-22, 27-25. Jacob Pasteur found himself in the double digits for kills in both matches, with 17 in the first and 10 in the second, his seventh and eighth games in double-digits this season, respectively.
Women’s Lacrosse
Led by six goals from Liza Hernandez and 13 saves from Jillian Rizzo, along with a Lindsay Epstein hat-trick and four points from Kelsey Reed, Ohio State was able to upset No. 9 Michigan, 15-12.
“I’m just so proud of the team for their effort and the discipline they showed all over the field,” head coach Amy Bokker said. “After a tough weekend we really reset ourselves. We worked together in our preparation for a great team win. There’s a lot of season left so we want to continue to build.”
The Buckeyes are now 1-1 on the year and will take on Rutgers next weekend.
Men’s Tennis
No. 9 Ohio State made short work of No. 6 Illinois on Feb. 21, beating the Fighting Illini 4-1, giving the Buckeyes their fifth win on the season (5-1) and their eighth straight victory against Illinois.
The Buckeyes claimed the doubles point thanks to the pairings of John McNally/Robert Cash and James Trotter/Justin Boulais, which claimed 6-3 and 6-4 victories, respectively.
In singles, McNally fell to Aleks Kovacevic 6-4, 6-3; Ohio State’s Cannon Kingsley defeated Alex Brown, 6-3, 6-4; J.J. Tracy (OSU) toppled Hunter Heck, 6-1, 6-2 and Cash knocked off Kweisi Kenyatte, 7-5, 7-5. Siphosothando Montsi vs. Kyle Seelig and Zeke Clark vs. Justin Boulais were left unfinished, as Ohio State had already claimed the match.
Ohio State also took a victory on Feb. 19, sweeping No. 25 Northwestern. Kingsley, McNally and Tracy took singles victories, while Trotter/Boulais and Kingsley/Seelig took the doubles point.
Full scoring of that match is below, provided by Ohio State.
Singles
1. #5 Cannon Kingsley (OSU) def. #58 Dominik Stary (NUM) 6-1, 6-4
2. #11 John McNally (OSU) def. Nick Brookes (NUM) 6-2, 6-3
3. Chris Ephron (NUM) vs. #80 James Trotter (OSU) 3-6, 2-2, unfinished
4. Trice Pickens (NUM) vs. #25 Kyle Seelig (OSU) 2-6, 2-3, unfinished
5. JJ Tracy (OSU) def. Simen Bratholm (NUM) 6-0, 6-1
6. Gleb Blekher (NUM) vs. Robert Cash (OSU) 4-6, 2-1, unfinished
Doubles
1. #57 Simen Bratholm/Nick Brookes (NUM) def. #4 Robert Cash/John McNally (OSU) 6-4
2. #37 James Trotter/Justin Boulais (OSU) def. Dominik Stary/Chris Ephron (NUM) 6-3
3. #51 Cannon Kingsley/Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Gleb Blekher/Natan Spear (NUM) 6-3
Women’s Gymnastics
Ohio State won its third-straight meet and put up a season-high 196.400 score in a tri-meet with Maryland and Penn State on Sunday. Ella Hodges claimed a career-high 9.950 score on the beam, while the Buckeyes took season highs on vault (49.175) and beam (49.225).
“This was an important road meet for us and a very exciting matchup with great Big Ten opponents,” said head coach Meredith Paulicivic. “It was a nail-biter to the very end and this team never stopped fighting. It was so much fun to come out of this meet with a big win.”
The Terrapins came in second with 196.275 while the Nittany Lions scored a 195.925 to finish third.
Women’s Volleyball
It was a very busy week for the surging women’s volleyball team, which now sits at 9-0 on the season after three wins on the week.
It opened the week on Feb. 17 with a victory over No. 8 Penn State, clawing back from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 victory (17-25, 13-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-8). This was new head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg’s first victory over a ranked foe.
The Buckeyes took a pair of wins over Illinois over the weekend too, beating the Fighting Illini 3-1 on Feb. 19 (25-17, 24-26, 25-17, 25-22) and 3-2 on Feb. 20 (25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-11). This 9-0 mark is the best start for the program in eight years, since the 2013 team opened 13-0.
Women’s Tennis
It was a pair of wins for the No. 8 Buckeyes over the weekend, as they improved to 7-2 on the year and 4-0 in Big Ten play.
The action started against Maryland on Feb. 19, as Ohio State claimed a 5-2 victory. The Buckeyes won all three doubles matches, while taking four of the six bouts in singles play. The full scoring is below, courtesy of Ohio State.
Singles
1. #89 Ayana Akli (UMD) def. #78 Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Eva Alexandrova (UMD) def. Lisa Hofbauer (OSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
3. Isabelle Boulais (OSU) def. Minorka Miranda (UMD) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
4. Kolie Allen (OSU) def. Zoe Kulkarni (UMD) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1
5. Luna Dormet (OSU) def. Adela Josefova (UMD) 7-5, 6-0
6. Tanisha Kashyap (OSU) def. Ebony Sampson (UMD) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
1. Isabelle Boulais/Kolie Allen (OSU) def. Ayana Akli/Minorka Miranda (UMD) 6-3
2. Eva Alexandrova/Adela Josefova (UMD) vs. Lucia Marzal/Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) 2-5, unfinished
3. Luna Dormet/Madeline Atway (OSU) def. Zoe Kulkarni/Ebony Sampson (UMD) 6-0
Against Rutgers on Feb. 21, the Buckeyes didn’t drop a match, winning 7-0.
Singles
- #78 Irina Cantos Siemers (OSU) def. Maya Jacobs (RU) 6-2, 6-0
- Isabelle Boulais (OSU) def. Tess Fisher (RU) 6-2, 6-4
- Kolie Allen (OSU) def. Sydney Kaplan (RU) 7-6 (4), 6-2
- Lucia Marzal (OSU) def. Chloe Brown (RU) 6-4, 6-4
- Luna Dormet (OSU) def. Jaci Cochrane (RU) 6-2, 6-3
- Tanisha Kashyap (OSU) def. Daira Cardenas (RU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
- Kolie Allen/Isabelle Boulais (OSU) def. Maya Jacobs/Kristiana Zahare (RU) 6-3
- Alisa Prinyarux/Tess Fisher (RU) vs. Lucia Marzal/Lisa Hofbauer (OSU) 3-4, unfinished
- Irina Cantos Siemers/Luna Dormet (OSU) def. Chloe Brown/Jaci Cochrane (RU) 6-1
Track and Field
Ohio State competed alongside Michigan and Michigan State at the Silverston Invitational on Feb. 19 and managed to win in nine of the 11 track events that it entered. The Buckeyes did not send any field athletes.
Yanique Dayle set two personal bests in winning the 60 (7.37) and the 200 (24.35). Marcia Sey won the 60 hurdles (8.41) in addition to a second-place finish to Dayle in the 200 (25.14). Aziza Ayoub won the 800 meters in 2:12.49.
Eric Harrison won the 400 with a team-best 6.71, while Adrian Curry finished second (6.81) and Kainnan Ramsey third (6.86). Nick Miller claimed the 800 in a Silverton Invite record time of 1:49.79, with Cameron Cooper finishing second at 1:50.19. Curry won the 200 meters in 21.63.
Women’s Soccer
Ohio State opened its season with a 1-1 tie in double overtime at home against Michigan. Sammi Woods opened the scoring for Michigan in the 30th minute, while Emma Sears closed it in the 68th off a Kayla Fischer assist. Ohio State vastly outshot the Wolverines (22-13), but keeper Hillary Beall stopped 15-of-16 Buckeye attempts on the net.
“It’s amazing to be back playing,” head coach Lori Walker-Hock said. “I think both teams really left a lot out on the field. There was a lot of physical soccer, which you would anticipate when the players are anxious and ready to play. I saw a lot of character on our team having to play overtime right out of the gate. I like where our fitness is and there is a lot we can move forward with and build on.”
Men’s Golf
Ohio State finished eighth at the Kiawah Invitational on Feb. 16, led by an outstanding debut for freshman Maxwell Moldovan.
Moldovan finished 10-under on the event, putting up rounds of 69-69-68 over the 54 holes, good enough to finish tied for fourth among all competitors.
