Heading into Friday night's match at Wisconsin, the Ohio State women's volleyball team was 5-7 in Big Ten play and had lost three of its last four matches.

But in yet another example of just how tough the Big Ten conference is, the Buckeyes managed a five-set upset of the No. 9 Badgers.

Here's how they did it.

1. They didn't let the first- or second-set losses get them down.

Wisconsin led all throughout the first and second sets, and won by dominating scores of 25-14 and 25-16. The bright spot for Ohio State -- and perhaps what gave the Buckeyes hope for the match -- was outside hitter Ayanna Swan, who had five kills and zero errors on six swings in the second set.

2. In set three, Ohio State made zero hitting errors.

Eighteen kills on 40 swings. No errors. Those are the numbers Ohio State posted in the third set, which it won 25-21 to keep itself in the match. Ashley Wenz led the charge with six kills, hitting .600.

That means Wisconsin did not get a single block. In the match as a whole, 6-foot-8 freshman middle blocker Dana Rettke got only one block, her second-worst blocking performance of the season. Ohio State became only the sixth team all season to out-block Wisconsin, as the Buckeyes recorded 13 blocks to the Badgers' seven.

3. Three consecutive momentum-sucking blocks in set four.

Ohio State was up 16-14, only two points ahead of the Badgers with plenty of game left, when freshman middle blocker Lauren Witte entered the game and solo blocked Rettke. The next point, Witte teamed up with Ashley Wenz to reject Lauryn Gillis, and then turned right around to stop another Rettke attempt with some help from Swan.

With those three stuff blocks, Ohio State's lead grew to 19-14 and the Buckeyes' maintained their lead all the way to a 25-23 set victory.

4. Wenz when it counts.

Senior right side Wenz played a big role in match as a whole, leading Ohio State with 15 kills, and in the the fifth and final set of the match she was key. Wenz tallied three kills, including the one that gave Ohio State match point 14-13.


She also added two blocks, the second of which -- a double alongside Witte -- rejected Gillis' attack attempt on match point and secured the upset for Ohio State.

Can the Buckeyes pull off a repeat performance and take down No. 6 Minnesota?

Tune in to the match right here on FloVolleyball, Saturday, November 4, at 7 PM CT, to find out.

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