The Buckeyes defeat Northwestern and pick up their first Big Ten win of the season

The Buckeyes dominated the Wildcats en route to their first conference win of the year.

Ohio State (8-7, 1-4 Big Ten) earned its first Big Ten win on Thursday against Northwestern (3-10, 1-4 Big Ten) in straight sets (25-23, 25-16, 26- 24). Welsh Ryan Arena.

Northwestern opened its first set with an 8-3 lead, which led to Ohio State calling a timeout. Midway through the first set, the Buckeyes went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-12 lead.

The Wildcats fought back to take a 23-21 lead, although a 4-0 run by the Buckeyes ended the set at 25-23.

Ohio State began the second set with a commanding lead of 11-6. After Northwestern battled back to cut the lead to four, the Buckeyes scored five straight goals, capped by a combined block from outside hitter Emily Londot and middle blocker Rylee Rader.

The Buckeyes led by as many as 12 points and closed the second set 25-16 thanks to freshman outside hitter/defensive specialist Reese Wuebker’s third ace of the game.

Ohio State opened the third set with a 4-1 lead, although Northwestern was able to tie the set with nine points. The Buckeyes went on another 4-1 run and took a 13-10 lead on an ace from sophomore defensive specialist Kaitlyn Hoffman.

A few moments later the score was tied at 11 p.m.

Each team traded a point before Ohio State closed the third set with two straight points. Londot’s ace defeated Northwestern and won the set 26-24, giving the Buckeyes the win.

The Buckeyes hope to carry the momentum into their home game against the rival Michigan Wolverines on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center.