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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Strong back-row defense allowed the IUPUI volleyball team to hang with No. 13 Ohio State, but the Buckeyes were too tough offensively leading them past the Jaguars, 3-0 (16-25, 22-25, 22-25), Friday evening in the first match for both teams at the Sports Imports DC Koehl Classic at St. John Arena.

The loss dipped IUPUI to 4-5 on the season, while the Buckeyes improved to 7-0.

Kaitlyn Hickey and Beth Howard posted 23 and 21 digs, respectively, to pace the Jaguars defense, and Hickey's dig total tied for sixth in program history for most digs in a three-set match. The duo's 44 combined digs helped the Jaguars out-dig the Buckeyes, 70-69, but Ohio State's offense was able to accumulate 17 more kills than IUPUI proving to be the difference.

"I thought we kept with them most of the match, especially in sets two and three when we were tied in the 20's," head coach Steve Payne said. "We just need to tighten up at the end of sets to finish them."

OSU's Kaitlyn Leary came into the match as the reigning AVCA Player of the Week, but the Jaguars forced her into a few early errors and used four kills from Moriah Fair to take a 13-12 lead in set one. The lead didn't last for long as Ohio State rallied to take nine of the next ten points to open a 21-14 lead. Two Buckeyes attack errors brought the Jags within five, 21-16, but four consecutive IUPUI errors gave Ohio State the 25-16 first-set win.

Hickey delivered four of IUPUI's first six points on kills to put it in front, 6-3, but Ohio State found its rhythm offensively and turned its three-point deficit into a five-point lead, 14-9. Three errors from Taylor Sandbothe, a kill from Kelly Wachtel and a Hickey solo block brought the Jags within one, 15-14, but just as IUPUI closed within one, the Buckeyes moved their lead back to three, 19-16. A Logan Walling kill started a Jags surge that eventually knotted the score at 20-20, but a handful of Jaguars miscues put Ohio State back in front, 23-21, forcing Payne to use a timeout. Out of the timeout, two Leary kills finished off a 25-22 set-two victory for the Buckeyes.

Three OSU errors and six combined points from Walling and Wachtel put IUPUI in front, 12-9, in set three, forcing the Buckeyes to burn one of their two timeouts. The Buckeyes took a one-point lead at 14-13 and 16-15, but the Jags managed to halt the Ohio State momentum and catapult back in front, 20-18, following a Walling kill. Two ties ensued, but three consecutive kills from the home team gave them three match points. The Jags spoiled one of those set points thanks to a block from Walling and Wachtel, but a Leary kill gave Ohio State a 25-22 win.

Fair led IUPUI in kills with 10 and added 10 digs to earn her seventh kill-dig double-double of the season.

The Jaguars continue the Sports Imports DC Koehl Classic on Saturday when it takes on Xavier and Southeast Missouri State at 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.