COLUMBUS, Ohio- The Big Ten battle between #6 ranked Nebraska and #19 ranked Ohio State was a fight to the finish. The Buckeyes had a strong showing against last year’s Big Ten champs posting their highest team score of the season- 195.975, however it was not enough to defeat the Huskers who finished less than two tenths ahead with a 196.150.

 

Ohio State began with a solid vault rotation that was capped off by an incredible stuck vault by junior captain, Sarah Miller. Miller’s vault earned a 9.925, which is her third 9.9 or higher on vault this season. Senior Aly Marohn and Junior Melanie Shaffer both posted 9.850’s to add to the Buckeye 49.050 vault score. Nebraska came in only .025 behind Ohio State in the first rotation scoring a 49.025 on the uneven bars. Junior Emily Wong scored a 9.875 for the Huskers and senior Janelle Giblin finished up the rotation with a big 9.90 routine.

In the second rotation, Ohio State headed to the bars and Nebraska to the vault.  Junior Victoria Aepli led the Buckeyes on the bars with the team’s highest score of a 9.775.  Nebraska posted their team’s highest vault score of the season with a 49.30.  Senior Brittany Skinner scored a 9.925, tying with Miller of OSU for the win.

 

Miller anchored the Buckeyes beam line up in the third rotation and tied her career-high of 9.950.  Also putting up solid scored for Ohio State on the beam was Marohn and sophomore Sarah Grady. Over on the floor, Wong of Nebraska gave a 9.875 performance that kept the Huskers just slightly ahead of the Buckeyes 147.125-146.800.

 

The final rotation put OSU on the floor and Nebraska on the beam.  The Buckeyes were without freshman Audrey Tolbert, who contributed to their line up in the first three meets. Aepli and junior captain Alex DeLuca stepped up and earned their season highs on floor that were followed by back-to-back 9.90s from Shaffer and Miller.  However, Nebraska answered on beam with sophomore Jennifer Lauer putting up a 9.85 and Wong a 9.90 to finish the meet.

 

Next weekend, the Buckeyes will travel to Penn State and take on the Nittany Lions Feb. 2, at 7 p.m.

 

Nebraska will host Illinois Feb. 1 at 6 p.m at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb.