By: Nick McGill

With a 5-2 record, the Musketeers entered the Sports Import DC Koehl Classic at Ohio State to face off against Southeastern Missouri State (SEMO), Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Ohio State last weekend.

Coming off of a three game sweep of Miami Ohio, the Musketeers looked to keep their hot streak going in Columbus.

The first of Xavier’s three games resulted in a 3-1 victory over SEMO.

Leading the attack was freshman outside hitter Abbey Bessler and senior outside hitter Sarah Brown. Bessler recorded a career high 23 kills and finished with a double-double.

Brown joined her teammate with a double-double of her own tallying 13 kills and 19 digs.

The Musketeers finished strong, beating SEMO 25-12 in the fourth set to put the Redhawks away.

In the next match against the IUPUI Jaguars, Xavier powered through for a straight set victory (25-22, 25-20, 25-23).

The Musketeers’ defense proved to be the determining factor in this match with another solid offensive performance by Bessler.

Following two straight victories, the Musketeers were set to match up with 13-ranked Ohio State. After the Buckeyes dominated the first set 25-10, the Musketeers fought back in the second set to even the match at one set apiece.

The Buckeye squad was too much to handle in the third and fourth winning both and finished off Xavier (25-10, 21-25, 25-23, 25-13).

The Musketeers put up a great fight and pushed the Buckeyes to the brink but were ultimately not able to pull out a victory.

Junior setter Aubree Smith and Brown were named to the All-Tournament team, both turning in dominant performances as they led their team to a 2-1 record for the tournament.

Smith racked up a total of 122 assists during the three games while Brown managed 45 digs and 25 kills for the Musketeers.

This weekend the Musketeers will travel to the University of California Irvine to compete in the UC Irvine Invitational before heading to Indianapolis to kick off conference play against Butler.