United volleyball wins 15th

YOUNGSTOWN — United leaders in a 25-12, 25-12, 25-16 win over Valley Christian on Thursday were Brittany Miller with 13 service points and 14 assists, Baylee Smith with 18 digs and Tessa Clunen and Maelee Smith each with four kills.

United also won won the junior varsity match, 25-11, 25-13. Scarlett Courtney had 14 points with five aces and Brennean Ritchie had four points and five kills.

United (15-4) will host Valley on Monday.

Chestnuts capture league championship

NEW GARDEN — Gage Chestnut and Isaiah Chestnut defeated Brian Bostick and Chuck Sluss in championship match of the Zep’s Pizza at Pinky’s, Coil Line Service League at Eagle Pass Golf Course.

Aces take early lead

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Aces hadn’t spent a lot of time working on zone defense, so what better time than the fourth quarter of a WNBA Finals game? It worked out perfectly for Las Vegas. The zone cooled off hot-shooting Phoenix just enough to allow the Aces to rally for an 89-86 Game 1 victory Friday night.

Bowling results

High Nooners League

at Walnut Lanes

STANDINGS: Warriors 12-4, Rangers 12-4, Mike’s Lawnmower Shop 11-5, Smokin Guns 9-7, Cut Above 8-8, Sun Shine 7-9, Guys & Dolls 5-11.

HIGH GAME: (men’s) Bill Ambrose 209, Mike Price 193-172, Dan Vojnovich 187, Sparky Miller 166; (women’s) Beth Bonafate 182-154, Pam Olmstead 154, Barb Price 137, Teena Richards 132.

HIGH SERIES: Mike Price 515, Bill Ambrose 511, Dan Vojnovich 507.

Buckeyes return home

COLUMBUS (AP) — After a week off and a weekend trip to the Pacific Northwest, No. 1 Ohio State is set to return to Ohio Stadium on Saturday

The Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will host Minnesota (3-1, 1-0) in their second home night game of the season and the first against a Big Ten opponent since Ohio State beat Michigan State 38-3 in November 2023.

That’s been a sore subject for some fans over the past year as Fox Sports snaps up most of the marquee matchups in the Big Ten and puts them in its Big Noon Kickoff time slot, but Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck did not seem thrilled to be an exception.

“I mean, that place is 107,000 fans and it’s deafening, and that’s for a noon kickoff or an 11 a.m. (Central) kickoff, let alone all of them doing what they do, tailgating all day and being ready for the night game that the fans have asked for,” Fleck said at his weekly news conference in the Twin Cities. “We know we’re walking into a really hostile environment. We’re going to do everything we can to recreate it and prepare in it.”

Ohio State passed its first road test last week with a 24-6 win at Washington.

Coach Ryan Day was happy with how his team handled the hostile Huskies crowd, especially redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin, who looked shaky at times early but seemed to settle in as the game went on in Seattle.

Saylin completed 15 of 18 passes in the second half after hitting 7 of 10 in the first and finished with 208 yards and two touchdown passes.

“I think that’s somebody who is building confidence every time he’s out there, building confidence of the guys that are around him, his teammates,” Day said.

Young QBs

Like Sayin, Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey is a first-year starter in his second year on campus who has shown promise so far this season.

The Arkansas native is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week after completing 31 of 41 passes for 324 yards in a comeback win at home against Rutgers last Saturday.

“We haven’t really played a pocket passer,” Ohio State safety Jaylen McClain said. “He’s a really good quarterback. He’s in the pocket. He’s able to get the ball at different spots. So we’ve just got to work every day and just get prepared for that.”

Running games not quite in gear

Ohio State is 50th in the nation at 181.3 yards per game on the ground while Minnesota is 87th (144.0), but the Golden Gophers are No. 5 against the run (65.5).

“I respect P.J. Fleck as much as anybody in the country and their coaching staff and how hard they play,” Day said. “And so it’ll be a challenge. You don’t play Minnesota and think you’re just going to run the ball without a lot of hard work.”

While Ohio State is working with three new running backs (CJ Donaldson, James Peoples and Bo Jackson) in a rotation trying to replace NFL draftees TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, Minnesota has missed standout Darius Taylor.

The junior missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and Fleck gave no indication of his status for this week.

Tough Ds

Minnesota is No. 9 nationally in total defense (230 yards per game), one spot behind Ohio State (229.3), so yards could be at a premium Saturday.

The Buckeyes have been better at preventing points, though, ranking No. 1 in scoring defense (5.5 points per game) while Minnesota is just 25th (16.3).

Familiar face

Ohio State’s starting right tackle, Phillip Daniels, is an Ohio native, but he spent the last two seasons at Minnesota.

“He’s got to come in here and have a great week of practice,” Day said of the Princeton High School graduate. “And this will be a big week for him, playing against his old team for sure, but I think the guys appreciate what he brings every day. He brings a work ethic and a toughness to work every day. And we can build off of that.”

Series notes

Minnesota won three of the first five against Ohio State, but the Buckeyes have won 46 of the 50 meetings since 1944. That includes 13 in a row since Minnesota won 29-17 against No. 5 OSU at Ohio Stadium in 2000.