Match Stats
- No. 1 Ohio State 3, McKendree 0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-15)
- Ohio State moves to 24-2, 14-0 MIVA; McKendree falls to 9-18, 4-10 MIVA
- Columbus, Ohio
- Attendance: 1016
- Box Score
The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes put on an impressive offensive showing, hitting at a .437 clip and serving up eight aces in a 3-0 sweep of McKendree on Saturday. The Buckeyes beat the Bearcats for a second straight night with the 25-18, 26-24, 25-15 win to clinch the outright MIVA title.
Senior opposite Miles Johnson led all hitters with 16 kills, while also hitting .423 and adding a team-best three aces and two blocks. Junior outside hitter Nicolas Szerszen registered 11 kills, hit .421 and managed a team-leading eight digs and three aces. Redshirt senior middle blocker Driss Guessous added seven kills on a .600 hitting effort.
Sophomore outside Will Frank, junior outside Nolan Rueter and senior opposite Maalik Walker put down eight kills apiece to pace the Bearcats, while Walker and Frank led the backcourt with four digs each.
Ohio State went up 11-6 early in Set 1, but McKendree cut the margin to two at 13-11 with help from a pair of blocks. The teams split the next eight points, but OSU ended the set by scoring eight of the final 11 points. Four Bearcats errors and a pair of kills by Johnson secured the win. The Buckeyes hit at a .500 clip in the stanza.
Set 2 featured 12 ties and four lead changes. The teams were deadlocked at 16 midway through the stanza. Kills by Guessous and Johnson and a McKendree error made it 19-17 in favor or Ohio State. Three straight Buckeye errors put the Bearcats up 20-19. Johnson served up a pair of aces as OSU went up 23-21. A kill by Szerszen put Ohio State on the hill at 24-22, but an error and a Frank putaway knotted the score at 24-all. A Szerszen kill and McKendree miscues ended the set at 26-24. Both teams hit over .400 in the set with OSU managing a .444 clip and the Bearcats coming in at .417.
The teams traded points the first 12 points of Set 3. Ohio State pulled away with 10 of the next 13 points to take a 16-9 lead. Five Bearcat miscues, two Szerszen kills and an ace aided the Buckeye run. An ace and a kill by Johnson coupled with a trio of McKendree errors made it a 10-point game at 22-12. Two kills by Ryan Genn and solo stuff by Szerszen ended the night. McKendree hit .045 in the set, with eight kills and seven errors.
Watch the match here.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 1 Ohio State University men’s volleyball team (25-2, 14-0 MIVA) clinched the outright 2017 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association regular season championship Saturday night with a straight-sets victory (25-18, 26-24, 25-15) over McKendree (9-18, 4-10 MIVA). It marks the 26th conference crown in school history and the Buckeyes 29th straight win over MIVA opponents dating back to last season.
A solid passing effort paired with superb setting from Christy Blough led to Ohio State attacking .437 on a total of 42 kills. Miles Johnson and Nicolas Szerszen launched the outer onslaught while Matt Dorn and Driss Guessous inflicted mass damage from the middle. Johnson wreaked the most havoc, knocking down 16 kills at a .423 attacking rate. Szerszen piled on 11 kills and also hit north of .400 while the combination of Dorn and Guessous terminated 11 kills on just 15 swings.
The Buckeyes received additional point production from the service stripe in the form of eight aces, three coming from the right arms of both Johnson and Szerszen.
Senior Night festivities began pre-match with individual recognitions and gifts for each member of the class and continued throughout the contest as all seven seniors saw action.
Set 1: Johnson carried the load in set number one, putting away seven of nine attempts. In total, Ohio State attacked .500 with 13 kills. The Buckeyes methodically added to their cushion as the set progressed, ultimately washing out as 25-18 victors.
Set 2: The second stanza spilled over into extra points for the second straight night. And once again Ohio State was able to grab the two-point edge needed to take the set, 26-24, and head to intermission up two-sets-to-none. Back-to-back kills from Johnson at 20-20 proved pivotal in righting the ship and steering the Buckeyes towards the ultimate triumph.
Set 3: Locked up a half dozen apiece, the Buckeyes put together a 10-3 run to force a McKendree timeout at 16-9. Head coach Pete Hanson then opened up the floodgates and subbed out the majority of the seniors one-by-one to receive a round of applause from the Buckeye faithful in attendance. Ohio State continued to pile it on en route to a 25-15 clincher.
The Buckeyes wrap up the regular season slate next weekend (April 7-8) at Lindenwood and Quincy.
Courtesy: McKendree Athletics
(Lebanon, IL. Apr. 1) – The McKendree University men’s volleyball team fell in three sets to No. 1 Ohio State University in a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association contest Saturday night in Columbus, OH. The Bearcats fell by scores of 25-18, 26-24, and 25-15.
The loss dips McKendree to 9-18 overall and 4-10 in the MIVA this season. The Bearcats return to the court Apr. 6 against Quincy University in Quincy, IL.
Senior opposite Maalik Walker (Shorewood, IL/Minooka), junior outside hitter Nolan Rueter (Burlington, WI/Burlington), and sophomore outside hitter Will Frank (Moro, IL/Edwardsville) each recorded eight kills with Walker and Frank each putting up four digs. Senior middle blocker Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) hit .571 from the field after scoring on four of his seven swings. Junior middle blocker Brendan Schmidt (O’Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) recorded three kills and posted a team high two blocks. Junior setter Pasquale Fiduccia (Hanover Park, IL/Glenbard North) handed out 26 assists to go with two digs and one block.
Patterson and Frank each recorded early kills in the first set, but McKendree found themselves trailing 5-4. The Buckeyes followed with a 5-1 run to burst out to an 11-6 lead. Walker and Patterson countered with back to back kills to spark a 5-2 run for the Bearcats to pull within two at 13-11. The teams traded points and Rueter and Frank added kills as the set shifted to 17-15 in favor of Ohio State. The Buckeyes followed with four straight points to open a 23-16, and kills from Rueter and Frank were not enough down the stretch as Ohio State claimed set one by seven.
Walker, Rueter and Schmidt all put down kills as McKendree took an early 6-5 lead in set two. A 3-0 run from the Buckeyes put Ohio State ahead 10-8. Three more kills from Rueter, Walker, and Schmidt tied the set at 11 before Patterson and Walker connected on swings as things squared at 15. The Bearcats took advantage of three straight errors from Ohio State to capture a 20-19 lead, before surrendering three straight points as the Buckeyes took a 22-20 lead. Frank landed a pair of kills to tie the set at 24 all, but Ohio State earned the final two points of the set to take a 2-0 lead.
Rueter put down a kill and a block as the teams battled to a 4-4 score early in set three. A 6-1 run from the Buckeyes gave Ohio State a 12-7 lead before a 4-0 run extended the margin to 16-9. A pair of 3-0 runs put the set out of reach at 22-12 as the Buckeyes secured the match with a win in set three.
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