Match Stats
- No. 2 Ohio State 3, No. 11 Ball State 0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-19)
- Ohio State moves to 23-1, 12-0 MIVA; Ball State falls to 15-8,6-6 MIVA
- Columbus, Ohio
- Attendance: 1108
- Box Score
An efficient offensive effort and big nights from Nicolas Szerszen and Miles Johnson helped No. 2 Ohio State to a sweep of No. 11 Ball State Saturday. The 25-16, 25-15, 25-19 victory kept the Buckeyes perfect in MIVA play with a 12-0 mark and extended their current conference win streak to 26 matches.
Szerszen, a junior outside hitter, and Johnson, a senior middle blocker, each turned in 12 kills and hit at an identical .500 clip. Szerszen also added a team-best three aces and six digs. Junior outside Maxime Hervoir chipped in nine kills, a team-leading 10 digs and three aces. As a team, the Buckeyes, which rank second nationally in hitting percentage (.365) managed a .461 effort for the night.
The Cardinals, which ranked fourth nationally in blocks per set (2.55) coming into the night, did not manage a single stuff against the Buckeyes. BSU hit at just a .159 clip and registered just 16 digs to OSU’s 31.
Individually, junior middle Anthony Lebryk put down a team-best six kills, while hitting at a .556 clip. Senior outside Brendan Surane (5), freshman outside Matt Szews (4) and junior middle Matt Walsh (4) followed. Surane also served up two aces. Senior setter Connor Gross pulled up four digs to lead the backcourt defense.
After a tie at 5-5 in Set 1, Ohio State rattled off eight of the next 11 points to go up 13-8 and held off the Cardinals the rest of the way. BSU cut the margin to three at 13-10 on an ace by Surane, but could not break through. The Buckeyes pulled away to take a 23-14 advantage behind kills by four different players and finished the set on a Ball State hitting miscue.
The teams were even at 8-8 through the first part of Set 2, but OSU rallied with help from four Cardinal miscues to go up 19-13. Ball State called timeout and got a kill from Surane out of the break, but Ohio State scored six of the final seven points, including three kills and two aces by Szerszen.
Ball State took the early in Set 3, but again Ohio State found an answer, this time with a 7-1 run featuring two aces and a kill by Hervoir to make it 11-6. Down 14-8, the Cardinals mounted a comeback, scoring five of the next seven to pull within three at 16-13. An ace by Surane and two OSU miscues aided the rally. Ohio State scored four straight and BSU countered with three in a row to keep the set close. A pair of Szerszen kills put the Buckeyes on the hill at 24-18 and a Johnson putaway ended the night.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The No. 2 Ohio State University men’s volleyball team (23-1, 12-0 MIVA) steamrolled No. 11 Ball State (15-8, 6-6 MIVA) in a 76-minute sweep (25-16, 25-15, 25-19). The Buckeyes attacked .461 as a team, hitting no worse than .423 in any of the three sets while holding the Cardinals to a lowly .159 swinging clip.
Ohio State nearly doubled up BSU in kills (42-to-23) and digs (31-to-16), and posted a 6-0 edge in blocks. Ball State entered the week ranked fourth nationally with 2.55 blocks per set, but failed to record a single stuff against the Scarlet & Gray. Maxime Hervoir and Nicolas Szerszen each individually matched the Cardinals’ three total team aces, giving Ohio State a half dozen on the night.
Miles Johnson and Nicolas Szerszen combined for 24 kills, more than the entire Ball State squad mustered (23). Both Buckeyes attacked .500 en route to their 12 terminations apiece. Hervoir tacked on nine kills and picked up a match-high 10 digs.
Ohio State has now won 27 straight matches versus MIVA opponents and at 12-0 this season, the Buckeyes’ magic number for the 2017 regular season conference crown is down to `3.’ For the week, OSU outscored league foes Fort Wayne and Ball State by a combined tally of 150-88. The pair of Buckeye wins spanned just 146 minutes.
Set 1: Christy Blough dialed up 13 assists in the opening frame, steering the Buckeyes to 15 kills and a .464 hitting percentage. Ball State burned a timeout trailing 13-8 and captured the first two rallies post-timeout. The Cardinals success was short-lived, however, as Ohio State grabbed 12 of the next 18 points to register a 25-16 winner.
Set 2: A similar story played out in the second stanza, seeing a 13-10 OSU advantage preceding another lopsided Buckeye triumph. Ohio State upped the ante a tad, securing 12 of the final 17 points this time around and heading to intermission with a 25-15 win in hand.
Set 3: Ohio State pulled ahead for good early on in the third, rattling off four consecutive points to climb atop 8-5. The Buckeyes would add three more points to their margin by set’s end, wrapping up the night as 25-19 victors.
A short break in competition follows for Ohio State, venturing east to take on No. 13 Penn State on Tuesday (March 28).
Courtesy: Ball State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ball State men’s volleyball team was unable to hand No. 2 Ohio State its first conference loss of the season. The Cardinals fell to the defending national champions, 3-0, Saturday night.
Junior Anthony Lebryk led the team in kills with six. Brendan Surane knocked down five kills while Matt Szews and Matt Walsh each added four. Connor Gross had 18 assists and led the team in digs with four.
Lebryk, Surane and Walsh each tallied two kills in the set one loss, 25-16. Surane also had the one of his two service aces in the opening set.
In the second set loss, 25-15, Ohio State had 13 kills for a .500 hitting percentage while the Cardinals were only able to capitalize on seven of their 22 attempts.
The Buckeyes finished the match with a set three victory, 25-19. In the final set, Lebryk, Surane and Szews had two kills apiece. Mike Scannell had one kill and three digs. Nick Lavanchy added two digs.
The 11th ranked men’s volleyball team will begin their four match home stretch to end the season next week. The Cardinals will take on Quincy Friday, March 31 in Worthen Arena. Ball State will then take on Lindenwood Saturday, April 1. Both matches are set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men’s volleyball team, please follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMVB.
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