No. 2 Ohio State Men Sweep Lindenwood

  0 Wendy Mayer | April 07th, 2017 | College - Men's Indoor, MIVA

Match Stats

  • No. 2 Ohio State 3, Lindenwood 0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-19)
  • Ohio State moves to 26-2, 15-0 MIVA; Lindenwood falls to 5-17, 4-11 MIVA
  • St. Charles, Missouri
  • Attendance: 246
  • Box Score

No. 2 Ohio State kept its record perfect in MIVA play with a 3-0 road sweep of Lindenwood on Friday. The Buckeyes won the match 25-17, 25-15, 25-19.

OSU hit .446 as a team and served up 10 aces to the Lions’ 1, but Lindenwood outblocked the Buckeyes 6-4. All five Buckeye hitters with four or more kills hit .400 or better on the night.

Senior opposite Miles Johnson led the way with 13 kills on a .400 clip to go with a team-best five digs. Junior outside hitter Nicolas Szerszen added 10 kills, hit .467 and served up a team-best four aces. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Blake Leeson also served up four aces.

Senior opposite Ryan Moore led Lindenwood with eight kills in the match. Junior outside Nathan Van Dellen added five kills and a team-best three digs. Freshman middle Sam Schindler chipped in four kills, while hitting .429. Sophomore middle Connor Hipelius put up a team-leading four blocks.

Lindenwood scored three of the first four points of the night, but Ohio State quickly tied it up at four and went on to a 9-7 lead of its own. The Lions led 12-11 after a trio of Buckeye errors and a kill by Schindler. After a tie at 14, Ohio State blew the game open with an 11-3 run, including two aces each by Leeson and Szerszen. Another ace, this one by Maxime Horvier ended the set.

The Buckeyes raced out to a 12-4 lead in Set 2 and never looked back. Two aces and a kill by Leeson aided the opening rally. Lindenwood pulled within five on four occasions, but Ohio State ended the threat with a 6-1 run, including a pair of Szerszen aces.

The teams played to a 10-all tie in Set 3 before OSU pulled away with a 6-1 run, including two kills and a solo stuff by Szerszen. Three more Szerszen putaways made it 20-14. Ohio State had its first match point attempt at 24-16, but two kills and a block extended the stanza. A service error capped the sweep.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics

The No. 2 Ohio State University men’s volleyball team (26-2, 15-0 MIVA) tallied its 30th win in a row over MIVA opponents, storming through the Show Me State in straight sets by outscoring Lindenwood (5-17, 4-11 MIVA) by 24 points (25-17, 25-15, 25-19).

The Buckeyes are now one win away from becoming just the second team in the last 25 years to record an undefeated MIVA slate (Loyola went 14-0 in 2014). Ohio State faces Quincy Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET in the regular season finale.

Lindenwood struggled to defend the Buckeye offensive attack, digging just nine balls total in the match as Ohio State attacked .446 (35-10-56) as a team. Miles Johnson and Nicolas Szerszen combined for 24 kills and 29 points, both hitting .400 or better. Szerszen’s four aces were matched by Blake Leeson’s four service snipes as well.

Set 1: Ohio State ended the opening frame on a heater, breaking up a 14-14 tie by ripping 11 of the next 14 rallies to secure a 25-17 winner. The Buckeyes put on a show from the baseline down the stretch, connecting for five service aces during the dominating final 14-rally stretch.

Set 2: Momentum remained in favor of the Buckeyes from start to finish in the second, racing out to a 12-5 edge and wrapping up the period as 25-15 victors. Just like set number one, Johnson accounted for five kills in the second while Leeson and Szerszen each aced the Lions twice once again.

Set 3: The Buckeyes slowed down a smidge in the third, but not enough to allow Lindenwood to reach the 20s in a 25-19 clincher. Szerszen closed out the evening with a six-kill set.

 

Courtesy: Lindenwood Athletics

The No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes cruised past the Lindenwood men’s volleyball team on Friday night from Hyland Arena.

The Buckeyes won in straight sets, hitting .446 as a team.

The Lions hung with the visitors in the first set, but eventually fell 25-17. Ohio State controlled the final two frames to win 25-15 and 25-19, respectively.

Lindenwood hit .250 as a team and shared the attack chances.

Ryan Moore paced the team with eight kills in the loss. Adam Brewster had 20 assists, making it consecutive matches the sophomore has dished out 20 or less dimes since February 9 against Missouri Baptist. Brewster also had two digs, one service ace, and one block. Nathan Van Dellen had three digs, while Michael Chard had two and Ryan Vorderer had one. Chard tallied four kills.

Sam Schindler hit .429 with four kills. The freshman contributed to two blocks, including one solo stop, and also had one dig.  Ben Symonds and Joseph Mayer each had two assists, while Van Dellen and Schindler had the remaining pair of helpers.

The loss drops Lindenwood to 5-17 and 4-11 in MIVA action. The Lions will celebrate senior night tomorrow from Hyland Arena when they host McKendree at 7 p.m. A chance for sixth place is on the line for Lindenwood, who failed to make the conference tournament a season ago.

 

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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