Press Release courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
The No. 5 Ohio State University men’s volleyball team opens up its 2018 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association schedule on Thursday by hosting Ball State at 7 p.m. ET. It marks the start of a four-match homestand as well for the Buckeyes, also welcoming in No. 14 Fort Wayne for a Saturday night showdown.
WEEKLY BASICS
Thursday, Feb. 8 | Columbus, Ohio (St. John Arena)
7 p.m. ET – No. 5 Ohio State (7-2, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Ball State (5-5, 0-0 MIVA)
GameTracker live stats
Video Stream: Buckeye Vision
Twitter updates: @OhioState_MVB
Saturday, Feb. 10 | Columbus, Ohio (St. John Arena)
7 p.m. ET – No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 14 Fort Wayne (8-1, 0-0 MIVA) GameTracker live stats
Video Stream: BTN Plus
Twitter updates: @OhioState_MVB
LONG HISTORY WITH THE CARDINALS & MASTODONS
The Buckeyes have faced Ball State more than any other opponent by a large margin. Thursday will be the 181st all-time meeting between the two long-time MIVA rivals, a total which is nearly 60 percent more than the second most (OSU has met Fort Wayne and Penn State 113 times each). Ohio State owns a 97-83 edge over the Cardinals, including four straight overall and 54 of 87 tilts inside St. John Arena.
Ohio State clashes with the Mastodons for the 114th occurence on Saturday, entering with a 76-73 upper hand which includes seven in a row and 42 of 56 in Columbus. During the current seven-match winning streak against Fort Wayne, the Buckeyes have dropped a lone set.
KINGS OF THE MIVA
Ohio State has hoisted a league-best 26 MIVA regular season trophies, followed by Ball State and its 21 championships. Both teams were predicted as 2018 conference favorites by some, recipients of first-place votes in the Preseason Coaches Poll:
1 – Ohio State (6 first-place votes) | 61 points
2 – Lewis | 54
3 – Ball State (2) | 50
4 – Loyola | 43
5 – McKendree | 30
6 – Lindenwood | 22
7 – Fort Wayne | 20
8 – Quincy | 8
After becoming just the second team in the last 25 years to run through a MIVA regular season unbeaten a season ago (Loyola went 14-0 in 2014), Ohio State enters ‘18 riding a 34-match winning streak when facing a MIVA foe in either a regular season or postseason contest.
Ohio State has accumulated an overall MIVA record of 440-112 (.797).
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
St. John Arena has treated Ohio State men’s volleyball well during the last 50-plus seasons, serving as the stage for a 548-104 (.840) all-time home record.
PUTTING UP NUMBERS
Entering the week, three Buckeyes could be found in the NCAA Top-10 for statistical categories. Jake Hanes is slotted third and fourth, respectively, with his 4.75 points and 3.96 kills per set averages while Nicolas Szerszen is on his heels at 3.71 kills/set (8th) and 4.42 points/set (9th). Sanil Thomas is averaging 10.52 assists/set, good for the fourth-best rate in the country.
For more information, check out the complete match notes .
Leave a Reply