Ohio State Wins 37th-Straight, But Quincy Steals a Set in Columbus

  0 Braden Keith | February 17th, 2017 | College - Men's Indoor, MIVA, News

Match Stats

  • #1 Ohio State def. Quincy 3-1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20)
  • Ohio State moves to 14-0 (5-0 MIVA); Quincy falls to 3-9 (1-5 MIVA)
  • St. John’s Arena, Columbus, Ohio
  • Attendance: 927
  • Final Stats

The Ohio State Buckeyes won their 37th-straight game against NCAA opponents when they topped conference opponents Quincy University 3-1 on Friday evening in Columbus.

While Quincy is near the bottom of the MIVA table this season (8th out of 9 teams), they can lay claim to being one of only 4 teams this season to steal a set from the top-ranked Buckeyes. That set win came in the 2nd set where Quincy hit .389 and held Ohio State to .226 – the best offensive and defensive effort of the day by Quincy.

Otherwise, though, this one was all Ohio State. They hit .550, .611, and .333 in the three sets they won, and dominated at the service line with 9 aces as compared to just a single receiving error. 4 of those aces came from Nicolas Szerszen, the school’s all-time leader in the category, and 2 more came from Miles Johnson, who ranks 2nd in school history in that category.

Quincy did out-block the Buckeyes 8-3 behind 4 from Jacob Sheets. Sheets has 10 block assists over his last two games – his two best outputs of the 2017 season so far. Only 2 of Quincy’s 8 blocks came in the set they won, with Ohio State’s Maxime Hervoir recording 4 unforced hitting errors.

Ohio State got 14 players onto the court, including 8 who recorded kills. Szerszen had 16 kills in 28 attacks for a .429 hitting percentage. Driss Guessous and Reese Devilbiss both had 7 kills and a .667 hitting percentage in the game.

Ohio State’s next 3 games are against Lindenwood, Grand Canyon, and Grand Canyon again, and if they win those they’ll match Loyola University’s 40-straight streak from 2014-2015: believed to be the second-longest in men’s NCAA history.

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Courtesy Ohio State Athletics:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A gaggle of Buckeyes, 14 different players to be exact, saw action Friday night in Ohio State’s four-set triumph over Quincy University (3-9, 1-5 MIVA). The top-ranked Buckeyes improve to 14-0 overall and 5-0 in conference play this season while stretching their winning streak to 37 consecutive matches. Nicolas Szerszen struck 16 kills to lead the team by a wide margin, attacking at a .429 rate. He also tacked on four service aces and a pair of block assists to total 21 points. Reese Devilbiss, Driss Guessous and Miles Johnson each posted seven kills while Ryan Genn, Maxime Hervoir and Blake Leeson were responsible for five kills apiece. Devilbiss and Guessous recorded identical attacking lines of seven kills-one error-nine attempts for .667 hitting percentages. Genn and Leeson registered matching offensive numbers as well, both bouncing five kills on seven swings with a lone blunder (.571).

STREAK SNIPPETS
• Ohio State is riding a 37-match winning streak
• Marks the longest winning streak in OSU Athletics history for teams competing in head-to-head competition
• The Buckeyes last suffered an NCAA loss on February 6, 2016
• Ohio State has won 111 of 132 sets (84%) during the victorious stretch
• The streak includes six wins over Top-5 opponents and nearly half (18) against teams ranked inside the Top-12
• Also included in the streak are 16 straight wins in true road matches
• Loyola owns 40-match run in 2014-15 while UCLA is believed to own the all-time record of 47 straight (1979-80 and 1983-85)

Set 1: Ohio State blitzed the Hawks quickly, rifling in four service aces (three by Szerszen) to build a 10-1 lead before anyone blinked. The OSU cushion would shrink to no less than eight points throughout the frame and wrapping up at 25-14 on a Genn kill.

Set 2: With several reserves seeing extended action, the second set was hotly contested with seven lead changes and 18 tied scores. The final stalemate came at 20-20 before Quincy wrangled five of the next seven points to even the match, one set apiece, at intermission.
Set 3: A beast was awoken at the break as Ohio State marched to a .611 attacking efficiency in the third frame. The Buckeyes connected on 13 kills and a pair of aces, never trailing in a 25-15 winner.

Set 4: Gabriel Domecus single-handedly out-dug the Hawks, picking up four digs compared to just three for Quincy. Domecus’ defensive efforts were off-set by four blocks for the QU defense, however, setting up another close frame. Tied at 7-all, back-to-back Hawk attacking gaffes handed Ohio State an edge it would not relinquish. The Buckeyes concluded the evening as 25-20 victors to close out the contest.

The Scarlet & Gray return to the court on Sunday (Feb. 19) for another conference clash, taking on the Lindenwood Lions at 4 p.m. ET.

Courtesy Quincy Athletics:

QUINCY, Ill. – The Quincy University men’s volleyball team took No. 1 Ohio State to four sets on Friday (Feb. 17) night at St. John Arena in Columbus, but the Buckeyes claimed the 25-14, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20 win in MIVA action.

The Buckeyes (14-0, 5-0 MIVA), who are the defending national champions, have won 37 straight matches. Quincy (3-9, 1-5 MIVA) won just the fifth set off the Buckeyes this season.

The Hawks got a sublime effort from sophomore David Siebum (St. Louis, Mo./Vianney), who pounded 18 kills and hit .483. He had just four errors on the night.

The Buckeyes never trailed in the first set after bursting out to a 14-3 lead. The Hawks played even with Ohio State after that point and the momentum carried into the second frame, which saw 18 tie scores and seven lead changes.

Set 2 was tied, 20-20, when Siebum and junior Shane McAdams (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge/San Diego City) each put down a kill to give QU a 22-20 lead.

The teams then traded service errors before the Buckeyes cut it to 23-22 on a kill by Reese Devilbiss. The Hawks then got two straight kills from junior Anthony Winter (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/St. Edward) and Siebum to close the set. Quincy hit .389 in the second game.

Ohio State bounced back in the third set by hitting .611 (13 kills, two errors, 18 attacks) and taking a 25-15 decision. In the fourth, the Hawks played the hosts tight early on, but the Buckeyes used a 4-0 run to turn a 13-11 lead into a 17-11 advantage they would not give up.

Siebum was the only QU player in double figures, though Winter added six kills (.059) and senior Jarrod Kelso (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) – playing near his hometown – added five kills (.067).

Sophomore Jacob Sheets (Arnold, Mo./Seckman) put down five kills (.571) and had a team-high four blocks. Junior Thane Fanfulik (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) dished out 31 assists and junior Collin Merk (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) led all players with seven digs.

Reigning MIVA Player of the Year Nicolas Szerszen led the Buckeyes with 16 kills (.429) as the home team hit .398 overall. Christy Blough handed out 27 assists.

The Hawks will return to the court on Sunday (Feb. 19) at 2 p.m. when they play McKendree in Lebanon, Ill.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of VolleyMob.com. Braden's first foray into sports journalism came in 2010, when he launched a swimming website called The Swimmers' Circle. Two years later, he joined SwimSwam.com as a co-founder. Long huge fans of volleyball, when Braden and the SwimSwam partners sought an opportunity to …

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