On Sunday, the #1-ranked and defending NCAA Champion Ohio State Buckeyes will play their second game of the weekend in Phoenix against Grand Canyon. After winning 3-1 on Friday, the Buckeyes are in line to win their 40th-straight game on Sunday.
If they win, that would tie Loyola University’s 40-straight streak from 2014-2015 as what is believed to be the third-longest winning streak in men’s NCAA major volleyball history, behind only UCLA’s 47-straight, which they did twice from 1979-1980 and 1983-1985. Loyola’s streak is the longest in MIVA history.
If they keep winning, Ohio State’s chance to tie the record will come on Saturday, March 25th against long-time rivals Ball State. Ball State was the team Ohio State faced when they broke the school record earlier this season, and the Cardinals have notoriously been a fly in the Buckeyes’ bonnet throughout the decades – including being the last team that defeated them over a year ago. 3 days later, against Big Ten foes Penn State, in University Park, Pennsylvania, the Buckeyes would play for history.
During the streak, the Buckeyes have won 117 of 140 sets, at an 84% clip. Every game that’s not a sweep, in fact, reduces that percentage. They’ve won 6 times over top-5 ranked opponents and 18 times against top-12 ranked opponents in that streak.
The Buckeyes have won on the road 17 times (excluding neutral-site games) in that streak.
Both of those stats are key, as to get to the 48 they’ll have to win 4 more games on the road, including Sunday, and 3 more games against top-10 teams: #5 Lewis, #7 UC Irvine, and #9 Loyola.
Below, at 3PM Eastern Time, Grand Canyon will be airing the full live stream of Sunday’s record-tying game. Bookmark this page and check back to watch an attempt at history.
Leave a Reply