Redshirt-freshman Driss Guessous (4) watches a spike during a match against Lees-McRae Jan. 17 at St. John Arena. OSU won, 3-0.
Credit Shelby Lum / Photo editor
The Ohio State men’s volleyball team is traveling from one end of the country to another and back again — all in one season.
Hoping to push for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament this season — which is set to take place in Chicago in May — the Buckeyes have started their season with quite the travel schedule.
First a three game set in Hawaii followed by a weekend journey back to the warm confines of St. John Arena, No. 15 OSU (2-3, 0-0) is set to open up its Midwestern Intercollegiate conference schedule this weekend, again on the road.
The Buckeyes are scheduled to start off the weekend against the Quincy Hawks (2-1, 0-0) in Qunicy, Ill., Friday at 8 p.m.
The Buckeyes came back from their 0-3 start this past weekend, beating Lees-McRae and George Mason at home, putting their record at 2-3.
Redshirt-junior setter Peter Heinen said the Buckeyes hope to use the wins as a springboard heading into conference play.
“After having a pretty rocky start to the season, these two very successful nights at home will definitely help with providing confidence when we play our first conference matches this weekend,” Heinen said.
Coach Pete Hanson said the wins gave perspective to the Buckeyes, and helped them isolate their flaws.
“Now we clearly know what we need to work on and get better at, and that has been our focus this week, and will be our focus for the next couple of weeks,” Hanson said.
OSU has been working all week to prepare for the start of conference play, redshirt-freshman middle blocker Driss Guessous said.
“Although the teams we played last weekend were not necessarily the most competitive teams, I think it provides us with a good base, and helps us learn what we need to do to keep getting better and better,” Guessous said.
Serving and passing have been major focuses for OSU over the past week.
“If we get better at (serving and passing), then the other things will sort of fall into place for us,” Hanson said.
Following their match against Quincy, the Buckeyes are scheduled to end the weekend Saturday at 8 p.m. against the Lindenwood Lions (1-1, 0-0) in St. Charles, Mo.
