The Ohio State men’s volleyball team remained undefeated in conference play with a hard-fought, four-set victory over the No. 14 Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne Mastadons at St. John Arena Tuesday night.

The win gave the Buckeyes (9-4 overall, 5-0 MIVA) two straight wins against teams ranked higher than them in the polls. OSU coach Pete Hanson said he hopes this win stimulates some confidence in the team.

“These two wins are really big for the team,” Hanson said. “It gives everybody more confidence that we were able to play through a tough stretch and still come out with a win.”

The Buckeyes lost the first set 30-25 because of unforced mistakes. Down 28-19, they rallied for five consecutive points, but lost the momentum on a service error.

At intermission, Hanson decided he needed more experience on the floor and subbed redshirt sophomore Mike Wauligman for freshman outside hitter Mark Greaves.

“I’ve been telling these guys that when the team isn’t playing well, we need someone to step up and make some plays for the team,” Hanson said. “Mike was able to do that for us.”

Wauligman played stellar defense, recording 10 digs and eight block assists for the Buckeyes.

OSU improved its overall play after the first match, winning the next two sets 30-25 and 34-32.

In the fourth set, OSU was leading 26-24 when Wauligman made the defensive play of the match. On the Buckeyes’ last hit, Wauligman hit a lob over his head and across the net from 15 feet behind the end line to save a point that OSU later won with a block. On the ensuing point, Wauligman spiked the ball between two Mastadon defenders ending any hopes the Mastadons had of making a comeback.

The winning point came on a kill by outside hitter Tom Trantow, who led the Buckeyes with 26 kills for the match.

“There was so much emotion in that match and it felt so good to end the match the way we did,” Trantow said. “It’s always better to end the match on a good play like that then on a mistake by the other team.”

Outside hitter Andy Cole and middle hitter Scott Spurlock also played well for the Buckeyes, recording 15 and 14 kills, respectively.

The Buckeyes will play tomorrow in another crucial match at Loyola-Chicago, who is 5-1 in the MIVA.