Ohio State men’s volleyball team huddles up in their match against Loyola. Ohio State won 3-2. Credit: Christian Harsa | Asst. Photo Editor
The Ohio State men’s volleyball team settled for a split series in its road trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana, as the Mastodons took the second match in four sets Saturday.
The Buckeyes (6-8) claimed the first matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne (4-6) Friday 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21). Despite Ohio State’s convincing win, the Mastodons found ways to slow down Ohio State’s offense and win the second match 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20).
The Buckeyes found ways to get outside of Purdue Fort Wayne’s aggressive defensive front by attacking outside the blockers in the first match, but the Mastodons made the necessary adjustments to shut down the Buckeyes in the second match.
“I think we made some nice steps forward as far as what we’re trying to get better at,” Ohio State head coach Kevin Burch said. “They have a really good team that played their best match of the year tonight and I give them a lot of credit —they earned the night.”
Game 1
Coming off their first loss in the last four matches, the Buckeyes found ways to clean up their mistakes and play with more confidence. Ohio State was able to create momentum by utilizing unique attacks that involved their back line swinging fearlessly.
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the night with the lead changing 15 times. Although the Mastodons found success at times, the Buckeyes led in almost every category by out-killing, out-digging and out-blocking the Mastodons.
“It was a great team effort, and it was fun to get back out there,” sophomore setter Michael Wright said. “It was pretty eye opening because we haven’t really clicked like that as a unit that often, so it was really cool to see.”
Freshman outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis played his best match of the season, finishing with a career-high 23 kills, two service aces and a hitting percentage of .465. Siapanis has now had double-digit kills in seven straight matches.
“Offensively, we took a big step forward,” Burch said. “Defensively we can look at the film and get better, but I thought we made some big jumps offensively and Siapanis certainty took the biggest jump.”
Senior outside hitter Martin Lallemand also contributed offensively, earning 16 kills and 12 digs. Lallemand also improved upon his serving from previous matches, earning three service aces and just two service errors.
Game 2
The Mastodons were in the driver’s seat Saturday led by sophomore outside hitter Jon Diedrich. The Orlando, Florida, native found a way to break down the Buckeyes’ defense and earn a season high 24 kills on the afternoon with a hitting percentage of .636.
Diedrich also contributed defensively with five digs and one block.
“We had some of our better blockers in front of him and he took some really fearless and aggressive swings that we hadn’t seen from film all year,” Burch said. “He made a big jump and played really well by making some big swings, so I give him credit for that.”
Purdue Fort Wayne rushed out to a 2-0 lead but dropped the third before winning the match in the fourth set 25-20. The Mastodons played a cleaner match than the Buckeyes, notching two few attack errors and seven fewer service errors.
Siapanis led the Buckeyes in kills with 20 kills and two aces, but this was not enough to hold off the Mastodons.
Purdue Fort Wayne focused on confronting the Buckeye’s attack at the net, forcing them to alter their offense and keeping them on their toes.
Ohio State’s sophomore setter Michael Wright assisted 50 balls and recorded two digs.
“We just have to be tougher in the moments when it’s hard to be tough,” Wright said. “It was an offensive battle on both sides, they just clicked a little more than we did today.”
Ohio State returns home to host a two-match series against Lindenwood at the Covelli Center Friday and Saturday.
