The Ohio State men’s volleyball team huddles up to celebrate their win after the Ohio State-Loyola game on Feb. 20, 2021. Ohio State won 3-2. Credit: Christian Harsa | Special Projects Director
After No. 9 Ohio State’s fourth consecutive game in California, the Buckeyes fell 3-1 in four sets against both No. 3 Long Beach State Friday and UC Santa Barbara Saturday.
Long Beach State
The Buckeyes (4-3) kept a steady lead over Long Beach State (5-1) with some big plays from junior middle blocker Samuel Clark and sophomore outside hitter Jacob Pasteur, to bring the score to 7-5.
The Beach tied the score up 15-15 with a triple block from junior middle blockers Shane Holdaway and Grant Marocchi and freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov.
Long Beach State took its first lead at 18-17, leading to an Ohio State timeout.
The Buckeyes tied it at 24 and after three consecutive kills from Clark, Ohio State was able to secure the first set 26-24.
In set two, the Buckeyes were never able to secure a lead against the Beach.
Long Beach State called a timeout after a 3-0 run by the Buckeyes, taking the score to 21-18, but the Beach tied the game, winning 25-20.
Long Beach State hit .400 in the second set while the Buckeyes hit .136.
The momentum stayed on the Beach’s side throughout sets three and four.
Despite Ohio State having a total of 54 kills and 59 for the Beach, the Buckeyes fell 25-15 in set three and 25-22 in set four.
UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos (4-3) defeated the Buckeyes in four sets, (19-25, 15-25, 28-26, 17-25), a night after upsetting No. 4 Penn State.
Starting the first two sets, the Gauchos kept a steady lead over the Buckeyes.
Gauchos junior outside hitter Ryan Wilcox started with two early kills in set one to bring the score to 4-2.
The Buckeyes added to their score with two consecutive kills from senior outside hitter Martin Lallemand, but were unable to close the gap. The Gauchos went on a 5-1 scoring run to take the first set 19-25.
In set two, the Gauchos started with a quick 5-1 lead with two kills and an ace from Wilcox.
The Buckeyes could not mount a comeback and lost the second set 25-15.
In set three, Buckeyes took their first lead 5-2 with a kill from Pasteur and a block by Lallemand.
Ohio State kept UC Santa Barbara at bay until the Gauchos drew the set to 18-16 before a Buckeyes timeout.
With the score tied at 22, the Buckeyes and the Gauchos went back and forth until an ace by Clark gave the Buckeyes the 28-26 win.
In set four, the Gauchos took an early lead again, 8-3, before an Ohio State timeout.
Ohio State added to its score with two consecutive kills from senior middle blocker Ethan Talley, bringing the score to 10-14.
UC Santa Barbara closed out the match 25-17. The Gauchos hitting percentage in the fourth set was .524 against the Buckeyes’ .160.
The Buckeyes will be back at the Covelli Center this weekend to play University of Mount Olive at 6 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday.
