The Ohio State men’s volleyball team huddles up before a 3-1 win over St. Francis at the Covelli Center Jan. 8. Credit: Aiden Ridgeway | Lantern Photographer
No. 4 Ohio State begins road play this weekend with two monstrous matchups in Texas.
The Buckeyes (4-0, 0-0 MIVA) are set to face No.1 UCLA (4-0, 0-0 MPSF) on Friday and No. 13 USC (4-0, 0-0 MPSF) on Saturday as part of the First Point Collegiate Challenge at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.
Despite the strength of schedule, senior outside hitter Jacob Pasteur said the team is excited to hit the road after winning its first four matches of the season at home.
“I’m excited to get out of Columbus for a little bit,” Pasteur said. “I’m ready to travel around and compete in other gyms.”
The Buckeyes finished their homestand undefeated, with wins over North Greenville University, Daemen University, St. Francis University and No. 17 UC San Diego.
The most recent victory over UC San Diego was the first match of the season in which Ohio State was pushed to five sets. Head coach Kevin Burch said it was a solid learning experience for the contests to follow.
“I just think it’s good to show how tough those matches are going to be,” Burch said. “We have to consistently keep adjusting and growing and adapting to what the other team is doing, so I think it certainly gets us ready for those high-intensity matches.”
The Buckeyes’ first “high-intensity” match will be against top-ranked UCLA.
The Bruins have completed three sweeps this season, with an away game against No. 15 Lewis University being the only match to advance past three sets. Their other victories include No. 10 Loyola University Chicago, Fort Valley State University and Morehouse College.
UCLA’s offense is led by senior outside hitter Ethan Champlin and junior outside/opposite hitter Ido David. Champlin also leads defensively for the Bruins, sitting at the top in season digs. Sophomore setter Andrew Rowan is also a powerful facilitator for the team, as his assist number rests at 92 and counting for the season.
Champlin, David, Rowan and two other UCLA players were named to the Off the Block Preseason All-America team, and the Bruins are favored to repeat as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champions.
Less than 24 hours after their UCLA matchup, the Buckeyes face off against No. 12 USC. The Spartans also enter the weekend undefeated and will play No. 14 Ball State University on Friday prior to their Saturday matchup with Ohio State. This season, USC has bested Fort Valley State University, Morehouse College, Harvard College and Lincoln Memorial University.
The Trojans’ offensive success is largely based on redshirt-junior opposite hitter Jack Deuchar and sophomore outside hitter Dillon Klein. Deuchar clinched a season-high 24 kills on .524 hitting in their most recent triumph over Lincoln Memorial University.
Klein returns this year after leading the team in kills and points in the 2023 season. Junior libero Austin Stuard facilitates the USC defense, posting 31 digs in their first four games.
Burch said he is confident in his team’s resolve and how it will fare in the ranked road rivalries.
“We’ve made some mistakes that having a home crowd helps you overcome,” Burch said. “So I think it’s going to be a whole different type of pressure and test that we’ll have on the road, but this group is pretty tough, and they’re battle-tested, [they’ve] been on the road a lot in their career. So I’m confident in what we have moving forward.”
The Buckeyes begin play at 5 p.m., Friday, against UCLA, with the USC matchup following at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be streamed live for viewers on FLOVOLLEYBALL.
