Senior Jacob Pasteur (7) sends down a spike against Purdue Fort Wayne during Ohio State’s 3-2 win over there Mastadons at the Covelli Center Feb. 20.
Credit: Zach Ball | Lantern Freelancer
The Ohio State men’s volleyball team dominance was on full display in its weekend series against Queens University of Charlotte.
The No. 7 Buckeyes (13-3, 7-1 MIVA) bested the Royals (6-10, 2-5 MIVA) in their first matchups as conference foes with two 3-0 victories Friday and Saturday night.
Senior outside hitter Jacob Pasteur led the Ohio State offense with 18 kills. Senior libero Thomas Poole led defensively with 10 total digs while junior outside hitter Kyle Teune collected 7 aces.
The weekend’s first match took place at 6 p.m. on Friday in the Levine Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Set one started competitively as the two teams traded points. After the score was tied at 10, the Buckeyes began to pull away.
A Royals attack error stretched the Ohio State lead to as many as six, and one final kill by redshirt-senior middle blocker Justin Howard gave the Buckeyes the 25-16 set win.
Queens grabbed an early 3-1 lead to start the second set off an Ohio State attack error. Kills from Pasteur and redshirt-freshman hitter Daniel Hurley tied the game at three until the Buckeyes once again made a run.
Double service aces from Pasteur kickstarted the Ohio State push as it jumped to a 23-14 lead. Multiple Buckeye errors closed the gap slightly until a Pasteur kill ended the set with a 25-17 score in favor of Ohio State.
Queens once again leaped to an early lead in the third set off kills from junior outside hitter Matthew Pilch and graduate outside hitter Jack Brinkman. The Buckeyes responded quickly, and a Hurley slam put them ahead 14-9.
Ohio State’s lead remained consistent to finish the third, and a kill from junior middle blocker Cole Young ended the set 25-20, giving the Buckeyes the 3-0 first-match victory.
The next day, the two teams met again.
Ohio State jumped to a quick 4-0 lead to start set one off a service ace from sophomore opposite hitter Shane Wetzel. A second ace from senior setter Noah Platfoot pushed the lead to seven.
A kill from redshirt-freshman Ben Putnam stretched the gap to double digits at an 18-8 score. Slams from Brinkman and junior outside hitter Albert Warzocha kept Queens alive for a few more possessions until a Buckeye block ended the first with a 25-13 victory for Ohio State.
The Royals opened the scoring in the second set with a Brinkman kill. Multiple errors for Queens followed and put the Buckeyes ahead 4-2.
Ohio State held a close but consistent lead throughout the first half of the set, and a Buckeye service error placed the score at 20-15.
Ohio State then made a run to finish the second, fueled by a Teune ace and two Young kills. Another ace from Teune ended the set with a 25-15 Buckeye win.
The final set began with Queens on top of a Brinkman kill. Ohio State held a small lead until a Warzocha termination tied the score at 16.
A kill from Wetzel put the Buckeyes at set point with the Royals close behind. A Putnam slam completed the set with Ohio State on top 25-23.
After their decisive wins this weekend, the Buckeyes will return to Columbus to face No. 15 Lewis at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
