Ohio State men’s volleyball versus North Greenville Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics | Jay LaPrete
With their top-four finish in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the Buckeyes are set to host a MIVA quarterfinal matchup Saturday.
The No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes (19-8, 11-5 MIVA) will face the No. 15 Lewis Flyers (15-14, 8-8 MIVA) at the Covelli Center at 5 p.m.
Senior outside hitter Jacob Pasteur said the team is excited to play a postseason game at home.
“It’s always fun hosting in the postseason,” Pasteur said. “I know that we’re going to play with everything we have and leave it all on the court.”
The Buckeyes are coming off two home victories to round out the regular season, the last of which was a decisive 3-0 sweep over the Maryville Saints Friday.
Senior setter Noah Platfoot said the back-to-back wins at home were confidence-boosters heading into the postseason.
“This team can do everything, and we’ve got that much more confidence going into it,” Platfoot said. “The fact that we get to play another game here is a blessing, and it’s going to be a huge deal for us to win that first round and get to the semifinals.”
Ohio State enters the matchup as the No. 3 seed in the conference, and Lewis enters as the No. 6 seed. The Flyers finished their regular season with a 3-0 loss to No. 12 Loyola Chicago Saturday.
However, Ohio State won both matchups between the two teams this season by 3-0 scores. Once in Columbus, and once in Romeoville, Illinois.
In the teams’ first matchup on Feb. 7 in Romeoville, Pasteur led the Buckeyes offensively with 17 kills. Platfoot facilitated for Ohio State with 30 assists and senior libero Thomas Poole led the defense with eight digs.
For the Flyers, junior outside hitter Max Roquet led offensively with 13 kills while junior setter Tyler Morgan led in assists with 31 and also led defensively with seven digs.
In their second matchup on Feb. 29 in Columbus, Ohio State’s offense was led by sophomore opposite hitter Shane Wetzel with 18 kills. Redshirt-senior setter Michael Wright tallied 35 assists, and Wetzel and Poole collected six digs each to lead the Buckeyes’ defense.
Roquet once again led Lewis’ offense with 13 kills. Morgan collected 25 assists and also led defensively with eight digs alongside sophomore libero Nico Paula.
After the quarterfinal matches are complete, the top seed remaining will host the rest of the MIVA Tournament. The semifinal round will take place Thursday, with the final round occurring on April 20.
