Men’s Volleyball: No. 11 Ohio State sweeps St. Francis in third straight win

Junior middle blocker Samuel Clark (17) serves the ball during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Red-shirt sophomore middle blocker Justin Howard (11) celebrates after a kill during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Sophomore outside hitter Jacob Pasteur (7) spikes the ball during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Senior outside hitter Martin Lallemand (6) digs the ball during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Sophomore outside hitter Jacob Pasteur (7) spikes the ball during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Sophomore setter Noah Platfoot (5) serves the ball during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Senior outside hitter Martin Lallemand (6) spikes the ball during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Senior libero Parker Mikesch (3) digs the ball during the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Ohio State celebrates after the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Ohio State sings "Carmen Ohio" after the Ohio State-St. Francis game. Ohio State won 3-0 in sets. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Three games into the No. 11 Buckeyes’ season, Ohio State men’s volleyball remains undefeated after sweeping St. Francis Wednesday. 

Through a team effort, Ohio State (3-0) beat St. Francis (1-1) in three straight sets (25-18, 25-13, 25-20) at the Covelli Center.

“Effort, focus and attitude are things that we can control,” head coach Kevin Burch said. “Try to free them up a little bit with mistakes and get them to focus on things they are able to control. I was surprised to see the level they maintained throughout the whole entire match.” 

In the first set, serving was crucial for St. Francis. While the Buckeyes committed six service errors in the set, the Red Flash only produced one. 

Despite its serving struggles, Ohio State took the set 25-18.  

Early in the second set, Burch challenged two play calls that went the Buckeyes’ way to lead to a score of 9-4. Behind 14 kills, Ohio State won set two 25-13.   

Ohio State junior middle blocker Samuel Clark served two straight aces to give the Buckeyes a 7-4 lead to start the third set and lead to a St. Francis timeout. Clark added a third ace later in the set to push Ohio State to a five point lead. 

Aided by Clark’s serving, Ohio State took set three 25-20.

The Buckeye defense had success stopping the Red Flash offense throughout all three sets, collecting 6.5 total blocks and 34 total digs on the night. Clark and sophomore setter Noah Platfoot each produced seven digs, while freshman middle blocker Cole Young finished with two blocks. 

“Keeping things on our side of the net, if they ever got fired up we were not too worried about it.” sophomore outside hitter Jacob Pasteur said. “If their level dropped we weren’t too worried about that either. Paying attention to our guys and what we can contribute was the biggest thing that kept us steady.” 

Pasteur ended the night with team-highs 13 kills and 15.5 points.

Ohio State will seek to continue its winning streak and straight-set sweeps at Pauley Pavilion in a Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge at 8 p.m. against both UCLA Friday and Southern California in Los Angeles Saturday.