The Ohio State men’s volleyball team huddles up during the Ohio State-Loyola Chicago game Thursday. Ohio State lost 3-2. Credit: Katie Good | For the Lantern
No. 14 Ohio State earned its first conference win in convincing fashion over Purdue Fort Wayne Sunday.
The Buckeyes (5-6) defeated the Mastodons (8-6) for their first win in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association at the Covelli Center (25-21, 25-18, 25-23).
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work this season and the past couple of losses have been really close,” sophomore outside hitter Jacob Pasteur said. “Seeing the reward was a relief.”
The Buckeyes started off the first set with a strong lead 8-3, but after a timeout the Mastodons went on a 6-3 run to cut the Buckeyes’ lead to 11-9.
After a big outside block from senior middle blocker Ethan Talley and Pasteur, the Buckeyes took back the lead 15-11.
On the game point, Pasteur got the Buckeyes the 25-21 win with a kill to finish off the first set.
In set two, the Buckeyes kept a steady lead over the Mastodons, Purdue hit -.036 against a Buckeye .304 in the second set win of 25-18.
The Mastodons got off to a steady lead of 14-9 to start the third set with kills from sophomore outside hitter Vicente Ibarra and junior outside hitter Jon Diedrich.
After a long rally, freshman middle blocker Cole Young got a kill from the middle to cut the lead to 7-6 Mastodons.
The Buckeyes then went on an 11-4 run, placing pressure on Purdue Fort Wayne, cutting the deficit to one.
After a Mastodons timeout, the Buckeyes took the lead 19-17, prompting the Mastodons’ second timeout of the set.
Purdue Fort Wayne had a serving error on the Buckeyes’ game point to give Ohio State the 25-23 win and take the series.
“They’ve been pushing really hard and to see them get a result is always great,” head coach Kevin Burch said. “They certainly earned it.”
Junior middle blocker Samuel Clark led the Buckeyes in kills with 13, sophomore setter Noah Platfoot led in assists with 29 and senior libero Parker Mikesch led reception with 22 digs.
In between sets two and three, the Buckeyes recognized Ohio State’s 2011 team that won the national championship.
“The longer I coach the more I realize how unique of a team that was and how great the leadership and work ethic was,” Burch said. “It is something that this team is trying to learn from. It was a great weekend for our guys to interact with them.”
The Buckeyes will be back at the Covelli Center Thursday to face Quincy at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
