The Ohio State men’s volleyball team huddles together during the Ohio State-Marysville match Friday. Ohio State won 3-0. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
The No. 14 Ohio State men’s volleyball team swept Maryville 3-0 Friday at the Covelli Center to start its four-game homestand.
In the first meeting between the Buckeyes (3-2) and the Saints (1-1), Ohio State started freshmen opposite hitter Shane Wetzel, outside hitter Jack O’Riordan and redshirt freshmen middle blocker Ben Braun and libero Grant Strong as four new starters to the match.
Redshirt junior setter Michael Wright said playing with four new starters, some making the first appearances of their career like Wetzel, made it important to simply “do your job.”.
“Normally that squad doesn’t really run in practice,” Wright said. “The big thing that was going to carry us through the match was being good communicators.”
The Buckeyes took the first set 25-13. The front row starting duo, junior outside hitter Jacob Pasteur and Wetzel, provided the team with powerful offense. The team played with a total of nine kills and six service aces in the first set against the Saints.
“At the end of the day, I knew it was just volleyball and just climbing the ladder,” Wetzel said.
The Saints continued to push through, tying the second set. The Saints then gave the advantage to the Buckeyes through a service error, helping the Buckeyes increase momentum to reach set point and win set two 25-18.
The Buckeyes rode the momentum from the last sets to win the third and final set against the Saints 25-18. By the end of the match, Wright recorded 28 assists, and Wetzel had a total of 11 kills with a hitting percentage of 33.3 percent.
The Buckeyes committed 18 service errors during the match, which Wright said is a part of their identity.
Wetzel said when court communication “died down” within some parts of the match, the Buckeyes turned back to what they knew worked best.
“I think we did a good job at bringing it right back when we knew it was getting low,” Wetzel said.
The Buckeyes play against Missouri S&T Miners Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Covelli Center.
