Men’s Volleyball: Ohio State captures third straight sweep against Saint Francis

Emma Baugher
Fri, 10 Jan 2020 03:29:20 +0000
News, Sports, Volleyball, Austin Gerwig, Buckeyes, buckeyes men’s volleyball, Ethan Talley, Jake Hanes, kevin burch, Kyle Skinner, Luke Lentin, Luke Meidel, Martin Lallemand, Matt Tompkins, men's volleyball, ohio state, Ohio state men's volleyball, Ohio State volleyball, Parker Mikesch, reese devilbiss, Samuel Clark, Sean Ryan, Tyler Alter

The Ohio State men’s volleyball team celebrates a point. Credit: Max Metzger | For The Lantern

Three matches into the season, the Ohio State Buckeyes remain undefeated after a three-set sweep against the Saint Francis Red Flash Thursday.

Ohio State (3-0) demolished Saint Francis (1-1) in straight sets (25-18, 25-20, 25-19) at home, marking the Buckeyes’ third straight match with a 3-0 result.

Already down two sets, Saint Francis had a final chance to steal one from the Buckeyes with the score tied 15 all.

But after five consecutive serves from Ohio State setter Michael Wright, the freshman ended his reign with the Buckeyes ahead at 20-15. Ohio State finished off the final set on a 5-4 run to close out the match with another sweep.

In the first set, blocking was key, as the Buckeyes took 6.5-4.5 block advantage through the course of multiple lead changes and points challenged by both sides.

“Timing and consistency are so important when it comes to attacking and blocking at the net,” Ohio State junior outside hitter Tyler Alter said. “When it comes to double-blocking, it’s all about being in sync with the other guy.”

Alter went 4-for-4 in attacks at the net during the first set, scoring 100 percent in kill points, and it wasn’t long before Ohio State took over with a run that gave the Buckeyes a 15-10 lead and forced Saint Francis to take the first timeout of the night.?

The Buckeyes finished strong to take the set 25-18.

Ohio State overpowered Saint Francis in kills throughout all three sets, ending the match with a 77 percent accuracy in attacks at the net. Ohio State junior outside hitter Martin Lallemand led the Buckeyes with nine kills and four blocks on the night.

“Our boys work on a four-step approach when attacking at the net. We push them really hard to try and always apply that approach,” Ohio State head coach Kevin Burch said. “I think we’re definitely going to be facing bigger challenges heading into our games next week. We have to keep focusing on consistency and applying the offensive and defensive changes we’ve been making.”

Both the Ohio State Buckeyes and The Saint Francis Red Flash ended the match with 9.5 total team blocks and 27 total assists.

Ohio State will seek to continue its season-opening streak of straight-set sweeps next week with a two-pack of matches at the Covelli Center against Lincoln Memorial Thursday and King Friday.