Buckeyes Over Nittany Lions to Reach NCAA Men's Title Match

Bill Kauffman
Associate Director, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

Box Score

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 5, 2011) – Third-seed Ohio State University (25-6) defeated second-seed Penn State (24-7) 25-18, 24-26, 25-22, 25-23 Thursday evening in the second NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match held in Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University at University Park, Pa.

Ohio State will face fourth-seed UC Santa Barbara (18-14) in the NCAA championship match on May 7 at 7 p.m. ET at University Park, Pa. UCSB upset top-seed University of Southern California (23-4) 29-27, 24-26, 25-15, 25-18 earlier on Thursday in the semifinal round.

The championship match winner will be the first for either program. Ohio State, competing in its 17th NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship semifinal round, has never won the title. The Buckeyes have reached the NCAA championship match two previous times in 1977 and 2000. The Gauchos, who will also be looking to become the second school with double-digit losses to win the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship, is 0-4 in title matches.

Penn State was competing in the NCAA semifinal round for the 26th time and attempting to win its third NCAA title.

Ohio State used a 6-0 scoring run to take a 21-13 lead in the opening set en route to a 25-18 victory. Penn State evened the match by winning the second set 26-24 after 12 ties and five lead changes. The Nittany Lions rallied from a 15-11 deficit to take an 18-17 advantage, only to have Ohio State push back in front 20-18 toward a 25-22 victory. Similar to the third set, Penn State rallied from a 19-16 deficit in the fourth set to take a 21-20 advantage, only to have Ohio State snatch the victory back from scoring five of the last seven points for a 25-23 victory.

John Klanac paced Ohio State with 16 kills, three block assists, one ace and six digs. Shawn Sangrey collected 15 kills, six block assists and seven digs. Kevin Heine tallied 11 kills on 17 attacks to go with five blocks assists. Jason Tobkin contributed 11 kills, five digs and two block assists. Steven Kehoe set the Buckeyes to a .292 team hitting efficiency with 51 assists to go with five total blocks, one ace and six digs. Grayson Overman compiled a team-high seven block assists to go with two kills. Mik Berzins charted a team-high nine digs.

Joe Sunder led Penn State with 18 kills and three block assists in the loss. Nick Turko added seven kills and four total blocks (two solos). Tom Comfort recorded six kills and two blocks, while Jace Olsen turned in five kills and an ace. Edgardo Goas set 39 assists leading to a .140 team hitting efficiency. He added three kills, two blocks and an ace. Alan Mars provided four block assists, while Dennis Del Valle charted a match-high 10 digs.

Ohio State held defensive advantages in blocks (14.5-10) and digs (36-30). Both teams served three aces, but the Buckeyes’ service errors helped the Nittany Lions with a seven-point margin in the category (19-12).

Penn State entered the match ranked 10th in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Top 15 Poll, while Ohio State is ranked eighth in the poll. However, Penn State held the No. 2 seed in the NCAA championship and Ohio State was seeded third.

Ohio State rolled to a 4-0 lead in the opening set with a Sangrey kill, two blocks involving Overman and a Penn State error. Trailing 12-8, Penn State cut the deficit in half with a Buckeye service error and combined block from Goas and Turko. Ohio State built an eight-point cushion at 21-13 with kills from Klanac and Sangrey, three consecutive Penn State errors and a Buckeye ace. Ohio State closed out the set with a 25-18 victory on a Klanac kill. Penn State hit a negative .129 as a team as the Buckeyes produced six team blocks.

Penn State scored the first two points of the second set with a block and OSU attack error. Ohio State rallied to score four straight points to take a 7-5 lead with two kills from Tobkin, a kill from Klanac and a Penn State error. The teams traded two-point runs in which the Nittany Lions tied the score at 8-all and 10-all. Penn State created a 3-0 scoring run to take a 14-12 advantage as Wolf hammered a kill from by two blocks by Turko leading to an Ohio State timeout. Out of the break, Ohio State scored the next two points to tie the score at 14-all following kills from Klanac and Sangrey. The Buckeyes gained a 17-16 advantage after a Heine kill and Tobkin block. The Nittany Lions answered with a Turko kill and combined block from Mars and Sunder to give Penn State an 18-17 advantage. The Nittany Lions picked up a two-point cushion at 20-18 on a Goas block and Buckeye attack error. Penn State stretched its advantage to 23-20, but Ohio State answered with three consecutive points to knot the score at 23-all. Penn State captured the set 26-24 after consecutive Ohio State errors.

Ohio State assumed a 4-1 lead early in the third set that included a Kehoe ace. Penn State answered with three straight points to tie the set at 4-all capped by a combined block by Mars and Wolf after a Comfort kill. The Buckeyes regained three-point cushion at 10-7 by scoring three of four points. Sunder slammed a kill off the block to close the gap to 10-9, only to have Ohio State push back in front 15-11 on kills from Heine and Sangrey. Consecutive Buckeye errors and a Turko kill cut the gap to one at 16-15. Out of a timeout, Turko put up a block to knot the score at 16-all. Penn State regained the lead at 18-17 following a Buckeye error and Goas kill. Ohio State turned the lead back to its favor 20-18 with three straight points. Klanac served an ace followed by a Penn State error to extend the Buckeye lead to 23-19. Ohio State finished the set at 25-22 to go in front two sets to one.

Penn State took a 7-5 lead early in the fourth set with consecutive kills from Comfort and Olsen. Ohio State tied the set at 9-all with a combined block from Overman and Sangrey after a Penn State error. The Buckeyes swung the lead back to their side at 11-10 with another combined block from Overman and Kehoe after a Sangrey kill. Ohio State pushed the advantage to 13-11 with kills from Klanac and Tobkin forcing Penn State to call timeout. However, the Nittany Lions rallied to knot the score at 13-all with an Olsen kill after a Buckeye service error. Anthony Houk served an ace to extend the Buckeye error to 15-13. The Buckeyes increased their lead to 19-16 after a Klanac kill, only to have Penn State rally back to within one at 19-18 with Turko and Goas kills. Sunder slammed consecutive kills to tie the score at 20-all, then Comfort put up a block to yield a 21-20 Nittany Lion lead. Kehoe and Heine put up a block to return Ohio State back in the lead at 23-22, then a Penn State error gave the Buckeyes match point at 24-22. Sangrey ended the match with a kill sending the Buckeyes to the national championship match.

Notes:

Penn State has won the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship in 1994 and 2008. It has reached the title match six times with runner-up finishes in 2010, 2006, 1995 and 1982. Penn State is competing in the NCAA semifinals for the 26th time in program history.

Ohio State has never won the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship, having lost the title matches in both 1977 and 2000. The Buckeyes are competing in their fourth consecutive NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship tournament and 17th overall.

Penn State and Ohio State met twice in the 2011 regular season. Ohio State won the first meeting 3-0 at home on Feb. 9, while Penn State won the re-match in four sets at home on April 10.

Penn State is 65-25-1 all-time against Ohio State.

Penn State and Ohio State last faced each other in the NCAA National semifinals in 2008 with the Nittany Lions winning in four sets. Penn State went on to win the NCAA title in 2008.

Ohio State captured the MIVA regular season and playoff championship in 2011. The Buckeyes have now won the MIVA regular season title five consecutive years.

Tags: college, college volleyball, men, men volleyball ncaa, NCAA, NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship