02-19-2007, 01:48 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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Men's volleyball anticipates big match
original story here.
Quote:
For the eighth time this season, the Ohio State men's volleyball team needed only three games to finish off their opponents, downing the George Mason Patriots 3-0 on Saturday night. The No. 8 Buckeyes preserved their unblemished home record, winning their eighth straight match in St. John Arena, despite a somewhat flat effort against George Mason.
The Buckeyes did not pull away until late in each game, winning 30-26, 30-26 and 30-25. Senior outside hitter, Dan Meske, turned in a team high of 14.5 points, hitting .423 for OSU. As a team, OSU hit .320 to the Patriots' .100. OSU's statistical dominance masked a tough match, and coach Pete Hanson was not overwhelmed by his team's performance.
"It's a 3-0 win that wasn't real sharp," Hanson said. Despite some mistakes, such as their 24 service errors, the Buckeye's talent was too much for George Mason, as they failed to capitalize on OSU's mistakes. "They didn't make us pay," he said.
"Not one of us had our A-game," said junior libero Conor Martin, commenting on the team's play. "A little mentally not there," was how sophomore middle hitter John Albertson described it.
OSU could perhaps be forgiven for looking ahead to next week, as both players and coaches acknowledged that next Saturday's home rematch against conference rival IPFW is hard not to think about.
"We're not looking ahead, but it's definitely on our minds," Albertson said. The Buckeyes defeated IPFW on the road earlier this month, and now trail the Mastodons by only one spot in the polls.
The Patriot's leading scorer, freshman Will Price, led all players with 15 points, but hit only .179, well below his .305 average. Hanson said that the Buckeye's defensive game plan focused on shutting Price down.
"I thought we were really good on our blocking defense on Will Price," Hanson said. "By the second game, he was not a factor."
Price was the only Patriot to score in double figures, to OSU's four.
Along with Meske, sophomore outside hitter Robbie Klein contributed 12.5 points, including all four Buckeye aces. Two seniors, middle hitter Layne Dreven and outside hitter Sam Stevens, each put up 12 points for OSU and had two assist blocks each to lead the team.
Junior setter Dan Mathews had 42 set assists in the match, and Martin credited him with injecting some energy into an at-times anemic Buckeye attack.
"He really got our guys involved," said Martin, whose 10 defensive digs were second only to Mathews' 11 in the match.
The Buckeyes will try to keep their home record perfect this week, facing off against Lewis next Friday before the anticipated match with seventh-ranked IPFW on Saturday.
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Men's volleyball anticipates big match
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