COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 12th-ranked Ohio State (16-10 overall, 9-5 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) men’s volleyball team defeated Findlay (18-13, 6-10), 3-0, 30-17, 30-23, 30-19 Wednesday night in Findlay, Ohio. OSU’s Pieter Olree (Sr., Reading, Pa.) scored a match-high 14 kills (.550) for the Buckeyes with Tom Trantow (Sr., River Forest, Ill.) adding nine (.467) and Ricardo Garcia (So., San Juan, Puerto Rico) eight (.438). Oiler Jeff Overfield (So., New Madison, Ohio) had a team-high seven (.000) kills for Findlay with Scott Warren (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) adding six (-.053).
The Buckeyes opened game one with five straight points off three Olree kills, a Trantow ace serve and a kill by Garcia. Findlay closed to within one at 8-7, before two Oiler errors gave OSU a 10-7 lead. Warren recorded a solo block to cut the lead to 10-8. Kills by Olree and Trantow and a block by Brett Hamilton (Fr., Rockville, Md.) and Trantow made it 13-8. A Buckeye error closed the lead to 13-9. Ohio State scored the next seven points with two Olree kills, a kill from Trantow, a block by Olree and Hamilton, a Hamilton kill and two Oiler errors to make the lead 20-9. At 23-13, back-to-back kills by Warren cut the lead to eight at 23-15. Kills by Trantow and Olree and two Findlay errors pushed the lead to 27-15. UF Steve Yarnell (Jr., Miller City, Ohio) made it 27-16 with a kill. A Garcia kill and an Oiler error set game point at 29-17. A Buckeye service error made it 29-18, but Trantow’s kill ended the game at 30-17. OSU hit .500 for the game to -.029 for Findlay.
The squads exchanged points up to a five-all tie. Four consecutive errors by the Buckeyes gave Findlay a 9-5 lead. A Mark Peckham (So., London, Ontario) kill cut the lead to 9-6. A Buckeye service error, a block by Nick Wolf (Jr., Brecksville, Ohio) and Yarnell and a Yarnell kill gave Findlay a 12-6 lead. After an OSU time out, two kills by Trantow cut the margin to 12-8. Another OSU service error made it 13-8. A Garcia kill and a block by Olree and Adam Pedersen (So., Muskego, Wis.) made it 13-10 Oilers. An OSU service error made it 14-10. With three Findlay errors, a Peckham-Pedersen block and a Garcia kill gave the Buckeyes a 15-10 lead. Another Buckeye service error tied the game at 15. A Garcia kill, a Findlay error and a Peckham-Pedersen block opened up an 18-15 OSU lead. Two Buckeye errors and a kill by Overfield tied the game at 18. A Trantow kill and a Findlay error made it 20-18, OSU. An Overfield kill cut the lead to 20-19. A second touch kill by Peckham and an Oiler error made it 22-19. A kill by Warren cut the margin to 22-20. An Oiler service error, a Garcia kill and a Trantow ace gave OSU a five-point lead at 25-20. Warren’s kill cut the lead to 25-21. Two Findlay errors made it 27-21. Yarnell’s kill made it 27-22. A Garcia kill made it 28-22. A Buckeye error made it 28-23. Two Findlay errors ended the game at 30-23. The Buckeyes hit .250 for the game to .000 for the Oilers. Findlay held a 4-3 lead in game three before a Mike Wauligman (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) kill, a block by Trantow and Pedersen and an Oiler error gave OSU a 6-4 lead. A Scott Monroe (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) kill cut the OSU lead to one at 6-5. Kills by Pedersen and Trantow, a block by Peckham and Hamilton and two Findlay errors gave Ohio State an 11-5 lead. At 12-7, OSU, two Olree kills, one from Trantow and a Findlay error made the Buckeye lead 16-7. Overfield’s kill and a Findlay error moved the score to 17-8. Buckeye kills by Pedersen and Wauligman and one from Oiler Yarnell made the score 19-9. Olree scored with an ace serve to make it 20-9. Two OSU errors and a solo block by Matt Buttermore (So., Lincoln, Neb.) cut the OSU lead to 20-12. A four-point Buckeye scoring run with kills by Wauligman, Olree and Pedersen and an Oiler error made it 24-12. An Andy Campbell (So., Ottawa, Ohio) and an OSU error made it 24-14. Kills by OSU’s Pedersen and UF’s Campbell moved the score to 25-15. An Oiler error and a Wauligman kill made it 27-15. A Buckeye error and an ace serve by Jerry Eckardt (So., Westlake, Ohio) made it 27-17. A Findlay error and a kill by Patrick Maxton (Jr., Centerville, Ohio) made it 28-18. A Wauligman kill set match-point at 29-18. A Wolf kill stopped the game point but Wauligman scored again to end the game at 30-19. Ohio State hit .448 for the game to .080 for the Oilers.
Ohio State hit .412 for the match to .012 for Findlay. The Buckeyes had a 48-24 margin in kills and enjoyed a three-two advantage in ace serves. OSU’s Trantow had a match-high two in the contest. Ohio State had a 31-18 advantage in digs with Brent Mullins (Jr., Louisville, Ky.) recording a match-high seven and OSU’s Wauligman collecting a team-high six. Each team had nine total blocks in the match. UF’s Yarnell had a match-high six blocks on two solo and four assists. OSU’s Pedersen had a team-high five blocks with one solo and four assists. At setter, OSU’s Peckham had 40 assists while Findlays’ Wolf recorded 21.
Ohio State completes the regular season this weekend with two home matches. OSU faces Indiana-Purdue (8-13, 6-8) at 7 p.m., Friday, April 12 and Mercyhurst (6-18, 3-11) at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 13.