No. 6/5 Men’s Volleyball Travels To Mercyhurst – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
March 8, 2000
COLUMBUS, OH – The sixth-ranked (USA TODAY/AVCA and fifth in the Volleyball Magazine Poll) Ohio State (13-1 overall, 8-1 Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) men’s volleyball squad travels to Mercyhurst (10-6, 2-6) for a Saturday (7 p.m.) match. This is the second of six road matches the Buckeyes will play this month before returning home on March 31 to face Rutgers-Newark. Last week the Buckeyes defeated Clarke College 3-0 (15-7, 15-4, 15-9) in Columbus and defeated No. 8 Indiana-Purdue 3-0 (16-14, 17-15, 15-12) in Ft. Wayne.
OSU SIXTH/FIFTH IN NATIONAL POLLS
In the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Top 15 Poll released this week, Ohio State advanced to sixth place. The Buckeyes moved up two spots to fifth place in the Volleyball Magazine poll.
OHIO STATE UPDATE
The Buckeyes are running a balanced attack with four players averaging three or more kills per game. Chris Fash has a team-leading 4.67 kills per game average with Pieter Olree at 4.36, Colin McMillan 3.77 and Rene Esteves 3.47. McMillan is the top percentage hitter at .551 with Esteves second at .490. Running the offense is Angel Aja with a 17.60 assist per game average. Fash has a team-high 18 ace serves with 17 by Jose Rivera and 16 from Olree. Defensively, Tom Trantow has a 2.09 digs per game average with Olree at 2.05. At the net McMillan has a team-high 75 blocks (12 solo and 63 assists) for a 1.70 per game average. Esteves is second with 64 (15-49) for a 1.42 average.
Ohio State is hitting .401 as a team and averaging 20.55 kills per game. The Buckeyes are averaging 9.77 digs, 3.78 blocks and 1.68 aces per game. OSU opponents are hitting .241 and average 17.49 kills per game. OSU opponents average 8.32 digs, 2.26 blocks and 1.09 aces per game
OSU HOLDS FIRST PLACE IN THE MIVA
With the 3-0 victory at Ft. Wayne, Ohio State has moved into first place in the conference standings. The Buckeyes have a conference road match this week at Mercyhurst and will close the league season with four consecutive home matches in mid-April. Second place Indiana-Purdue also has five contests left with four at home.
AJA DIRECTS BIG WIN, NAMED MIVA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
OSU setter Angel Aja ran an excellent offense in the win over Indiana-Purdue. His five fellow starters all had double-figure kills in the match producing a team hitting percentage of .392. For his efforts he was named the MIVA Player of the Week. Aja is the third Buckeye to be honored this season. Colin McMillan and Rene Esteves were honored earlier this season. The Buckeyes have had five players in double-figure kills in five of the last seven matches and one with four. Against IPFW, Aja also contributed four kills, an ace serve, five digs and three blocks.
RIVERA IS THE HOT HITTER
In the last five matches, Jose Rivera is hitting a combined .526 with 61 kills (3.8 per game). He has hit .529 or better in four of the matches including a career-high .750 (10-1-12) at Rutgers-Newark. Against IPFW, Rivera had 13 kills, three ace serves and nine digs.
BIG BLOCKS FOR McMILLAN
With a big match on the line, Colin McMillan once again moved to the front to control the net for the Buckeyes. McMillan had nine total blocks (1-8) in the Indiana-Purdue win. It marked the seventh match this season the he has had five or more blocks in a match. In his last five matches he has a total of 36 blocks and averaged 2.25 blocks per game. McMillan is the OSU career leader in assist blocks with 385 and the career leader in total blocks with 455.
McMILLAN STREAK STOPPED AT TEN
Prior to the Clarke match, Colin McMillan had ten consecutive matches with double-figure kills. McMillan, playing in one game against Clarke, had his streak stopped last week. He resumed double-figure kills against Indiana-Purdue with 11. McMillan has had 55 double-figure kill matches in his career. Only teammate Rene Esteves, with 61, has had more on the squad.
SUBS PRODUCE BIG NUMBERS
Ohio State subs had eight kills in eight attempts against Indiana-Purdue. Greg Lehman was six for six and Ross McLain added two kills in two attempts in the match. Lehman also contributed two assist blocks while McLain had nine digs and two assists and Tom Trantow added an ace serve and a dig.
BENCH SEES ACTION AGAINST CLARKE
Ohio State played 11 of 12 players in the Clarke match. Each of the five subs saw action in two or three games of the match. Jon Schultz had 21 assists, two kills and a dig while Greg Lehman had six kills, an ace, three digs and two blocks. Tom Trantow added five kills, a dig and two blocks with Todd Hill recording two kills a dig and four blocks. In the libero position Ross McLain had a team-high seven digs.
ANOTHER “MONTH” ON THE ROAD
OSU’s win at Indiana-Purdue begins a second month-long road set of matches for Ohio State. The Buckeyes will play the next five matches on the road before returning to OSU to begin a five-match home stand to end the regular season. Prior to the home Clarke match last Friday, Ohio State had played the six previous matches in February on the road.
McMILLAN TOPS NCAA HITTING STATS
In NCAA statistics released this week, Colin McMillan leads the country in hitting percentage at .554. Rene Esteves is seventh at .490. McMillan is ninth in blocking with a 1.70 per game average. Setter Angel Aja is ranked ninth in assists per game with a 17.60 average. As a team Ohio State ranks first in hitting percentage at .401.
HEAD COACH PETE HANSON
In his 16th year at Ohio State, Pete Hanson has put together one of the top men’s volleyball teams in the country. Last season his squad won its fifth Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship in the last seven years. The 1998 team, ranked second in the country in the latter stages of the season, finished sixth in the USA TODAY/AVCA Coaches Poll. They were also honored as the top team in the final regular season Volleyball Magazine Poll. That magazine honored Hanson as the Coach of the Year for his 25-2 season and the MIVA regular season championship.
Hanson, in his 16th season, has a career record of 310-206 (.601) and is 296-194 (.604) in his 15-year tenure with the Buckeyes. His squads have won seven MIVA championships and made three NCAA tournament appearances. Hanson has been named the MIVA Coach of the Year four times.
THE MERCYHURST SERIES
The Buckeyes have won all seven matches with the Lakers. The series, started in 1997, has Ohio State winning four matches at home and three on the road.
MATCH-BY-MATCH AGAINST MERCYHURST
1/15/97 A W 3-0 15-4, 15-3, 15-3 3/ 2/97 H W 3-0 15-5, 15-3, 15-11 2/13/98 H W 3-0 15-5, 15-13, 17-15 3/28/98 A W 3-1 14-16, 15-7, 15-9, 15-6 1/27/99 H W 3-0 15-4, 15-13, 15-10 2/18/99 A W 3-2 13-15, 15-10, 15-11, 10-15, 15-10 1/28/00 H W 3-0 15-5, 15-2, 15-3
OSU TO HOST MIVA TOURNAMENT
St. John Arena on the Ohio State campus will be the site of the 2000 Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament. The Buckeyes will host the two semifinal matches on April 28 beginning at 5 p.m. The tournament championship will be played on April 29 at 7 p.m. The four teams advancing to the semifinals will be the winners of quarterfinal matches played on the campus of the top four seeds on April 22. The tournament seeding is based on the teams’ finish in the MIVA regular season matches. The top seed would host the eighth seed, the second seed would host the seventh seed, the third seed would host the sixth seed and the fourth seed would host the fifth seed. The tournament champion will receive the automatic Midwest bid to the NCAA Championship semifinals on May 4, hosted by Indiana-Purdue.
BERZINS AND WALDIE NAMED TO VOLLEYBALL MAGAZINE ALL-CENTURY TEAMS
Two former Ohio State men’s volleyball players have been named to Volleyball Magazine’s NCAA Men’s All Century Team. Outside hitter Aldis Berzins (1975-78) was named to the fourth team and middle blocker Marc Waldie (1974-77) to the fifth team. A total of 37 players were honored
BUCKEYES PICKED FOR 2ND IN MIVA
By a vote of the league coaches, Ohio State was picked to finished second this season in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Indiana-Purdue was the top choice of the coaches with Lewis third, and Ball State fourth. Loyola was picked for fifth with Mercyhurst sixth, Quincy seventh and Clarke eighth.
FIVE SELECTED FOR MIVA HONORS
Ohio State had five players chosen on the 2000 Preseason All-MIVA squad as selected by the coaches of the league. Named to the first team for the Buckeyes were Angel Aja and Rene’ Esteves. Chris Fash was selected to the second team while Colin McMillan and Pieter Olree were tabbed for honorable mention honors.
NEW LOOK FLOOR AT ST. JOHN ARENA
After 42 years of having basketball lines painted on the floor of St. John Arena, a new look greets the 1999-2000 season of volleyball. Prior to the women’s season last fall, the floor of St. John Arena was sanded down to remove the basketball court markings. In its place is a painted volleyball court for use by the women’s and men’s teams.
MIVA Standings as of March 6 Conference Overall 1 Ohio State 8-1 .889 13-1 .929 Indiana-Purdue 7-2 .778 10-5 .667 3 Ball State 4-3 .571 10-5 .667 Lewis 4-3 .571 10-6 .625 5 Quincy 3-4 .428 9-4 .692 6 Loyola 2-4 .333 8-7 .533 7 Mercyhurst 2-6 .250 9-6 .600 8 Clarke 0-7 .000 4-8 .333
MIVA STATISTICAL LEADERS (3/7)
Hitting Percentage 1 Paul Aviles, Lewis .581 2 Colin McMillan, Ohio State .530 4 Rene Esteves, Ohio State .474
Blocks Per Game 1 Colin McMillan, Ohio State 1.87 7 Rene Esteves, Ohio State 1.39
Digs Per Game 1 Panos Eracleous, Ind.-Purdue 2.90 9 Pieter Olree, Ohio State 2.17
Kills Per Game 1 Hector Soto, Indiana-Purdue 8.06 8 Colin McMillan, Ohio State 4.91 9 Chris Fash, Ohio State 4.83
Aces Per Game 1 Scott Lane, Indiana-Purdue .56 7 Jose Rivera, Ohio State .38 8 Chris Fash, Ohio State .37
Assists Per Game 1 Chris Gisslen, Indiana-Purdue 19.09 2 Angel Aja, Ohio State 18.55
NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS (3/8)
Hitting Percentage 1 Colin McMillan, Ohio State .551 7 Rene Esteves, Ohio State .490
Blocks Per Game 1 Scott Bunker, Brigam Young 3.40 9 Colin McMillan, Ohio State 1.70
Digs Per Game 1 Joe Herger, Harvard 3.66
Kills Per Game 1 Curt Toppel, Stanford 8.39
Aces Per Game 1 Scott Wong, Pepperdine .673
Assists Per Game 1 Chris Pitzak, Brigham Young 19.23 2 Angel Aja, Ohio State 17.60
Team Hitting Percentage 1 Ohio State .401
USA TODAY/AVCA Coaches Poll
March 7, 2000 – No. 8 Rank School Total 2000 Last (First Place Votes) Points Record Week 1 Pepperdine (14) 238 12-1 1 2 Long Beach State (2) 226 12-2 2 3 Southern California 203 13-3 4 4 UCLA 190 16-3 6 5 Hawaii 167 9-5 5 6 Ohio State 160 13-1 7 7 Brigham Young 159 14-6 3 8 Indiana-Purdue 127 10-5 8 9 Lewis 104 10-6 9 10 Loyola Marymount 67 4-6 11 Penn State 67 8-8 12 12 Ball State 63 10-5 13 13 Cal State Northridge 61 5-8 10 14 Stanford 41 8-7 14 15 Loyola-Chicago 21 7-7 NR
Others receiving votes: UC-Santa Barbara (19), Pacific (5), UV-Irvine (2)
Volleyball Magazine Poll
March 6, 2000 – No. 7 Rank School 2000 Last Record Week 1 Pepperdine 12-1 1 2 Long Beach State 12-2 2 3 UCLA 16-3 6 4 Southern California 13-3 4 5 Ohio State 13-1 7 6 Brigham Young 14-6 3 7 Hawaii 9-5 5 8 Indiana-Purdue 10-5 8 9 Lewis 10-5 9 10 UC Irvine 7-11 NR
Others: Ball State, Cal State Northridge, Loyola Chicago, Loyola Marymount, Pacific, Penn State, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara.
