No. 1 Ohio State Falls 3-1 to No. 9 Penn State

Thursday, January 25

Columbus, Ohio

6 p.m.

Ohio State

6-1,0-0MIVA

Penn State University

5-2,0-0EIVA

Penn St.

Ohio St.

No. 1 Ohio State Falls 3-1 to No. 9 Penn State

1/25/2024 8:29:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 1 Ohio State (6-1) fell 3-1 to No. 9 Penn State (5-2) Thursday at the Covelli Center.

The Buckeyes fell by scores of 21-25, 25-21, 19-25 and 27-29.

All-American Jacob Pasteur did not play for the Buckeyes because of a lower body injury that will keep him out of the Ohio State lineup indefinitely.

Attendance for the match was 2,238, a regular season record for men's volleyball at Ohio State.

Daniel Hurley led the Buckeyes with a career-high 16 kills. Ben Putnam tied his career best with 10 kills to put a pair of Buckeyes in double figures.

Michael Wright had a team-high 39 assists. Putnam (11), Wright (10) and Thomas Poole (10) were all in double digits in digs.

Set 1
Daniel Hurley, starting in place of Jacob Pasteur, got the Buckeyes on the board first with a kill from the left side to tie it early at 1-all. Setter Michael Wright put the Ohio State up 4-3 and then served the Buckeyes to a 6-3 lead on back-to-back kills by Shane Wetzel. The Nittany Lions tied it a 7-all on a 3-1 run. The teams traded points until the Buckeyes used a 4-1 run to take a 13-11 lead. Penn State responded to tie it at 13-all. The set went back-and-forth once again with neither team gaining more than a single point advantage until Penn State took a 23-21 lead. The Buckeyes called timeout following the Nittany Lions 3-1 run gave the two-point edge. Penn State then scored the next two points for the first set win, 25-21. The Nittany Lions hit .480 in the opener while the Buckeyes managed .069. Wetzel and Hurley each had three kills to lead the Buckeyes.

S1| Buckeyes win the rally, Tommy Poole on the assist to Wetzel! pic.twitter.com/OB71h3gNnD
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) January 25, 2024

Set 2
The Buckeyes started with a 5-2 lead in the second. Cole Young made it 6-3 with a kill in the middle. A Penn State error put Ohio State in the lead 8-4. Another kill by Young made it 9-5. The Buckeyes went up 13-7 on a PSU serving error and two Penn State attack errors, leading to a PSU timeout. Kills by Hurley and Wright kept the Buckeyes up 16-12. Putnam and Young kills moved it to 18-14 Ohio State after consecutive Penn State points. The Nittany Lions called timeout after a Justin Howard kill on a PSU overpass gave the Buckeyes a 20-15 lead. Tommy Poole's first career kill gave Ohio State a 21-16 lead. Penn State then cut into the Ohio State lead before the Buckeyes called timeout leading 23-20. A Wetzel kill led to set point. Hurley then tied the match at 1-all with a kill from the right side to give the Buckeyes the 25-21 win. Ohio State hit .308 in the second. Hurley led after two with seven kills. Young had five and Wetzel four.

S2| Dan Hurley finishes off set two for the Buckeyes!?? The match is tied at 1-1. pic.twitter.com/DaWILcSPl0
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) January 26, 2024

S2| Ben Putnam! Sheesh!?? pic.twitter.com/PKrMCzEjsM
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) January 25, 2024

Set 3
Penn State opened with a 4-1 lead and built the advantage to 11-6 before an Ohio State timeout. The Nittany Lions kept applying pressure in building a 14-8 lead. Kills by Wetzel and Hurley made it 14-10 Nittany Lions. Hurley added another kill before a Penn State timeout after the Buckeyes went on a 4-1 run to make it 14-11 Nittany Lions. A Penn State 4-1 run made it 22-15 before the Buckeyes rallied to cut the lead to 22-18. Penn State called timeout and scored three of the next four points to win the set 25-19. Hurley reached his career high with 10 kills ahead of Wetzel with eight after three sets.

S3|BLOCKED by Justin Howard and Michael Wright! pic.twitter.com/HVBThblWAI
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) January 26, 2024

Set 4
A Wright kill and back-to-back aces before a Howard kill in the middle and a Penn State error put the Buckeyes out front to a 5-0 lead. A Hurley kill and Penn State error made it 7-2 Buckeyes. Penn State then used a 4-1 run to make it 8-6 Buckeyes. A kill by Hurley put the Buckeyes back up by four at 15-11. Penn State scored four of the next five points to make it a one-point set at 16-15 Buckeyes. Ohio State called timeout before Penn State tied it at 16-all. The Nittany Lions then took the lead 17-16 on a 5-0 run. Ben Putnam tied it for the Buckeyes with a kill to make it 17-all. Back-to-back Hurley kills led to a Penn State timeout with the Buckeyes on top 21-20. Another Putnam kill made it 22-20 Buckeyes. A service error kept Ohio State up two, 23-21. Penn State tied it at 23 with consecutive kills before an Ohio State timeout. A Penn State attack error made it set points in favor of the Buckeyes, 24-23. The Nittany Lions called timeout and tied it at 24 with a kill. Kyle Teune made it 25-24 Buckeyes with a kill. Penn State tied it again with a kill. The teams traded points again to make it 27-all. Penn State got consecutive kills to win the set 29-27 and the match, 3-1.

S4| Ben Putnam ties it back up!!! pic.twitter.com/zqlFWMqoBa
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) January 26, 2024

Up Next:
Ohio State completes the home-and-home with Penn State Sunday in University Park, Pennsylvania, with a 3 p.m. match at Rec Hall. The match will be streamed by B1G+.

#GoBucks