Ohio State Goes to MIVA Final with 3-1 Win Over Loyola Chicago

Thursday, April 18

Muncie, Indiana

4 p.m.

Ohio State

21-8,11-5MIVA

Loyola University Chicago

19-10,12-4MIVA

Ohio St.

Loyola Chicago

Ohio State Goes to MIVA Final with 3-1 Win Over Loyola Chicago

4/18/2024 6:33:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 3-seed Ohio State (21-8) will play for a championship after beating No. 2 Loyola Chicago (19-10) 3-1 Thursday at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Indiana, in the semifinals of the 2024 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament.

Ohio State moves to the MIVA Tournament Finals against No. 4 Lindenwood (16-11). Ohio State is playing for its 19th MIVA Tournament championship while the Lions are playing for their first title. Lindenwood advanced to the championship with a 3-2 win over No. 1 seed Ball State. The Cardinals won the regular season MIVA title and are hosting the finals in Muncie, Indiana.

First serve Saturday is 7 p.m. with ESPN+ providing the live stream.

Against the Ramblers, Ohio State won by scores of 25-20, 26-24, 26-28, 25-22.

Jacob Pasteur led Ohio State with 22 kills with Shane Wetzel adding 19. Wetzel hit .545 with just one error on 33 swings.

Setter Michael Wright led both teams with 50 assists. Wetzel led the defense with nine digs to go with three blocks. Cole Young topped the Buckeyes with four blocks.

The opening set of the match was the 100^th played this season for Pasteur. He has played 100 or more sets in each of the last three seasons. With his first kill on the night, he also moved into sole possession of fourth place all-time at Ohio State. He finished the night with 1,463 career kills.

With one ace, Pasteur is one off second place in Ohio State history with 159. Miles Johnson (2014-17) is second with 160. Nicolas Szerszen (2015-18) owns the No. 1 spot with 238.

Wetzel reached 300 kills on the year against Lewis in the quarterfinals. He now has a career total of 594 with 19 against the Ramblers. With three blocks Thursday, he now has 101 for his career.

With eight kills Thursday, Young reached 203 on the year and 340 for his career.

S4| Buckeye W?? pic.twitter.com/xgcTU8s58B
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 18, 2024

How it Happened

Set 1
Kyle Teune and Shane Wetzel got things started for the Buckeyes with back-to-back kills for a 2-1 lead. Cole Young added a kill and an ace for a 4-2 Ohio State advantage. The Ramblers called its first timeout after a 4-1 run with Pasteur getting a kill and Wetzel scoring on three-consecutive swings for an 8-4 Ohio State lead. The Buckeyes increased the advantage to 11-5 after the break following a Loyola Chicago service error and kills by Teune and Pasteur. A kill by Young capped a 5-1 Ohio State run for a 13-6 lead. The Ramblers called their final timeout after a Teune ace put the Buckeyes up 15-7. Loyola Chicago scored the next two after the break but the Buckeyes got the next two on a Ramblers error and Pasteur kill to make it 17-9. Ohio State reached 20 points (20-11) with a Wetzel kill and Pasteur ace. Consecutive Loyola Chicago errors put Ohio State at 22-15. The Buckeyes called timeout after a 3-0 Ramblers run cut the Ohio State lead to 22-17. Young got the kill after the stoppage before a Pasteur kill led to set point at 24-19. Wetzel then got the winning kill for a 25-20 Ohio State win in the opener. Ohio State hit .364 in the first, just ahead of LC's .333. Wetzel led with six kills ahead of five recorded by Pasteur.

S1| Buckeyes at set point?? pic.twitter.com/CZxUOimt0y
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 18, 2024

S1| Kill from Pasteur puts the Buckeyes up 18-10! pic.twitter.com/W5aaOshE8l
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 18, 2024

Set 2
Wetzel connected on his first two swings of the second for a 2-1 lead. A 4-1 Ohio State run made it 6-3 Buckeyes. A Justin Howard kill and Ramblers error gave Ohio State a 9-6 cushion. Wetzel got his 10^th kill of the match, without an error, to make it 10-7. Loyola Chicago used a 4-1 run to tie it at 11-all. A Young kill and Ramblers error put Ohio State back up 13-11. LC again tied it with the next two points before back-to-back errors put the Buckeyes back in the lead at 15-13 at the media timeout. The Ramblers scored the first three after the break to take a 16-15 lead, its first of the set. Kills by Pasteur, Wetzel and Howard gave Ohio State the advantage again at 18-16. The Ramblers called their first timeout after Ohio State's 3-0 run. A back-row kill by Pasteur made it a 4-0 run for a 19-16 lead. The Buckeyes took a 21-18 advantage on consecutive Loyola Chicago errors, leading to a Ramblers timeout. Loyola Chicago used a 3-1 run after the break to cut it to 22-21 Buckeyes. Ohio State called its first timeout of the set before Young got Ohio State to 23-21 with a kill. The Ramblers tied it at 23-all before Ohio State's second timeout. Loyola Chicago started with a service error after the timeout but tied it at 24-all on and OSU service error. Pasteur go the kill for a 25-24 lead before a Wright ace won it for the Buckeyes, 26-24. The Buckeyes hit .444 in the second with Wetzel reaching 11 kills. Wetzel and Young combined for 18 kills with no errors on 26 swings in taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

S2| Ohio State goes up 2-0?? pic.twitter.com/I2UOUfNyEd
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 18, 2024

S2| What. A. Swing. ?? pic.twitter.com/WVLmLj0Fja
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 18, 2024

S2| Cole Young ???? pic.twitter.com/2HMc9YJftQ
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 18, 2024

Set 3
The squads traded points over the first 16 points of the set before Ohio State took an 11-8 lead on a Teune kill and a pair of Ramblers attack errors. Loyola Chicago responded with a 3-0 run to tie the set at 11-all. The Buckeyes scored the next two on consecutive errors by the Ramblers for a 13-11 lead. Ohio State went into the media timeout up 15-13. Loyola Chicago tied it at 16-all with a 3-1 run after the break. Ohio State called timeout after the Ramblers went up 18-17 following a 4-1 run. Pasteur tied it after the timeout with a kill. Wetzel made it 19-all with a kill of his own. Loyola Chicago scored the next two for a 21-19 lead. The Buckeyes called their final timeout down 24-22. A Pasteur kill and LC attack error tied it at 24-all. After an Ohio State service error, Pasteur tied it at 25-all with a kill. Loyola Chicago then called a timeout and the teams traded kills with Howard making it 26-all. The Ramblers then scored the next two for a 28-26 set victory to make it 2-1 Buckeyes in the match. Pasteur took over the team lead with 15 kills.

S3| Fight til the end, 26-26! pic.twitter.com/pLwEk4TteE
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 18, 2024

Set 4
A Wetzel kill and two Ramblers errors put Ohio State up 3-0. Kills by Wetzel and Pasteur made it 5-2 Buckeyes. The teams traded points before Loyola Chicago scored consecutive points to close to 11-10 Ohio State. The Buckeyes responded with a block (Howard/Wright) and a Pasteur kill to go back up three at 14-11. Another Pasteur kill, his 19^th of the match, led to the media timeout with Ohio State leading 15-12. The Ramblers scored the next three to tie it at 15-all. Ohio State remained up after a Pasteur kill made it 20-18. Another rocket by Pasteur made it 21-19 Buckeyes. The Ramblers tied it at 21-all leading to an Ohio State timeout. After a long rally, a Wetzel kill made it 22-21 Buckeyes. LC tied it before a service error put OSU back up 23-22. The Ramblers called a timeout before a Loyola Chicago hitting error led to match point with Ohio State up 24-22. Loyola Chicago called its final timeout before Wetzel got the set and match-winning kill, 25-22.