Photo by: Ohio State Athletics
No. 17 Ohio State Starts Final Homestand Thursday vs. Bearcats
3/25/2025 3:39:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Buckeyes battle three-consecutive Top 15 teams in Columbus
Kevin Burch, Ohio State head coach
No. 17 Ohio State vs. No. 10 McKendree
Date:Â Thursday, March 27
Time:Â 7 p.m. ET
Venue:Â Covelli Center
NCAA Championships Tickets: Here
Live Streams: B1G+
Live Stats: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Rosters:Â Ohio State | McKendree
Season Stats: Ohio State | McKendree  | MIVA | NCAA
Match Notes: Ohio State | McKendree
Note: Justin Howard (2021-24) is a native of Pacific Palisades, California, who completed his eligibility with the Buckeyes last year. He and his family lost their home in the recent fires that devastated his hometown. For more on what Justin is doing to help with recovery efforts, go to: palisadesforever.com. Click HERE to hear from Howard on his foundation's efforts.Â
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 17 Ohio State (11-10, 6-5) will start the final home stand of the 2025 regular season Thursday against No. 10 McKendree (15-5, 10-1) before facing No. 14 Ball State April 3 and No. 15 Lewis April 5. The match this week against the Bearcats starts at 7 p.m. with B1G+ providing the live stream.Â
- Ohio State begins a three-match homestand, the final matches of the regular season at the Covelli Center, Thursday against McKendree. The Buckeyes will then host Ball State April 3 and Lewis April 5 (Senior Night).
- Freshman Stanislaw Chacinski led the Buckeyes with 37 kills in road matches at No. 8 Loyola Chicago and then at No. 15 Lewis. His 19 kills against the Flyers was a career high. He has 15 matches this season with 10 or more kills. Â Â
- The Buckeyes posted a pair of 3-0 wins at NJIT in the final nonconference series of the season. Kyle Teune led Ohio State with 20 kills (.462) in the wins. Cole Young paced the defense with 12 blocks.Â
- Kevin Burch, head coach of the Buckeyes, added assistant coach Steven Duhoux (Doo-HOE) to the staff Feb. 24 to fill a vacancy left by Luke Wood Maloney, who left Ohio State to pursue family professional opportunities in Minnesota. Duhoux coached the last two seasons with the Arizona women's volleyball program. Â
- Ohio State split a pair of MIVA matches before facing NJIT with a 3-2 loss at Ball State and a 3-2 home win over Purdue Fort Wayne. Aaron Grimm played in his first two matches, both starts, and hit .571 with 17 kills on 28 swings. He also added three aces, six digs and five blocks to kick start his Ohio State career.
- Shane Wetzel moved into the Top 20 in career kills last week with 25 total against Ball State and Purdue Fort Wayne. He has 888 career kills in 270 sets for an average of 3.29 per set. His career kills total ranks 20th in the Ohio State record book. Â Â Â Â
- Wetzel's effort in wins at Purdue Fort Wayne and at home vs. Lindenwood led to him earning the MIVA Offensive Player of the Week award. He hit .458 in wins over the Mastodons (3-0) and Lions (3-1). Â
- The Buckeyes split the opening weekend in league play. Following a home loss (1-3) to No. 7 Loyola Chicago, the Buckeyes earned a road win at Purdue Fort Wayne (3-0).Â
- Wetzel earned a spot on the 2025 Big Ten Challenge All-Tournament team with a combined 32 kills against No. 6 USC (L, 1-3) and No. 3 UCLA (L, 1-3) Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in Columbus.Â
- Cole Young reached 600 kills with seven against UCLA. He has 674 from the middle in 110 career matches played. Â
- Ohio State's losses this season have all come to teams currently ranked among the Top 15 nationally.Â
- Ohio State traveled to Austin, Texas, to face No. 11 Stanford (L, 3-0) and No. 1 UCLA (W, 3-1) in the 2025 First Point Collegiate Challenge (Jan. 17-18). Ohio State played in the fourth-annual event for the second-consecutive season. The Buckeyes defeated both No. 13 USC and No. 1 UCLA by scores of 3-2 at the event in 2024.Â
- With the win over the top-ranked Bruins Jan. 18, Ohio State has defeated  a team ranked No. 1 in the AVCA Coaches Poll in each of the last three seasons. The Buckeyes knocked off No. 1 Penn State in 2023 on the road before taking down No. 1 UCLA in each of the last two seasons in Austin, Texas.Â
- Middle blocker Cole Young hit 1.000 with 10 kills on 10 swings to tie an Ohio State record for hitting percentage in a match (vs FVSU, Jan. 11). The last Buckeye to end a match with 10 or more kills without an error was Ethan Talley with a 10-0-10 effort March 1, 2019 at home against McKendree in a 3-1 win.Â
- In the series with McKendree, Ohio State is 18-7 all-time with wins in five of the last six meetings.
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