No. 16 Ohio State Steps Away from MIVA, Travels to NJIT This Weekend

Hudson Bates, Ohio State associate head coach

No. 16 Ohio State at NJIT
Dates: Friday/Saturday, March 7/8
Times: 6 p.m. (both days)
Venue: Joel & Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center (WEC)
NCAA Championships Tickets: Here
Live Streams: ESPN+/AE.TV
Live Stats: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Rosters: Ohio State | NJIT
Season Stats: Ohio State | NJIT | MIVA | NCAA
Match Notes: Ohio State | NJIT

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.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 16 Ohio State (7-8, 4-3) steps out of league play in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association this weekend to travel for a pair of nonconference contests against the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

First serve between the Buckeyes and Highlanders is 6 p.m. Friday at the Wellness and Events Center on the NJIT campus. That match will be streamed live by ESPN+. The match Saturday also starts at 6 p.m. and will be streamed by America East TV.

Each Ohio State home match is streamed live on B1G+ ($). A link to live stats for all matches is available at OhioStateBuckeyes.com on the Men's Volleyball schedule page with each individual match listed.
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.
Ohio State split a pair of MIVA matches last week 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 824 career kills in 249 sets for an average of 3.31 per set. His career kills total ranks 20th in the Ohio State record book.
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).
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).
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.
Cole Young reached 600 kills with seven against UCLA. He has 627 from the middle in 102 career matches played.
Ohio State's eight losses this season have come to teams currently ranked among the Top 12 nationally.
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.
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.
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.
In the series against NJIT, Ohio State owns an 11-1 record with a 2-1 record in Newark. The Buckeyes have won the last four meetings, all by 3-0 scores. The Highlanders only win in the series was at home (3-2) in 1997.

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