April 20, 2013
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The nationally-ranked and No. 4 seed Ohio State men’s volleyball team’s season came to an end Saturday with a 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 11-25, 25-16, 15-13) loss to No. 5 seed Grand Canyon in a MIVA Quarterfinal match in St. John Arena. The Buckeyes finish the year with a 19-8 overall record.
Sophomore Michael Henchy finished with a career-best 24 kills and another career-best 19 digs to lead all student-athletes. The Ventura, Calif., product added three blocks, three assists and a service ace for a match-high 26.5 points. Senior Chen Levitan totaled 12 kills and seven digs, while Brennan Anderson had 14 digs. Seniors Grayson Overman and John Tholen had three blocks apiece for the squad.
Jordon Tarantino led the `Lopes (17-14) with 18 kills and four blocks. Ben Ponnet finished with 12 kills, while libero Trent Bruns had 17 digs. Christian Ward and Ryan Mather added nine kills each for GCU.
A pair of two-point runs pushed the `Lopes ahead at 6-3 in the first and another 2-0 rally gave the visiting squad a 14-9 lead to force a Buckeye timeout. GCU held on to its five-point margin until a kill by Henchy triggered a 4-1 run to cut the visitor’s lead to three at 23-20. A kill by Levitan brought the Buckeyes stalled GCU at set point, but the `Lopes held for a 25-21 win.
An Overman/Andrew Lutz block and back-to-back kills by Henchy highlighted a Buckeye 6-1 run to open set two. The `Lopes responded quickly with a 7-1 rally to take their first lead at 8-7. GCU used a trio of Buckeye errors to take a 14-12 advantage before Ohio State regained the lead at 20-19 on a Tholen/Lutz block followed by a Tholen kill. Locked at 23, kills from Lutz and Henchy sealed the 25-23 Buckeye win.
Ohio State jumped out to an early lead to start the third set, taking a 7-2 advantage. An Overman/Henchy block sent the Buckeyes on a 6-0 run to go up 13-4 and another Buckeye block led to a 21-9 lead. A kill by Nick Gibson gave Ohio State a 25-11 victory.
Grand Canyon rebounded in the fourth and kicked off the set with an 11-3 lead. A three-point run gave the `Lopes a 17-8 advantage to force a Buckeye timeout. A kill by Levitan and a service ace from Peter Heinen cut the GCU lead late, but the `Lopes forced a fifth stanza after taking the set 25-16.
After exchanging points to start the fifth, a two-point GCU run lifted the squad to a 6-4 lead. A kill by Henchy sent the Buckeyes on a 4-0 run to give the Buckeyes an 11-9 advantage. The `Lopes regrouped pushed ahead at 13-12 and two-straight kills from Tarantino sealed a 15-13 win.
With the win, Grand Canyon advanced to face No. 1 seed Lewis Wednesday, April 24, in a MIVA Semifinal match.
