March 8, 2013
PHOENIX, Ariz. – The No. 9 Ohio State men’s volleyball team kicked off the weekend with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 26-24) win over Grand Canyon Friday night in Phoenix. The win pushed the Buckeyes to 13-3 overall and 6-1 in MIVA play.
Sophomore Michael Henchy notched a match-high 16 kills and finished with a .500 attack percentage. Redshirt sophomore Andrew Lutz totaled 14 kills, while senior Chen Levitan had nine. Libero Brennan Anderson finished with a match-high 15 digs and senior middle blocker Grayson Overman tied a career-high with three solo blocks, while adding a block assist for the Buckeyes.
Ben Ponnet led Grand Canyon (12-8, 5-4) with 11 kills and Ryan Mather finished with nine. Ponnet and libero Trent Bruns each totaled five digs and Christian Ward had four blocks (1s, 3a) for the Antelopes.
Down 7-5 in the first, a Henchy kill followed by back-to-back solo blocks from Overman led to a 7-8 Ohio State lead. A pair of GCU errors gave the Buckeyes a 12-9 advantage, but the home squad rebounded with 4-1 run to lock the set at 13 apiece. The Lopes pushed ahead for a 19-17 advantage to force a Buckeye timeout. A kill by Levitan triggered a three-point Ohio State run to take a 22-21 lead and a solo block by Overman sealed a 25-23 win.
A kill by Henchy and a Levitan service ace gave the Buckeyes an early 4-3 lead to start the second set. GCU battled to push ahead at 7-5 before a pair of two-point Ohio State run gave the visitors a slim 9-8 advantage. At 16-15, a kill by Lutz sent the Buckeyes on a 8-1 run highlighted by a pair of service aces from Shawn Herron and a kill by John Tholen secured a 25-17 victory.
The Antelopes took a quick 4-3 lead to start set three before a pair of 2-0 Buckeye runs lifted the visitors to a 9-7 advantage. At 12-8 Ohio State, GCU went on a 7-1 run to regain the lead at 15-13. The Buckeyes responded with a 9-3 rally for a 22-19 lead, but the Antelopes fought back and locked the set at 23. A kill by Lutz gave Ohio State its first match point at 24-23 and the Buckeyes captured the match on a kill from Henchy, 26-24.
The two squads return to Antelope Gym Saturday night for an 8 p.m. ET match to close out the series.
