Around the Oval: Men's Volleyball Collects Some Hardware with Second-Straight National Title and Lacrosse Finishes as B1G Runner-Up

By TJ Neer on May 8, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Ohio State men's volleyball, national champions.
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After months of hard work, it looks like everything has paid off for the men's volleyball team, which won its second straight NCAA

Men's Volleyball

Over the weekend, the men's volleyball team took to St. John Arena to try to defend their title against some of the toughest opponents in the NCAA, and on May 6, the team sealed the deal to win their second-straight title and third in program history. The team swept BYU in a rematch from the 2016 title game to maintain their status atop the college volleyball world.

Not only did the team win the national championship in front of a home crowd, but junior Nicolas Szerszen was also named the tournament's most outstanding player. This should come as no surprise as Szerszen has won the MIVA Conference's Player of the Year award two years in a row.

Miles Johnson, Christy Blough, Driss Guessous and Blake Leeson all joined Szerszen on the seven-person All-Tournament Squad. Yes, that's right: of the seven athletes named to the All-Tournament team, five were Buckeyes.

The team will have some holes to fill for next season as seniors Johnson, Blough and Guessous were huge contributors to the team's success and will be graduating, but Szerszen is only a junior and will certainly look to bring some more hardware to Columbus in his final go-around.

Men's Lacrosse

The lacrosse team also got the opportunity to play at home for some of the postseason, as Ohio State hosted the Big Ten Lacrosse Tournament in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

The Bucks have been stellar all season and earned the No. 2 seed for the tournament, coming in ranked lower only than perennial powerhouse Maryland. 

The team impressed in the early rounds before a tightly contested classic against the top seed in the championship game. 

Ohio State ultimately came close but lost to the Terrapins 10-9. A goal from senior Eric Fannell drew the score to 9-9 with under five minutes to play, but Maryland got one more and the Buckeyes couldn't tie it up in time to force overtime.

Freshman Tre Leclaire continued to dominate with three goals and an assist, while Fannell also added two goals. Senior goalie Tom Carey tallied 11 saves in 60 minutes while only allowing 10 goals.

Five Buckeyes were named to an All-Tournament team: Leclaire, senior Jake Withers, and juniors Ben Randall and Freddy Freibott.

The team was named a No. 3 seed, behind Maryland and Syracuse, and will take on Loyola in The Shoe in the first round of the NCAA tourney.

Baseball/Softball

The baseball team hasn't been too hot as of late, but they were at least able to pick up a win against No. 17 Michigan this week after a loss against No. 6 Texas Tech Wednesday and a loss in game one against That School Up North Saturday before their lone victory of the week Sunday. 

Junior Seth Kinker, who has been the Bucks' best reliever this season, made his first career start in the win against the Wolverines and allowed only two runs in six innings of work. Senior Zach Ratcliff supplied all the offense the team needed with a grand slam in the sixth inning. The Bucks won 4-2. 

The softball team had another winning week to close the regular season, going 3-1 with an exhibition win against Kent State and taking two games of a three-game set against Illinois over the weekend.

The squad shut out Kent State Wednesday and scored three runs before bringing out the bats in a 7-4 win over the Illini Friday. 

On Sunday, a pitcher's duel took the Buckeyes to a 3-2 win behind junior Shelby McCombs, who allowed only two runs in seven innings en route to a win. Sophomore Lilli Piper broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh with a solo shot, her second of the weekend and one that places her third on the all-time single season home runs list with 16.

 Upcoming

May 9

  • Baseball vs. Bowling Green
  • Women's Golf, NCAA Columbus Regional

May 10

  • Baseball vs. Ball State
  • Women's Golf, NCAA Columbus Regional

May 11

  • Softball, Big Ten Tournament First Round (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

May 12

  • Men's Tennis vs. Butler
  • Baseball @ Iowa
  • Track & Field, Big Ten Championships (State College, Pa.)
  • Softball, Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

May 13

  • Women's Tennis vs. Buffalo
  • Baseball @ Iowa
  • Softball, Big Ten Tournament Semifinals/Finals
  • Women's Rowing, Big Ten Championships (Indianapolis)
  • Track & Field, Big Ten Championships (State College, Pa.)

May 14

  • Women's Tennis, Second Round (Columbus)
  • Baseball @ Iowa
  • Men's Lacrosse vs. Loyola Maryland (Ohio Stadium)
  • Track & Field, Big Ten Championships (State College, Pa.)
  • Women's Rowing, Big Ten Championships (Indianapolis)
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