Around the Oval is back.
After a brief hiatus due to a whirlwind of Ohio State football coverage, Eleven Warriors’ one-stop shop for the Buckeyes’ Olympic sports programs has returned. This week, we look at the continued dominance for men’s tennis, the postseason finish for women’s gymnastics and the MIVA Tournament outlook for men’s volleyball.
Men’s Tennis
On Friday, No. 1 Ohio State defeated Penn State, 7-0, and improved to 23-1 overall in 2023-24. With the sweep, the Buckeyes have now secured three consecutive clean sheets in Big Ten competition. Head coach Ty Tucker and his team entered their match with the Nittany Lions coming off wins over Purdue (4-0) and Indiana (7-0). All three victories came on the road.
Another W!
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) April 5, 2024
Sets up a huge weekend at the TTTC next weekend #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/n0Qw5Iz83G
Jack Anthrop, JJ Tracy, Alexander Bernard, Robert Cash, Justin Boulais and Cannon Kingsley have been integral to Ohio State’s success this season. Here are the stats for each of those Buckeyes after 24 team matches:
| PLAYER | OVERALL | DUAL | TOUR | BIG TEN | NAT'L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JACK ANTHROP | 29-3 | 17-0 | 12-3 | 3-0 | 7-3 |
| JJ TRACY | 28-3 | 18-1 | 10-2 | 4-0 | 9-3 |
| ALEXANDER BERNARD | 25-4 | 18-0 | 7-4 | 4-0 | 3-4 |
| ROBERT CASH | 18-3 | 14-1 | 4-2 | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| JUSTIN BOULAIS | 15-4 | 15-4 | 0-0 | 4-1 | 6-4 |
| CANNON KINGSLEY | 12-4 | 12-4 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 6-4 |
The doubles duos of Cash and Tracy, Cash and Bryce Nakashima, Boulais and Andrew Lutschaunig, and Kingsley and Tracy have also helped Ohio State become the top-ranked team in the nation.
| PLAYERS | OVERALL | DUAL | TOUR | BIG TEN | NAT'L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROBERT CASH/JJ TRACY | 11-2 | 4-1 | 7-1 | 1-0 | 5-1 |
| ROBERT CASH/BRYCE NAKASHIMA | 10-2 | 7-1 | 3-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| JUSTIN BOULAIS/ANDREW LUTSCHAUNIG | 10-6 | 10-6 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 3-4 |
| CANNON KINGSLEY/JJ TRACY | 9-4 | 9-4 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 0-1 |
Ohio State has four matches remaining before the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes will host Michigan State on Saturday and Michigan on Sunday. They will then travel to Nebraska (April 19) and Wisconsin (April 21) to end the regular season. The Big Ten Tournament will occur from April 26-28 in Evanston, Illinois.
Assuming Ohio State has its usual success at the conference championship – it has won 14 Big Ten Tournament titles since Tucker took over the program in 2000 – the Buckeyes would be in line to host the NCAA Regional (May 3-5) and NCAA Super Regional (May 10-11) in Columbus. The NCAA Championship will take place in Stillwater, Oklahoma, from May 16-19.
Women’s Gymnastics
Ohio State closed its 2024 season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Regional on Saturday. The Buckeyes totaled 197.2 team points at the event, its second-best mark of the season and a top-10 mark in program history.
Left it all out on the floor #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/JQRCBIHzGP
— Ohio State WGYM (@OhioStateWGYM) April 6, 2024
All-American Ella Hodges stunned in the floor routine, earning a career-high 9.975 in the final routine of her decorated Ohio State career. Tory Vetter also had a career-high performance for the Buckeyes, recording a 9.925 on the floor, and Payton Harris tied her season-best total of 39.600 in the all-around.
Here are all of Ohio State’s individual scores from the event:
- Vault: Harris – 9.875; Vetter - Courtney McCann – 9.850; Kaitlyn Grimes – 9.850; Nicole Riccardi – 9.750; Sidney Washington – 9.750
- Uneven bars: Harris – 9.900; Vetter – 9.850; Alexis Hankins – 9.825; Riccardi – 9.800; Emma Pritchard – 9.800; Washington – 9.800
- Beam: Harris – 9.900; Vetter – 9.900; Hodges – 9.825; Hankins – 9.800; McCann – 9.800; Pritchard – 9.800
- Floor: Hodges – 9.975; Harris – 9.925; Vetter – 9.925; Savannah Gonzalez – 9.875; Riccardi – 9.875; Washington – 9.875
- All-Around: Harris – 39.600; Vetter – 39.575
Ohio State finished with a 6-2 record in 2024. The Buckeyes’ two losses came to national championship contenders LSU and Michigan. Their wins came over Towson, Ball State, Illinois, Maryland, Penn State and Iowa.
Men’s Volleyball
Ohio State ended the 2024 regular season with a 19-8 overall record and an 11-5 mark in MIVA competition. As the No. 3 seed in the MIVA Tournament, the Buckeyes will host sixth-seeded Lewis in the MIVA quarterfinals at the Covelli Center on Saturday. Tickets for the match went on sale Monday.
Tickets are on sale for Ohio State's MIVA Quarterfinal match vs. Lewis Saturday (5 p.m.) at the Covelli Center in Columbus.https://t.co/cyh4qENtvD#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/VuSnALhhX0
— OSU Men's Volleyball (@OhioStateMVB) April 8, 2024
Ohio State defeated Lewis twice in the regular season, with the Buckeyes sweeping the Flyers 3-0 at home and on the road. Should Ohio State advance to the MIVA semifinals, head coach Kevin Burch and his team would face Loyola Chicago. The Buckeyes fell to the Ramblers, 3-2, in both of their regular-season matches.
This season, Jacob Pasteur, Noah Platfoot, Thomas Poole and Cole Young have been among Ohio State’s top contributors. Pasteur leads the team in kills (322), Platfoot in assists (434), Poole in digs (208) and Young in blocks (97). Burch will look for those four Buckeyes to set the pace as Ohio State enters the postseason.
Other Results
- After a 14-8 win over Rutgers on March 30, Ohio State men’s lacrosse lost a heartbreaker, 8-7, to Maryland on Saturday. With the defeat, the Buckeyes fell to 6-6 on the season. They will complete their regular season over the next two weeks by hosting Johns Hopkins on Sunday and Michigan on April 20 at the Ohio State Lacrosse Stadium.
- Following a 4-0 start to the regular season, Ohio State women’s lacrosse has experienced some bumps in the road over the past six weeks and now sits at 7-5 overall with a 1-3 record in Big Ten competition. The Buckeyes fell to Cincinnati on Friday, 13-11, but will look to bounce back on Tuesday against Louisville.
- Two weekends ago, Ohio State baseball had its Opening Day at Bill Davis Stadium. The Buckeyes beat Purdue, 8-2, and eventually won the series two games to one. This past weekend, Ohio State traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face the No. 23-ranked Cornhuskers. The Buckeyes dropped two of three games in the series, winning 9-3 on Sunday before returning to Columbus.
- Like the baseball team, Ohio State softball also had its Opening Day two weekends ago, with the Buckeyes beating Dayton, 6-2, at Buckeye Field. Since that win, Ohio State has dropped five of its last six games, as Northwestern took two of three games from the Buckeyes in Columbus and Minnesota swept them in Minneapolis.
