In a battle between teams searching for their NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship title, third-seeded Ohio State University (26-6) used Shawn Sangrey’s 30 kills to defeat fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (18-15) 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9 Saturday night in the championship match played on the campus of Penn State University at
University Park, Pa.
Ohio State won its first NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship after finishing runner-up in 1977 and 2000 in its only other championship match appearances. UC Santa Barbara, which is 5-0 in NCAA semifinal matches, has now lost each of its five championship match appearances.
UCSB scored the final four points of the opening set to win 25-20 while taking advantage of nine Buckeye service errors in the set. Ohio State rallied from a 16-13 deficit in the second set to win 25-20 after winning the final four points of the set. Ohio State recovered from an early 4-1 deficit in the third set and took charge after assuming the lead at 6-5 en route to a 25-19 victory. UCSB picked up a 13-8 advantage midway through the fourth set, but needed to break a 17-all tie to win the set 25-22. After the teams traded the first 13 points of the fifth set, Ohio State grabbed an 8-6 lead and rolled to a 15-9 victory to collect its first championship trophy.
Ohio State reached the title match by defeating host Penn State University in four sets on Thursday. UCSB was attempting to become just the second team to win the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship with double-digit losses during the season (UCLA won the NCAA title in 2006 with a 26-12 record, and the event also was held at Penn State). UCSB won the MPSF playoffs with a five-set win over top-ranked University of Southern California, then topped USC again six days later in the NCAA semifinals to reach the NCAA title match.
Ohio State also won its first match against UCSB in program history after losing the first seven meetings.
Sangrey scored his 30 kills on 54 attacks as part of a .389 attack efficiency. He added five block assists and seven digs in the victory. John Klanac added 15 kills, five block assists, an ace and six digs. Grayson Overman contributed 12 kills on 15 errorless attacks for an .800 hitting efficiency. He added four block assists and an ace. Kevin Heine collected a match-high 10 blocks to go with six kills. Steven Kehoe set the Buckeyes to a .329 team attack efficiency while adding nine digs, two block assists and a kill. Mik Berzins totaled 10 digs on defense.
Cullen Irons led the Gauchos with 16 kills, two block assists and seven digs. Jeff Menzel added 12 kills, seven block assists, 10 digs and an ace in a double-double performance. Scott Slaughter tallied eight kills on 12 attacks to go with seven block assists. Trey Valbuena added five kills, while Dylan Davis totaled four kills and six block assists. Vince Devany set UCSB to a .198 team hitting efficiency with 41 assists to go with four blocks.
Ohio State won the match despite having 26 service errors to UCSB’s six. The Buckeyes’ offense held a 74-45 advantage in kills, along with slim margins in blocks (16.5-14), digs (40-38) and aces (3-2).
UCSB broke a 12-all tie with an Ohio State service error and consecutive Gaucho blocks to take a 15-12 advantage into the media timeout. However, the Buckeyes scored consecutive kills by Tobkin out of the break to narrow the gap to 15-14. Ohio State knotted the score at 17-all after a Gaucho attack error. UCSB responded with kills from Davis and Slaughter to gain a 19-17 advantage going into an Ohio State timeout. Menzel increased the Gaucho lead to three points with a back-row kill at 21-18. Ohio State responded with a Klanac kill and a block from Overman and Tobkin to cut the deficit to one at 21-20. However, the Gauchos scored the final four points of the set, including kills from Valbuena, Slaughter and Menzel, to win 25-20. Slaughter was 4-for-4 on kill attempts in the opening set.
Ohio State earned the first two-point cushion of the second set with a block from Overman and Klanac to cap a three-point scoring run at 3-1. UCSB tied the set at 9-all with a Davis kill and Ohio State attack error, then went in front 10-9 on a Valbuena kill. The Gauchos used three unanswered points with an Irons kill followed by Slaughter combining for blocks with Valbuena and Irons on consecutive plays to take a 13-10 advantage into a Buckeye timeout. Ohio State closed to within one at 16-15 with a triple block after a Gaucho error. Out of a UCSB timeout, Sangrey slammed a kill to tie the set at 16-all. Sangrey gave the Buckeyes a 20-19 advantage with a kill, and Klanac increased Buckeye advantage to 21-19 with an ace. Ohio State increased its margin to four points with a Heine kill and block assist with Kehoe at 24-20. On its first set point opportunity, Heine and Tobkin combined for a block to win 25-20. Ohio State finished the second set with six blocks, while Sangrey totaled six kills.
UCSB took a 4-1 lead in the third set with three straight Ohio State attack errors followed by a Menzel ace forcing a Buckeye timeout. Ohio State roared back to tie the set at 4-all with consecutive kills from Klanac, Sangrey and Overman, then took the lead with an Overman kill at 5-4. Sangrey and Overman connected for consecutive kills to extend the Buckeye lead to 7-5. Ohio State increased its advantage to 10-7 following a UCSB attack error, then to 13-9 with another errant Gaucho attack. Anthony Hock served a Buckeye ace to lift Ohio State to a 15-10 advantage. UCSB called a timeout down 17-11 after a Sangrey kill on a free ball. Overman pocketed an ace at 20-13. UCSB closed the gap to 21-17 with a Menzel kill and consecutive Irons kill. However, Ohio State answered with a Sangrey kill and UCSB attack error to push back in front 23-17. Heine ended the set with a kill at 25-19.
UCSB scored the first two points of the fourth set after consecutive Ohio State errors. The Gaucho lead increased to 7-4 with a Menzel block. Ohio State called a timeout down 11-7 after a service error. A Slaughter kill and block from Menzel and Slaughter pushed the Gauchos in front 13-8. Klanac and Sangrey tallied consecutive kills followed by a UCSB attack error to move the Buckeyes back to within two at 13-11. Tobkin and Heine scored consecutive kills to close the gap to a single point at 14-13. Ohio State tied the score at 17-all with consecutive kills from Sangrey and Overman. UCSB immediately regained a two-point cushion at 19-17 with an Irons kill and Buckeye attack error. Out of an Ohio State timeout, the Gauchos put up a block by Devany and Slaughter to take a 20-17 advantage. Todd Travis served an ace to give UCSB a 23-19 advantage, only to have Tobkin and Sangrey collect kills to return to within two at 23-21. Menzel scored the final point with a kill at 25-22. The Gauchos won the set despite having just nine kills to the Buckeyes’ 17.
Ohio State gained the first two-point cushion of the fifth-set tiebreaker at 8-6 with a block from Klanac and Overman after the teams traded the first 13 points. Ohio State added to its lead with a Menzel attack error at 12-9 leading to a Gaucho timeout. Out of the break, Sangrey connected for another kill at 13-9 leading to another timeout by UCSB. Sangrey tallied another kill out of the timeout to yield match point, then Kehoe, Heine and Tobkin combined for a triple block to win the match at 15-9.
B.J. Hoeptner – Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Photos: USA Volleyball/John Kessel