No. 11 MEN'S VOLLEYBALL (18-11) vs. No. 2 Ohio State (28-3) @ 2016 Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship
WHEN: 8 p.m., Tuesday, May 3, 2016
WHERE: Rec Hall, State College, Pa.
SERIES RECORD: Ohio State leads series 28-25
LIVE STATS: GameTracker
LIVE VIDEO: GoPSUSports.com
State College, Pa. – George Mason University's men's volleyball team will continue into its season into May for the first time in a long while on Tuesday, when it faces No. 2 Ohio State in the second play-in match of the 2016 Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship.
Mason is the sixth-seed in the six-team conference, in which it will represent the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, and will face the third-seeded Buckeyes, who triumphed in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.
The Patriots' junior libero Johnny Gomez enters the final week of the season as the nation's leader in digs per set with 3.04 and was named on the 2016 AVCA Honorable Mention list. The Indialantic, Fla. native has accumulated 286 digs over the season, just as many as Erskine's senior Michael Schneck. However, Gomez achieved the feat in two fewer sets to become a key player in Mason's nine-match winning streak and 13 wins in its last 14 matches.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
MIVA champion Ohio State is one of the five teams who has three AVCA All-America players on its roster. Junior outside hitter Nicolas Szerszen and junior opposite hitter Miles Johnson, who led the Buckeyes in kills in January's win over Mason, earned First-Team recognition, while junior setter Christy Blough was named on the Second Team. The Buckeyes' libero, junior Gabriel Domecus, also featured on the Honorable Mention list.
Head Coach Pete Hanson's team had to go through one more obstacle than Mason to win the eight-team MIVA tournament for its first conference title since 2011. On the way to the top, the Buckeyes defeated IPFW in three, McKendree in four, and last year's national runner-up Lewis in five to extend their winning streak to 20 matches and book their ticket to Tuesday's match.
