No. 11 MASON (2-0, 0-0 EIVA) at No. 1 Ohio State (2-0, 0-0 MIVA)
WHEN: 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017
WHERE: St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
SERIES RECORD: Ohio State leads series 30-25
LIVE STATS: GameTracker
LIVE VIDEO: BTN2Go ($)
COLUMBUS, Ohio
– George Mason University's men's volleyball team will play its third match in five days on Tuesday, when the Patriots face defending national champion Ohio State in their biggest challenge yet this season.
Over the weekend, No. 11 Mason opened its campaign with sweep victories against Belmont Abbey and Limestone, respectively. The Patriots had to work hard for the second one, however, as they had to cancel four set points by the Saints in the second set before big back-to-back plays by redshirt senior opposite hitter
Jack Wilson finally settled the points for Mason in extra points.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Ohio State, the highest-ranked team in the nation, also had a successful weekend as it beat both USC and No. 2 UCLA in four sets to be the only team that went 2-0 in the AVCA Showcase, which the Buckeyes hosted. The triumph over the Bruins, which was attended by 1,430 people, was Ohio State's 25th consecutive NCAA win.
In their opening weekend, the Buckeyes were led offensively by senior opposite hitter Miles Johnson (27 kills, .246 hitting) and French junior outside hitter duo Maxime Hervoir (15 kills) and Nicolas Szerszen (28 kills, .340 hitting), who was named 2016 AVCA Division I-II Men's National Player of the Year last season. Starting setter Christy Blough, another senior in head coach Pete Hansen's lineup, picked up 76 assists in his last opening weekend as a Buckeye.
Blough and Hervoir made huge defensive impact as well and accumulated team-high 12 kills each, while Szerszen (11 digs) and senior libero Gabriel Domecus (10 digs) are also in double digits two matches into the season. Ohio State accumulated 21 team blocks during the AVCA Showcase Johnson (8 blocks) and redshirt senior middle blocker Driss Guessous had the highest contribution to the impressive feat with eight blocks apiece.
