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COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the second-straight year, BYU found itself facing Ohio State in the championship match of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Tournament.
This time, however, the Buckeyes were the top-ranked team in the nation.
And boy, did they play like it.
Nicolas Szerszen recorded a match-high 16 kills, eight digs and a block, and the top-ranked Ohio State men’s volleyball team swept BYU 25-19, 25-20, 25-22 to clinch its second-straight NCAA national championship Saturday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
“We thought we learned from last year,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead told reporters after the match. “We thought we could win. But here we are, and it’s an amazing accomplishment to be in the final of the NCAA Tournament.”
Jake Langlois led BYU with eight kills and three blocks, and Brenden Sander had seven kills, three digs and three blocks for the Cougars (26-5). Ben Patch supplied six kills, four digs and three aces off the bench for BYU.
Leo Durkin dished out 24 assists for the Cougars, who hit just .243 even after hitting .455 in the decisive third set.
Maxime Hervoire supplied 10 kills, four digs and four blocks for Ohio State (32-2), which also swept BYU in the 2016 national finals held at Penn State. Christy Blough dished out 35 assists for the Buckeyes.
“I felt like we allowed them to go on some runs, and we can’t do that. At the end, we just had no rhythm,” Olmstead said.
“I felt really good after that first set. I felt like we were still in that match. It doesn’t make any sense, but I did.”
The Buckeyes held BYU to just .240 hitting in the second set en route to a 2-0 lead after the break. Ben Patch came off the bench to bury a pair of aces and pace a 5-0 run to pull within 21-18 in the second slate.
But Ohio State ended the set on a 4-2 run to take the second set, using a suffocating defense that forced the Cougars into 14 errors on 48 swings for the early advantage.
Olmstead switched up his lineup in the third set, inserting Patch with the starters. The junior from Provo High had three kills on four swings off the bench in the first two sets, but also had three aces and two digs to stabilize a team that appeared rattled in the opening sets.
“I wasn’t surprised at all. They’ve got a great team,” Ohio State coach Pete Hanson said when asked if he expected Patch to start. “We game planned for (Tim) Dobbert, but we felt like at any moment, Ben could be called on. He got on it in set 2, closed the gap and hit some balls that we can’t touch.”
The decision worked early, when Patch stuffed a shot to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead — their largest winning margin of the match.
“We felt like we needed a spark, and Ben brought that,” Olmstead said of Patch, who announced earlier this season he would forgo his senior year to play professionally overseas. “His overall approach to the game plan was great. That approach is part of the decision, but Ben did a great job. He served really well, he attacked at a high level, and that’s what we needed him to do."
But Szerszsen, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, pulled Ohio State back to give the Buckeyes a 14-12 lead midway through the set, and Miles Johnson dropped an ace for the home team’s 22-18 advantage.
BYU cut the deficit as close as 23-21 on Sander’s kill. But the Cougars could get no closer, and the Buckeyes closed out the sweep with Szerszen’s 16th kill of the match in front of a raucous home crowd of 8,205 in attendance welcoming a top-rated team at a school known for football and basketball, but a relative newcomer to the college volleyball world.
“It’s great for volleyball,” Olmstead said of Ohio State as hosts. “We’d rather play at a packed arena, in an exciting venue and an exciting championship. It’s great for volleyball, and they did a great job. I told them before the match, it’s been great to be a part of this.”
