Freshman outside hitter Miles Johnson (13) hits the ball during a match against Grand Canyon Feb. 21 at St. John Arena. OSU won, 3-1.
Credit: Jonathan McAllister / Lantern photographer
A poor start doomed the Ohio State men’s volleyball team against Harvard.
OSU lost its fourth consecutive match in a 3-2 decision against the Crimson Tuesday.
The loss put the Buckeyes at 8-12 for the season.
OSU was lacking in certain areas, which led to the nail-biting defeat, freshman setter Christy Blough said.
“We need to start our matches stronger. We were not able to get a good start in this match. We were able to come back in the middle, but still lost it in the end,” he said.
The Buckeyes lost the first two sets, but came back with a win in the next two sets. Coach Pete Hanson said the team barely missed its chance to win it in the end set.
“We just couldn’t make the last couple of plays and Harvard did,” Hanson said.
Redshirt-freshman outside hitter Alex Judkins said OSU played physically at the net and its blocking skills were in action tonight, which contributed to the comeback mid-match.
Hanson said the Buckeyes still need to become more consistent.
“We are such a young team. We ride a wave, we are up and down,” he said. “We just have to get our play at a steady pace.”
The Buckeyes were missing one of their top players, redshirt-junior opposite Andrew Lutz. Hanson said getting the starting line-up back on the court could result in a turnaround for the Buckeyes.
Three players contributed double digit kills for the Buckeye offense: redshirt-freshman middle blocker Driss Guessous had 18, freshman outside hitter Miles Johnson added 16, and junior outside hitter Michael Henchy contributed 14 kills.
The Buckeyes still have a lot to work on as a team, but Hanson said time and experience should help.
“Setting the tone earlier is something we need to do a better job of. We need certain guys to step up and take charge at the right time,” he said.
OSU is next set to play Ball State Sunday in Muncie, Ind., at 4 p.m.
