Although the No. 13 Ohio State men’s volleyball team was facing Grand Canyon for the first time as conference opponents, OSU by no means felt obligated to be gracious hosts with their play on the floor.
The Buckeyes (3-4, 3-0) welcomed the Antelopes (1-8, 0-3) to MIVA play with 3-0 sweeps in both matches Friday and Saturday night at St. John Arena.
They were completely dominant in play, winning all three games, 30-23, 30-16 and 30-22.
OSU controlled the tempo from the first point, trailing Grand Canyon only once the entire match.
Grand Canyon took several timeouts to help slow down the Buckeyes’ momentum, but was unsuccessful in slowing down the powerful OSU squad.
For the match, sophomore Shawn Sangrey led OSU with a team-high 15 points and 12 kills. Freshman Grayson Overman and junior John Klanac also contributed 10 points with eight kills and 10.5 points with 10 kills respectively.
OSU out-hit Grand Canyon .422 to .103, while also holding a 43-35 advantage in kills and 42-34 in assists.
Saturday’s match between the two squads proved to be no different as OSU completed its two-match set with Grand Canyon with another 3-0 win (30-24, 30-22, 30-23).
The Antelopes showed a much better effort in this match but could not overcome 24 team errors as the Buckeyes were able to capitalize.
After controlling the first two games with relative ease, OSU dealt with a determined Grand Canyon squad in the third game. The game featured seven ties along with back-and-forth play until the Buckeyes were able to put away the Antelopes and complete the sweep.
The Buckeyes were led by John Klanac, who posted a team- and career-high 18 kills. Senior Ted Schoenfeldt had 10.5 points and 10 kills and Overman posted nine points with eight kills.
OSU out-performed Grand Canyon in hit percentage .376 to .298 and kills 48-38 for the second night in a row.
The Buckeyes continue play this week against George Mason on Thursday and Juniata on Sunday.
