Ohio State stuns BYU for NCAA men’s title - Articles

Five years to the day, with their 23rd victory in a row, the Ohio State Buckeyes crushed BYU in a three-set sweep (32-30, 25-23, 25-17) at Penn State’s Rec Hall to win the NCAA title. The Buckeyes (31-3) certainly had to grind through the first set, but then overpowered the top-ranked Cougars (27-4), giving the MIVA its third consecutive National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship. The last two were won by Loyola, but the Ramblers were never this dominate. “Our kids executed our game plan to perfection, played with confidence, played with poise, played with passion and that’s what we talked about beforehand in the locker room,” 32nd-year Ohio State coach Pete Hanson said. “When you can have those things come together. The support we had from Buckeye Nation was unbelievable, I felt like it was a home match and that was a great thing for us. The kids just played flawlessly and I’m so proud of them. They earned every point and they earned a national championship tonight.” Miles Johnson, who had 15 kills and two aces, was named the tournament’s most valuable player. His team opened play Tuesday by beating EIVA-champion George Mason in a play-in match and then second-seeded UCLA in the semifinals. Any time you can go back-to-back over the MPSF’s top teams you’ve earned it. BYU certainly had chances, especially with seven opportunities to close out the first set. “it’s definitely stressful anytime you have to fight off game point seven times, it was a bit much to handle,” Johnson said. “Everyone...

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