UCLA men’s volleyball to face Ohio State in NCAA semifinal
UCLA men’s volleyball’s balanced offense will stand in contrast Thursday to Ohio State’s two-pronged attack. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Grant Sugimura
May 5, 2016 2:00 a.m.
This post was updated at 5:01 p.m. Thursday, May 5.
The stage is set.
The No. 2 seed UCLA men’s volleyball team (25-6, 17-5 MPSF) will take on No. 3 seed Ohio State (29-3, 15-1 Big 10) in the second round of the NCAA playoffs Thursday at Penn State.
UCLA, along with top-seeded BYU, had a first-round bye as Ohio State defeated No. 6 seed George Mason and No. 4 seed Long Beach State beat No. 5 seed Erskine.
Because these two teams hail from different conferences, they have only met once this season. In that meeting, the Bruins downed the Buckeyes in four sets.
That was early in the season. Ohio State has lost only one other match – and won 28 – since then. Even that one loss came nearly 100 days ago on Feb. 6. All in all, Ohio State’s 29 wins are its most in a single season since its 1982 squad hit a 30-8 mark.
Unlike the ever-balanced Bruins, the Buckeyes only have two major contributors on offense, sophomore outside hitter Nicolas Szerszen and junior opposite Miles Johnson. Szerszen is the 2016 American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year, leading the Buckeyes with 491 kills.
In the first round against George Mason, Szerszen led his team, single-handedly, with 20 kills, 16 digs and four service aces. Johnson is not very close in kills but is still up there with 402 of his own this season.
UCLA has been much more even this year, spreading its kills throughout the team. Its sophomore outside hitter Jake Arnitz leads the way with 340.
This won’t only be a matchup between two powerful offenses – serving will play a huge role as well. Both the Bruins and the Buckeyes are known for being serious serving teams. UCLA enters the contest with a 0.806 serving percentage and 209 service aces.
The Bruins’ big hitter comes in the form of freshman setter/hitter Micah Ma’a, who has posted 57 service aces this season, averaging 0.49 per set – good for fifth in the nation.
On the Ohio State side, the Buckeyes have hit 211 service aces on a 0.822 percentage this season. Szerszen actually edges out Ma’a with 0.50 service aces per set off of 55 total aces.
In terms of playoff success, these two volleyball powerhouses have been experiencing a championship drought recently. The last time the Buckeyes advanced to the NCAA final was in 2011, and that year they took home the championship. In slight contrast, the last time UCLA made it to the NCAA final was in 2006 – the Bruins won the national championship that year.
The winner will move on to the final to face BYU, which defeated Long Beach State in four sets Thursday evening.
