Purdue Fort Wayne
Ohio State
Men's Volleyball Visits No. 2 Ohio State on Thursday
3/22/2017 12:41:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Fort Wayne men's volleyball team hits the road to face No. 2 Ohio State in St. John Arena on Thursday night (March 23) at 7 p.m.
Gameday Information vs. Ohio State
WHEN: Thursday, March 23 | 7 p.m. EST
WHERE: Columbus, Ohio | St. John Arena (13,276)
LIVE STATS: Ohio State Stats
LIVE VIDEO: BTN2Go
LIVE AUDIO: Fort Wayne Audio
PLAY-BY-PLAY: Mike Maahs
SERIES HISTORY: Ohio State leads 73-37
LAST MEETING: February 4, 2017 | Fort Wayne 0, Ohio State 3 (17-25, 13-25, 21-25) | Fort Wayne, Ind.
Scouting Fort Wayne
Coach: Ryan "Rock" Perrotte | Second Season (15-36)
Kills: 986 | Pelegrin Vargas (232)
Assists: 927 | Michael Keegan (770)
Digs: 704 | Michael Keegan (132)
Blocks: 155.5 | Graydon Schroeder (67)
Aces: 76 | Colton Stone (22)
Attack %: .219 | Michael Keegan (.367)
Fort Wayne enters its second matchup with Ohio State 5-15, 2-8 MIVA. The Mastodons are coming off a five-set loss at Grand Canyon, a match in which Nick Smalter had a career-high 29 kills. Smalter finished with a .451 hitting percentage (29-6-51). Colton Stone also contributed 19 kills for a .300 hitting percentage. The Blue and White had five players with seven or more digs in the second match at Grand Canyon, and the 'Dons had 9.5 team blocks.
Scouting #2 Ohio State
Coach: Pete Hanson
Kills: 1042 | Miles Johnson (302)
Assists: 967 | Christy Blough (788)
Digs: 623 | Gabriel Domecus (158)
Blocks: 191.0 | Blake Leeson (75.0)
Aces: 143 | Nicolas Szerszen (50)
Attack %: .365 | Driss Guessous (.458)
Ohio State comes into its matchup with Fort Wayne as the second ranked team in the country behind Long Beach State. The Buckeyes hold a 21-1 overall record and a perfect 10-0 record in MIVA play. The Buckeyes only loss came by UC Irvine in straight sets in Columbus, Ohio. OSU is on a two-match win streak, with a straight-set win at Loyola and a five-set win at Lewis.
A Grand Outing
In Fort Wayne's second match with Grand Canyon, Nick Smalter had a career-high 29 kills. Smalter tied his previous career-high of 16 in the third set, and continued on to have the most by any MIVA player this season. Smalter finished with a .451 hitting percentage (29-6-51), while also contributing eight digs, four blocks and two service aces. This match also led the way for Smalter to earn MIVA Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
Double Trouble
Michael Keegan had a four-match streak of double-doubles this season, which had not been done since Matt Zbyszewski had four straight in April of 2005. Keegan had 39 assists and 12 digs at No. 7 Lewis, 43 and 10 at Quincy, 45 and 11 at Lindenwood and 48 and 10 at Lourdes. Keegan also had a double-double at Harvard, making his season total five.
MIVA WIN No. 250
With Fort Wayne's 3-2 victory over Quincy on Friday (Feb. 24), the 'Dons reached its 250th program win in MIVA competition. Fort Wayne earned its second MIVA win of the year, its fifth under coach Ryan "Rock" Perrotte.
MIVA Standout
Middle blocker Kyle Fitzgerald has led the Mastodons through MIVA play, recording 24 kills in 52 attempts for a .404 percentage.
Five Set 'Dons
Fort Wayne has gone into five sets on six different occasions this season. The 'Dons took Saint Francis, McKendree, No. 11 Ball State, Quincy, Lindenwood and Grand Canyon to five. Fort Wayne is 2-4 in such matches. Additionally, the 'Dons have pushed three of these fifth sets to extra points (McKendree, Quincy, Lindenwood and Grand Canyon), in which they are 2-2.
Extra Point Sets
The 'Dons have gone into extra points in 16 sets throughout the season, including three sets at Quincy and the final set at Lindenwood in the same weekend (Feb. 24-25). Fort Wayne also had two extra point sets at Grand Canyon, in which they fell 30-28 and 19-17.
Last Time Out
Fort Wayne dropped two road matches at (RV) Grand Canyon, the first in straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-17) and the second in five (18-25, 25-22, 30-28, 21-25, 19-17). Nick Smalter and Michael Keegan had career nights in the second matchup. Smalter finished with 29 kills (previous career-high was 16) while Keegan dished out 64 assists (previous career-high was 52).
Next Time Up
The Mastodons close out their nine-match road stretch with a Saturday match at McKendree (March 25). In their first matchup, Fort Wayne and McKendree went to five sets in Fort Wayne, and the 'Dons took the eventual 19-17 fifth set. Graydon Schroeder hit .810 (17-0-21) on the night to lead Fort Wayne. The 'Dons return home to face Lindenwood on March 31.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
