Projected preseason top 10 national rankings: No. 8 Ohio State

Ohio State is projected by Off the Block to be No. 8 in the preseason national rankings.

Off the Block throughout December will reveal its projected men’s volleyball preseason top 10 national rankings and will profile a top-10 team each day. The Off the Block projected preseason rankings were created independently of the AVCA Coaches Poll and the Volleyball Magazine Top 10 Media Poll.

The college men’s volleyball season begins on Jan. 3 and concludes with the Final Four in May.
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Ohio State’s Hanson named 2011 AVCA National Coach of the Year

Add another national award for Ohio State this season.

Ohio State coach Pete Hanson was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Men’s National Coach of the Year on Wednesday after leading the Buckeyes to their first NCAA championship in program history.

Ohio State defeated UC Santa Barbara in the NCAA championship match to become the first MIVA team to legally win a national title since volleyball became an NCAA sanctioned sport in 1970. The 28-year head coach also guided the Buckeyes to their fourth consecutive conference championship — the first time a program has won four consecutive MIVA titles since Ball State in the 1960s.
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NCAA championship postmatch news conference: Ohio State vs. UC Santa Barbara

Ohio State for the first time in its 43-year program history is the national champion.

Ohio State defeated UC Santa Barbara 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9 in the men’s volleyball NCAA championship match on Saturday in University Park, Pa., to become the first Midwest school to win the national title.

Buckeye setter Steven Kehoe was named the NCAA Tournament MVP as he guided the offense to out-hit the Gauchos .329 to .198. In addition, four Ohio State players finished the match with at least 10 kills, including outside attacker Shawn Sangrey who had a match-high 30 kills.

Check out the what the players and coaches had to say afterward in the postmatch news conference.
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Postmatch news conference: Penn State vs. Ohio State

For the first time in 11 years, the Buckeyes are back in the national championship match.

The No. 3 seed Ohio State upset the No. 2 seed Penn State in four games in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on Thursday in University Park, Pa., to advance to the title match on Saturday.

The Buckeyes had four players with at least 10 kills as it out-hit the Nittany Lions .292 to .140. Ohio State outside attacker John Klanac finished the match a with a team-high 16 kills, while outside attacker Shawn Sangrey had 15 kills in the victory.
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Q&A with Ohio State at the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament

Ohio State men’s volleyball coach Pete Hanson, along with setter Steven Kehoe and middle attacker Kevin Heine held a news conference Wednesday to discuss its upcoming NCAA Tournament match.

The No. 3 seed Ohio State will play the No. 2 seed Penn State in the NCAA Tournament semifinals at 9 p.m. Thursday in University Park, Pa.

The Buckeyes (24-6, 11-1 MIVA) reached their four consecutive NCAA Tournament after winning the MIVA championship, but have failed advance beyond the semifinals during that stretch.

View an abridged version of the news conference below. Continue reading “Q&A with Ohio State at the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament”

Q&A with Ohio State coach Pete Hanson

There is a legitimate national championship contender at Ohio State, besides the teams on the football field and basketball court.

After losing its first two matches of the season, the No. 5 Ohio State men’s volleyball team (9-2, 3-0 MIVA) has won its last nine matches, including victories against No. 8 UC Irvine, No. 9 Penn State and Cal State Northridge in the last two weeks. In addition, the Buckeyes are in first place in the MIVA and received a first-place vote in both the coaches and media polls this week.

Off the Block conducted an interview earlier this week with Ohio State coach Pete Hanson to discuss his team’s recent success and the possibility of this being a national championship team.
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