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Two current members of the soon-to-be dissolved Pacific men’s volleyball team will transfer to Ohio State following the 2014 season.
Ohio State coach Pete Hanson announced during the weekend that Pacific outside attacker Peter Edwards and setter Marco Grasso will join the Buckeyes roster beginning in 2015.
Pacific in an effort to fund the university’s new strategic initiative opted in October to eliminate its men’s volleyball team at the end of the upcoming season. As a result of this decision, current Pacific players are permitted by the NCAA to transfer schools and be immediately eligible.
Edwards as a freshman last year was primary used as a serving specialist and finished the regular season with six aces. The outside attacker also was a AVCA Second-Team High School All-American in 2012 and helped his high school team make back-to-back appearances in the Northern California state finals.
Grasso was Pacific’s back-up setter last season after leading his high school team in Brazil to multiple state championships. In his freshman season with the Tigers, Grasso appeared in 21 matches — including having a season-high 39 assists and 15 digs in a non-conference win against UC Santa Cruz.
“Peter and Marco will bring a great amount of experience and enthusiasm to continue their collegiate volleyball careers,” Hanson said in a statement. “I am very happy and excited that our program is in a position to help Peter and Marco continue their college education and be able to finish their collegiate volleyball careers.”
Grasso and Edwards are the first Pacific players to officially commit to another program since the university’s decision to drop men’s volleyball.
Along with signing two Pacific players, high school senior Aaron Samarin signed national letter of intent to play for the Buckeyes.
Samarin, a 6-foot libero from Clovis, Calif., has been a three-time all-conference selection during his high school career. In addition, the libero has competed with the USA Volleyball High Performance Youth A2 program for the last two seasons.
“Aaron is a great young man who we have watched very closely over the past two years,” Hanson said in a statement. “As we followed his progress it became very apparent that he embraces and thrives in competitive situations and challenges. We feel these are great attributes that will only enhance our program at the libero position.”
Ohio State finished last season in fourth place in the MIVA to end the program’s streak of six consecutive regular season conference championships.