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Opposite Miles Johnson and outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen had the same dominant offensive performance they have delivered throughout No. 1/1 Ohio State’s winning steak.
This time, though, the two All-Americans’ effort made the winning streak historic.
Johnson and Szerszen both had double-digit kills and hit more than .500 as Ohio State swept No. 12 Ball State 29-27, 25-19, 25-22 on Thursday in Muncie, Indiana, to extend its winning streak to a program record 33 matches.
This winning streak that started last season and includes an NCAA championship surpassed Ohio State’s previous record set in 1969-70. Ohio State (10-0, 1-0 MIVA) pulled off the record-setting victory on the road with a season-high 3,178 people in attendance at Ball State’s Worthen Arena.
Johnson led all players with 19 kills, including having a game-high 11 kills in the opening-game overtime win. He also finished with a season-high .621 attack percentage and committed one attack error throughout the match.
Szerszen had 13 kills on a .526 attack percentage. The 2016 AVCA National Player of the Year added both a match-high seven digs and five aces.
The Buckeyes ended their conference opener with nine aces — eight more than the Cardinals (8-2, 0-1 MIVA). In addition, Ohio State had an ace as part of a 7-3 run to overcome a 19-14 deficit in the first game and an ace in the overtime.
Despite Ball State entering the match leading the nation in opponent attack percentage, the Buckeyes out-hit the Cardinals .429 to .314.
Ohio State had more than a .400 attack percentage in two of the three games, including hitting a match-high .565 and having one attack error in the third game.
Freshman outside attacker Matt Szews in the loss led Ball State with a 14 kills. Opposite Brendan Surane also had 11 kills on a .474 attack percentage, while middle attacker Matt Walsh had nine kills and hit .500.
Check out the video highlights of the conference match filmed by Off the Block.