UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — National player of the year Nicolas Szerszen served an ace on the deciding point, sending the Ohio State men’s volleyball past UCLA on Thursday night and into Saturday’s NCAA championship game.
The Buckeyes (30-2) defeated the Bruins 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 18-16 in a national semifinal. Brenden Sander had 14 kills as top-ranked BYU beat Long Beach State 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18 in the other semifinal.
Miles Johnson led the Buckeyes with 20 kills and Szerszen added 15 in a back-and-forth match. UCLA (25-7) had match point, up 16-15 in the fifth set, but kills by Johnson and Christian Franceschi put the Buckeyes up by one.