Playing in a nationally televised match, No. 14 Ohio State University delivered a statement to anyone watching from the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.
Ohio State defeated No. 6 Penn State University 30-25, 20-30, 30-27, 30-23 Sunday to end the Nittany Lions' 54-match regular-season home winning streak that had stretched more than four years.
Despite being out-hit .314 to .283 in the victory, the Buckeyes had three players with at least 15 kills — including outside attacker Shawn Sangrey, who had a match-high 19 kills. In addition, outside attacker John Klanac, a preseason All-MIVA selection, had 16 kills.
All-American middle attacker Max Lipsitz led Penn State (15-4, 7-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) with 15 kills.
Ohio State (13-7, 6-1 MIVA) finished the match with nine aces, seven more than Penn State. Outside attacker Jason Tobkin was the only Buckeye to have multiple aces with a match-high four aces.
The Nittany Lions entered the match 30-5 against the MIVA in the last four seasons, with their last loss coming against the Buckeyes in April 2007. The last Penn State regular season home loss was against Ball State University in January 2006.
With Ohio State and Penn State being members of Big Ten in other sports, Sunday's match was televised live on the Big Ten Network. It is the only live, nationally-televised match a MIVA team will play in during the regular season.
Ohio State remains 0.5 matches behind first-place No. 12 Loyola University (13-3, 6-0 MIVA) in the MIVA.
Ball State (12-7, 4-4 MIVA) is in fourth place and will play Ohio State and Penn State one more time this season after being swept by both teams earlier this year.
The Cardinals will play the Nittany Lions on April 1 at Worthen Arena and will travel to play the Buckeyes April 16 in Columbus, Ohio, in the final week of the regular season.
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