The Buckeyes continue to struggle against top-10 opponents as they dropped their second game against Long Beach State.
The No. 10 men's volleyball team (8-5) was defeated 0-3 (30-27, 30-27, 30-23) by the No. 3 Long Beach State 49ers (12-1) at St. John Arena Saturday.
"That was a strong team on the other side of the net," coach Pete Hanson said. "I think (we) just saw why they are the No. 3 team."
This loss marks the Buckeyes' third against top-ranked competitors this season. After losing a close match to No. 2 Penn State early in the year, the Buckeyes could not knock off the 49ers in two back-and-forth matches Friday and Saturday.
After a disappointing loss in the first and second games Saturday, the Buckeyes fought back in the third only to be overcome by Long Beach State's high-powered offense.
"The first two games could have gone either way," Hanson said. "In the third game, we played well but couldn't pass well towards the end."
While Ohio State's players struggled, they got a chance to see one of the top outside hitters in the nation, Paul Lotman. Lotman dominated the weekend's matches, scoring 57.5 total points. His command Friday gave him a career-high 32 kills. He also had eight blocks and 10 digs for the weekend.
Although the Buckeyes dropped both games, Hanson said he believes it will help them in weeks to come.
"This weekend showed us when we're focused, we can play high-level volleyball and compete with teams like Long Beach State," he said.
The Buckeyes will get the opportunity to show they can compete with top-ranked teams as they travel to face No. 7 California-Irvine this weekend in a two-game set. These games begin an eight-game road trip that will make or break OSU as it plays four top-15 teams, including rival Penn State.
Michael Bestic can be reached at bestic.6@osu.edu.
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