After losing five of its last six games, the Ohio State men's volleyball team (9-6) rallied this weekend to come from behind and get its first win against a top-10 team.
The visiting Buckeyes defeated No. 6 University of California, Irvine 3-2 on Saturday.
After getting crushed Friday by UC-Irvine (10-10) in a 3-0 loss, the No. 10 Buckeyes desperately needed a victory.
"We didn't play very good on Friday," coach Pete Hanson said. "In the locker room, we challenged each other and said we need to play better."
The next day, OSU came out fired up and won the first game 30-25. Its momentum would not hold though, as UC-Irvine won the next two games, 23-30 and 18-30, putting the Buckeyes down two games to one.
OSU rallied and won the next game 30-24 to force a final set.
After a back-and-forth final game, OSU came out on top with a score of 15-13 and a win against one of the toughest teams in the nation.
Throughout the match, freshmen Jason Tobkin and Kevin Heine were consistent.
Heine, who has replaced the injured junior John Albertson, proved Saturday he can hold his own, scoring 10 points on five kills and 10 blocks.
"Heine is playing really well under the circumstances," Hanson said. "We feel really good about what he's doing for us."
Tobkin has also been playing well recently and it was capped by his performance Saturday, scoring 17 points on eight blocks and 13 kills.
"I think Saturday, Tobkin had the best game of his career," Hanson said.
With the Buckeyes playing well as a team and the underclassmen playing to their potential, they look to carry the momentum from Saturday into their next two away games against Mercyhurst (3-11) Thursday and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (8-6) Saturday.
Michael Bestic can be reached at bestic.6@osu.edu.
Spring Break
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