"Test" Irvine Squad Dominates Buckeyes in Scrimmage, Night 1

Ohio State's Drops 3-1 decision to UC Irvine in Exhibition Match
Meske has 17.5 points and Klein, 15 for the Buckeyes
Dan Meske had a match-high 17.5 points in the 3-1 exhibition loss to UC Irvine

Dec. 16, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State men's volleyball team fell, 3-1 (30-24, 30-21, 28-30, 30-23) to UC Irvine Saturday night in St. John Arena in an exhibition match. OSU's Dan Meske (Sr., Willow Springs, Ill.) had a match-high 17.5 points with Robbie Klein (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) adding 15 for the Buckeyes while Cole Reinholm had a team-high 12.5 for UC Irvine with Taylor Wilson adding 11. Meske had a match-high 15 kills, adding an ace serve and three assist blocks. Klein contributed 14 kills and two assist blocks. Reinholm had 11 kills, an ace serve and an assist block for the Anteaters with Wilson adding nine kills an ace serve and two assist blocks.

In game one, Ohio State held an 18-14 lead when UC Irvine went on a nine-one run to take a 23-19 lead. The Anteaters held the lead and at 27-24, two kills by David Smith set game point at 29-24 and a Jayson Jablonsky kill ended the game at 30-24. UC Irvine hit .195 for the game to .138 for Ohio State.
UC Irvine opened game two with a 3-0 lead. The Anteaters expanded the lead to 19-9 before a six-one Ohio State run cut the lead to 20-15. The Buckeye run included a Meske-Layne Dreven (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) block, kills from Meske, Sam Stevens (Sr., Miami, Fla.) and Klein and two UC Irvine errors. At 24-18, two Anteater errors cut the lead to four at 24-20. A four-one Anteater run took the score to 28-21. Two Ohio State errors ended the game at 30-21. UC Irvine hit .320 for the game to .074 for the Buckeyes.

Two UC Irvine errors broke an 8-8 tie to give the Buckeyes a 10-8 lead. Trailing 14-12, UC Irvine tied the game at 14 with a Wilson kill and a Ryan Ammerman solo block. An OSU error gave the Anteaters a 15-14 lead. Tied at 18, A UC Irvine error and a Meske kill put OSU ahead, 20-18. A Klein kill expanded the lead to three at 22-19. At 24-21, three OSU errors and a Wilson kill gave UC Irvine a 25-24 lead. An Anteater error tied the game at 25. Two kills from Klein and a UC Irvine error gave Ohio State a 28-25 lead. A Cole Reinholm kill and a Buckeye error cut the lead to 28-27, OSU. A Klein kill set game point for Ohio State at 29-27. An OSU error stopped the game point at 29-28. Ohio State won the game, 30-28, on an Anteater error to make the UC Irvine match lead, 2-1. Ohio State hit .111 for the game to .000 for UC Irvine.

Tied at four in game four, UC Irvine scored seven straight points to take an 11-4 lead. Ohio State responded with a six-point run including two kills from Dreven and Meske, one from Klein and an Anteater error. An OSU error and a Brandon Mel ace serve took the lead to 13-10, UC Irvine. The Anteaters opened a five-point lead, 17-12, with a five-one run including two kills from Reinholm, one from Brett Kohout and an OSU error. With UC Irvine leading 17-11, a Buckeye error and a Wilson ace serve set match point at 29-22. A Klein kill stopped the match point at 29-23. A Buckeye error ended the match with a 30-23 game win and a 3-1 match victory for the Anteaters. UC Irvine hit .333 for the game to .308 for Ohio State.

For the match, UC Irvine hit .191 to .153 for Ohio State. The Anteaters had a 57-42 advantage in kills and a five-to-three margin in ace serves. Ohio State gave up 25 service errors to 22 for UC Irvine. Defensively, the Anteaters had a 47-46 edge in digs with OSU's Conor Martin (Jr., Avon Lake, Ohio) recording a match-high 18. Anteater Brent Asuka had a team-high nine. At the net, Ohio State had a 13.5-to-10.5 advantage in team blocks. OSU's Dreven had a match-high seven assist blocks. Ohio State's Daniel Mathews (Jr., Shorewood, Wis.) had a match-high 38 assists while Brian Thornton had 27 and Ammerman, 25 for UC Irvine.
The squads return Sunday at 8 p.m. to play a second exhibition match in St. John Arena.