Volleyball NATIONAL COLLEGIATE MEN’S 2011 Championship Highlights Ohio State captures fi rst national title; Buckeyes knock off UC Santa Barbara in fi ve sets to win 2011 championship: Add another title to Ohio State’s championship resume. Shawn Sangrey had a game-high 30 kills and the Buckeyes rallied to beat UC Santa Barbara 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 15-9 on May 7 to win their fi rst NCAA men’s volleyball crown. It’s just the third time a team outside of the West has claimed the title. Penn State won in 1994 and 2008. The Gauchos (18-15) trailed 2-1 but took the fourth set in part to stellar play at the net by fi ery leader Jeff Menzel. He fi nished with 12 kills, and Cullen Irons had 16. But Ohio State (26-6) closed the match with a 5-0 run, capped by a block on Menzel that started the Buckeyes’ party in Happy Valley. UC Santa Barbara had put together a surprising postseason run that included back-to-back wins against top-ranked Southern California. The Gauchos had said all week they play their best when faced with elimination, and they came close to proving it again. The Buckeyes were pushed to the limit and responded in the fi nal set. Sangrey’s powerful right arm overwhelmed the Gauchos, and setter Steven Kehoe deftly set up the off ense with 65 assists. Kehoe won the tournament Most Outstanding Player award. The Buckeyes celebrated by singing the Ohio State alma mater in front of more than four dozen red-clad fans, rocking back and forth in unison while wearing their new black championship hats. It was an odd sight in Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State, a fi erce Big Ten football rival. After Ohio State’s mistake-fi lled fi rst set featuring nine service errors, the Buckeyes regrouped in an entertaining second set highlighted by terrifi c defense and long rallies. They pulled away with a 12-4 run that included four kills from Sangrey. Lewis, a Division II school in Romeoville, Ill., won the 2003 title, but that was later vacated for using ineligible players. SEMIFINALS MAY 5 AT UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. UC Santa Barbara 3, Southern California 1 UC Santa Barbara No. Name SP K E TA PCT A SA SE RE DIG BS BA BE BHE 1 Jeff Menzel ............................... 4 13 10 42 .071 2 1 2 0 6 0 2 0 0 3 Trey Valbuena ......................... 4 8 0 10 .800 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 8 Vince Devany .......................... 4 0 0 2 .000 45 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 12 Cullen Irons .............................. 4 15 2 25 .520 1 1 0 0 6 1 5 0 0 13 Dylan Davis .............................. 4 15 0 17 .882 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 19 Scott Slaughter ....................... 4 7 4 12 .250 0 0 0 0 3 0 5 0 0 11 Todd Travis ............................... 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 Andy McGuire ......................... 4 1 0 1 1.000 4 0 0 2 11 0 0 0 0 22 Blaine Nielsen ......................... 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals ........................................... 4 59 16 109 .394 53 2 7 2 34 1 14 0 0 TEAM ATTACK PER SET TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0 Set K E TA Pct. 1 17 5 36 .333 SET SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS 2 15 4 28 .393 UC Santa Barbara 29 24 25 25 18-14 3 12 4 21 .381 Southern California 27 26 15 18 23-4 4 15 3 24 .500 Southern California No. Name SP K E TA PCT A SA SE RE DIG BS BA BE BHE 10 Riley McKibbin ........................ 4 0 0 2 .000 59 0 2 0 5 0 2 0 1 11 Murphy Troy ............................ 4 18 6 33 .364 0 1 8 0 6 0 7 0 1 14 Tony Ciarelli .............................. 4 10 6 27 .148 0 1 3 2 2 0 0 1 0 16 Austin Zahn ............................. 4 5 1 8 .500 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 17 Tri Bourne ................................. 4 20 5 35 .429 1 0 1 0 4 0 4 1 0 18 Steven Shandrick................... 4 8 1 14 .500 1 0 1 0 2 0 8 0 0 3 Brad Keenan ............................ 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 Jeff Carlson ............................... 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Henry Cassiday ....................... 4 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 7 Maddison McKibbin ............. 1 0 1 3 -.333 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals ........................................... 4 61 20 123 .333 61 2 20 2 29 1 23 2 2 TEAM ATTACK PER SET TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5 Set K E TA Pct. 1 19 4 39 .385 2 20 4 32 .500 3 11 7 26 .154 4 11 5 26 .231 2 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE MEN’S VOLLEYBALL—CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS Ohio St. 3, Penn St. 1 Ohio St. No. Name SP K E TA PCT A SA SE RE DIG BS BA BE BHE 1 Steven Kehoe .......................... 4 0 1 1 -1.000 51 1 4 0 6 1 4 0 0 2 Kevin Heine .............................. 4 11 3 17 .471 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 5 Grayson Overman ................. 4 2 1 8 .125 0 0 2 0 0 0 7 0 0 6 Shawn Sangrey ...................... 4 15 8 34 .206 0 0 3 1 7 0 6 0 0 8 John Klanac.............................. 4 16 5 33 .333 0 1 6 0 6 0 3 1 0 12 Jason Tobkin ............................ 4 11 4 20 .350 0 0 2 1 5 0 2 0 0 3 Anthony Hock ......................... 4 0 0 0 .000 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 15 Mik Berzins ............................... 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 1 9 0 0 0 0 20 Derek Kues ............................... 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals ........................................... 4 55 22 113 .292 53 3 19 3 36 1 27 2 0 TEAM ATTACK PER SET TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.5 Set K E TA Pct. 1 10 3 20 .350 SET SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS 2 16 12 34 .118 Ohio St. 25 24 25 25 25-6 3 14 5 27 .333 Penn St. 18 26 22 23 24-7 4 15 2 32 .406 Penn St. No. Name SP K E TA PCT A SA SE RE DIG BS BA BE BHE 7 Edgardo Goas ......................... 4 3 2 6 .167 39 1 3 0 2 0 2 1 1 8 Alan Mars .................................. 4 1 1 6 .000 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 10 Nick Turko ................................. 4 7 0 16 .438 0 0 3 0 0 2 2 1 0 13 Tom Comfort ........................... 4 6 3 26 .115 1 0 0 0 9 0 2 0 0 14 Ryan Wolf .................................. 3 2 5 17 -.176 0 0 2 1 4 0 2 0 0 17 Joe Sunder ............................... 4 18 12 37 .162 0 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 1 6 Dennis Del Valle ..................... 4 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 2 10 0 0 0 0 11 Jace Olsen ................................. 4 5 3 9 .222 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 12 Ian Hendries ............................ 3 1 1 2 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 15 Scott Kegerreis ....................... 2 1 0 2 .500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals ........................................... 4 44 27 121 .140 41 3 12 3 30 2 16 2 2 TEAM ATTACK PER SET TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0 Set K E TA Pct. 1 7 11 31 -.129 2 11 4 27 .259 3 10 6 27 .148 4 16 6 36 .278 CHAMPIONSHIP MAY 7 AT UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. Ohio St. 3, UC Santa Barbara 2 UC Santa Barbara No. Name SP K E TA PCT A SA SE RE DIG BS BA BE BHE 1 Jeff Menzel ............................... 5 12 11 40 .025 0 1 3 0 10 0 7 0 1 3 Trey Valbuena ......................... 5 5 2 8 .375 0 0 0 2 4 0 1 0 0 8 Vince Devany .......................... 5 0 1 1 -1.000 41 0 1 0 4 1 3 0 0 12 Cullen Irons .............................. 5 16 6 38 .263 1 0 1 0 7 0 2 0 0 13 Dylan Davis .............................. 5 4 2 12 .167 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 2 0 19 Scott Slaughter ....................... 5 8 1 12 .583 0 0 1 0 1 0 7 0 0 11 Todd Travis ............................... 2 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 Andy McGuire ......................... 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 1 10 0 0 0 0 Totals ........................................... 5 45 23 111 .198 42 2 6 3 38 1 26 2 1 TEAM ATTACK PER SET TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0 Set K E TA Pct. 1 11 4 22 .318 SET SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS 2 11 8 30 .100 UC Santa Barbara 25 20 19 25 9 18-15 3 10 5 24 .208 Ohio St.