#13 Buckeye volleyball sweeps #8 Ball State at Covelli Center
Thursday, February 19, 2026
By Kevin Rouch
krouch@cbussports.com
Ohio State’s Stanislaw Chacinski (right) had 10 kills in the Buckeyes’ 3-0 win over Ball State at the Covelli Center Thursday. Photo: Kevin Rouch
The #13-ranked Ohio State men’s volleyball team (8-4, 3-1 MIVA) suffered its first conference loss of the season, a 3-2 heartbreaker at Queens University of Charlotte, last Sunday. It rebounded Thursday with a 3-0 sweep against #8 Ball State (12-2, 4-1 MIVA) at the Covelli Center, 25-20, 25-23, and 27-25.
“This is as proud as I’ve felt of a team in a long time,” said OSU head coach Kevin Burch after the match. “They deserve a ton of credit for how they’ve responded this week. … It’s really easy to go here we go again and that was really cool to see. I think it gives them a lot of trust and a lot of confidence going forward.”
Libero Drew Hudson handles a Ball State serve in the third set of the Ohio State’s sweep of the Cardinals at the Covelli Center Thursday. Photo: Kevin Rouch
The Buckeyes were led once again by opposite hitter Shane Wetzel, who had a game-high 14 kills, along with seven digs and a service ace. Outside hitter Stanislaw Chacinski added 10 kills, four digs, and an assist. High-soaring middle blocker Eliel Salva-Torres posted nine kills and four blocks.
Talking about the Buckeyes’ strong start, Chacinski noted, “Sometimes you just have this feeling from the beginning of the game. The energy was there, the teamwork was there. We were very disciplined in terms of executing the game plan, especially on defense in the first part of the game.”
Setter Daniel Henwood Rodriguez records one of his game-high 41 assists for the Buckeyes in their win over Ball State in a MIVA contest at Ohio State Thursday. Photo: Kevin Rouch
Ohio State setter Daniel Henwood Rodriguez led all players with 41 assists, while libero Drew Hudson matched Wetzel with seven digs. Hudson also recorded four assists. The Buckeyes’ attack percentage of .453, as compared to Ball State’s .330, clearly illustrated the Scarlet and Gray’s aggressive approach.
“That’s a lot of what we talked about this week, just staying aggressive,” said Burch. “The second and third set were as impressive as I’ve seen from an Ohio State team. Hopefully, we can continue to build on that and become consistent with it.”
Shane Wetzel (6) led all players with 14 kills on the night as the Buckeyes’ handed the Ball State Cardinals their first conference loss Thursday. Photo: Kevin Rouch
How will the Buckeyes approach practice after such a big win? Coach Burch answered, “It’s continuing to hammer consistency, holding them accountable. When we see a lapse, just continue to remind them and stay on them and keep putting them in uncomfortable situations.”
Next up for Ohio State is another home MIVA tilt. The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (8-3, 3-1 MIVA) come to Columbus for a Saturday match beginning at 2:00 p.m. All of the action can be seen on Big Ten+.