This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
State College, Pa. • Forget the schools' respective places in the national pecking order of college athletics.
When BYU and Ohio State collide in Saturday's NCAA men's volleyball championship match at Penn State's Rec Hall, the bulk of the pressure will seemingly be on the Cougars, believe it or not.
BYU coach Shawn Olmstead's team doesn't see it that way. It is just not in this fun-loving outfit's DNA to get stressed over anything, as they reiterated during Friday's pre-finals news conference. But in the national volleyball realm, it is true.
Third-seeded Ohio State (30-3) has a slightly better record and boasts the National Player of the Year in Frenchman Nicolas Szerszen and National Coach of the Year in Pete Hanson. The Buckeyes, who won the 2011 national title, have won 22 straight matches.
But they play in a weaker conference, the MIVA, and were taken to five sets in a semifinal Thursday night by a UCLA team that BYU handled three times.
"I would say we are fairly even," said OSU freshman middle blocker Blake Leeson, from Mequon, Wis. "I would say, if anything, we might be a little bit of an underdog, just because of how the seeding goes, if you want to look at it that way. We kind of came in with a chip on our shoulder, in the last match, with UCLA, giving them the ranking that they got, and what happened with that and all."
BYU (27-3) is the No. 1 seed, was ranked No. 1 for much of the season, and has a bigger national brand, in volleyball, thanks to having won national championships in 1999, 2001 and 2004 and the fact that almost all of its matches are televised nationally by BYUtv.
What in the name of Urban Meyer is going on here? BYU favored over mighty Ohio State?
"The support we have through BYUtv, these guys are used to it," Olmstead said when asked if the BYU athletic department's quest for national relevance, spurred by the ever-present talk of potential Big 12 membership, brings some extra pressure. "They are used to cameras all over the place. We have outstanding support from our administration on up, through the president to the [LDS] church, but no, these guys haven't though a second about that."
Picked as the preseason No. 1, BYU has expected to be here, often saying throughout the season that nothing but a national championship would suffice. Different story for the Buckeyes, who got a match-clinching ace from Szerszen to beat UCLA after trailing 8-5 at the turn in the fifth set.
"It's been a surprise, a pleasant surprise, obviously," said Hanson, in his 32nd season.
BYU athletics has won 10 national championships in NCAA competition, but none since the men's volleyball team took a title in 2004. Adding intrigue to Saturday's match is the fact that Olmstead guided BYU's women's team to the 2014 championship match, losing to Penn State in straight sets before jumping to the men's side this year.
"Maybe down the road I will sit and process everything, but I truly haven't thought about that," Olmstead said. "The secret is these guys. The secret is these athletes, for sure. They are the magic."
Sophomore opposite hitter Ben Patch, BYU's emotional leader and a candidate for the PoY honors that went to the hard-serving Szerszen, said the Cougars have plenty of respect for OSU and aren't approaching the match as if they have the better team.
"I don't think they are the underdog or we are the underdog," said Patch, a Provo High product who served his church mission in Columbus, Ohio and attended a few OSU matches while there. "It is just two really great volleyball teams coming to play for the national championship."
Patch said he "was a Buckeye fan on my mission, but tomorrow will be a different story."
The consensus on Friday was that the match will come down to whether or not BYU can handle OSU's powerful service game and get into its system offensively. BYU libero Erik Sikes said if the Cougars pass the way they did in Thursday's 3-1 win over Long Beach State, they will be fine.
BYU will have a size advantage with the 6-foot-9 Patch, 6-10 Jake Langlois, 6-9 Price Jarman and 6-8 Michael Hatch at the net.
"BYU's a bigger team, physically bigger, but that doesn't necessarily make them better at certain skills," Hanson said, noting that OSU's serving can possibly "negate some of the things that BYU is trying to do."
Twitter: @drewjay —
NCAA men's volleyball championship
P No. 1 BYU vs. No. 3 Ohio State, at Penn State University, Saturday, 6 p.m. MDT
TV • ESPN2