Pete Hanson has learned a lot in his 32 seasons as Ohio State men’s volleyball coach about how teams take on personalities based on talent and temperament.
Hanson has a special group of Buckeyes heading into an NCAA Tournament play-in match tonight against George Mason, and the nature of this squad goes beyond the fact that it has won 20 in a row.
Sure, the Buckeyes are talented. Four players — Nicolas Szerszen, Miles Johnson, Christy Blough and Gabriel Domecus — were named Monday to All-America teams selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Skill, however, isn’t the lone reason why the Buckeyes (28-3) are favored to defeat George Mason (18-11) for a second time this season and advance to a semifinal Thursday against UCLA (25-6).