CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- University of Charleston men's volleyball will host Ohio State University, defending NCAA DI/II National Champion, Friday evening in the Wehrle Athletic Arena.  The match has been tagged as a "WHITE OUT" with attendees encourage to wear white along with the athletic department distributing free "WHITE OUT" t-shirts to the first 250 attendees.
 
OSU, winners of the last two NCAA DI/II National Championships, will make their first appearance on the John L. Dickinson Family Court inside of the Russell and Martha Wehrle Innovation Center.  The Buckeyes enter the match with a 5-2 record and ranked 5^th nationally in the AVCA DI-II Coaches Poll. 
 
Ohio State captutred both the 2016 and 2017 national titles by defeating BYU, making three men's volleyball titles in the program's history (2011).  The Buckeyes are led by Hall of Fame coach Pete Hanson, who has served as the men's volleyball coach for the past 33 seasons.  Hanson has a career mark of 677-335 with three NCAA national titles in the last seven years (2011, 2016, 2017) and has been named AVCA National Coach of the Year on four occasions.
 
A big part of their recent success is the play of AVCA All-American Nicolas Szerszen.  The senior outside hitter from France was named the AVCA National Player of the Year in 2016 and First Team All-American in each of the past two seasons.  He has dominated the MIVA conference, earning Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017 along with All-MIVA First Team in each of his first three seasons.  This season Szerszen is 3^rd individually in kill per set, averaging nearly four each set.
 
The Golden Eagles enter Friday's match with the defending national champions with a 3-0 record, the best start in program history.  UC's hot start has them in the top-10 in multiple team and individual categories, ranking 1^st in digs/set, 2^nd in kills/set, 2^nd in blocks/set, and 3^rd in opponent hitting percentage. 
 
Charleston senior setter Anthony Rivera leads the nation in assists per set, dishing out nearly 11 assists each set in the three Golden Eagle victories to start the 2018 season.  Junior outside Brandon Greenway is 8^th nationally in blocks per set, 7^th in digs per set, and 11^th in points per set, breaking out in his first season of full-time action for head coach Dr. Bren Stevens.  Max Senica, a freshman outside from Australia, has had an impressive start to his Golden Eagle campaign as well, leading UC with just over seven attacks per set while converting on nearly three of those attempts.
 
First serve with the Buckeyes is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Wehrle Athletic Arena.