Paced by the hitting and blocking of native Palisadian and Palisades High alum Justin Howard, the Ohio State University men’s volleyball team pulled off back-to-back five-set victories over UCLA and USC at the First Point Collegiate Challenge last weekend in Austin, TX to move up to No. 1 in the AVCA rankings.
On Friday, the Buckeyes’ 6-foot-6 redshirt senior middle blocker had four kills, four blocks and one dig against the then top-ranked Bruins, who received 11
kills, five blocks and two digs from 6-foot-7 Palisadian and former Loyola High standout Cooper Robinson, a redshirt sophomore outside hitter. On Saturday, Howard had five kills, two blocks and two aces against the 13th-ranked Trojans, who got got 12 kills, six blocks and four digs from Palisadian and former Loyola High star Dillon Klein, a 5-foot-6 sophomore outside hitter who earned CIF Player of the Year and Palisadian-Post Athlete of the Year honors in 2022.
Howard was selected the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Defensive Player of the Week on Jan. 7 after powering the then No. 4-ranked Buckeyes with nine blocks in the team’s first two matches, victories over North Greenville and Daemen College.
The son of David and Nicole Howard, Justin won three City titles at Pali High and he captained both the Dolphins and his Pac6 Volleyball Club squad to championships in 2019. He also led Pac6 VC to a third-place finish in the 2018 Junior Nationals. Howard powered the Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA) to its first USAV High Performance national title in 2018, serving the winning ace in the semifinals. A journalism major, Howard was the 2023 recipient of the Ken Dunlap Award, an annual honor given to a player who exhibits the character of the program’s very first men’s volleyball coach Ken Dunlap (1968-71) after whom the award is named.
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