COLUMBUS, OHIO — The steps the Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team has taken over the past year is more than noticeable.
 
A season ago, the Railsplitters were barely holding their own against top-tier programs. Now, LMU is showing it is capable and meant to be in close matches against notable opponents.
 
"Last year, we only had one match where we hung," LMU head coach John Cash said. "And then this year, we are right there and playing other opponents where we are doing what we feel like we should be doing — controlling the play and dedicating how we want the game to be played and doing what we do well. You can't take everything away from every opponent, so let's focus on these things and then play it out from there.
 
"We are doing our job on that side of it when it comes to part of our schedule. The higher-tiered teams is the growth of a program. Can you do it against those guys? Because you won't be those guys until you can."
 
LMU proved its ability to hang with Division I powerhouses like Southern California two weeks ago at the Grow the Game Challenge in Middle Tennessee. The Railsplitters battled the Trojans, almost taking two sets before eventually falling 3-0.
 
It was the same story against then-No. 15 ranked Grand Canyon as the Railsplitters clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit and almost stunned the Lopes in the winner-takes-all fifth set.
 
The Railsplitters' next step versus the "big guys" is finishing, and something LMU will aim to do against Ohio State at 8 p.m. Saturday inside St. John's Arena in Columbus, Ohio.  
 
"We were right there, and we expected that believe it or not," Cash said. "I think what surprised us was our inability to finish, especially in the second and third set of USC and going along with that in the fifth set of Grand Canyon. That is something we work on every single day in practice is finishing out those last 10 points, if you will — tougher caliber competition so we have to up it in practice for us to be able to do that.
 
"We were able to do it against our earlier opponents, and that's no slight on them, we were just about to do that with them. Moving into this next tier of teams, that's a different animal. They have more weapons, so you have to account for those things and make sure every step you take is the right step. It makes a big difference. I think what we learned from that is that our preparation in some ways has to be altered to have a little more at stake, so we have to really feel that pressure in the practice."
 
The combination of early tests against quality opponents and high-intensity practices has the Railspitters (5-2) more than ready to play in a wild atmosphere in Cash's hometown state and his best recruiting area.
 
LMU is expected to have a large crowd of its own, too. Cash expects the Railsplitter fans to make up half — or maybe more than — of the men's volleyball supporters that fill up the large arena.
 
"We've been doing our homework on Ohio State and preparing for them, and hopefully we can get some things done this weekend," Cash said. "Their gym, St. John's Arena, we already know there are going to be a lot of fans there. They will be playing the fight song there the whole time because that's what they do; they have chants from their stands.
 
"But I think our number of fans will rival theirs because I've already been informed of how many people from the state are coming to the game to see us play. It's pretty exciting. I have a lot of coaching friends, family and things like that there. Even our friends that come to the lake down here, rented two charter buses and got them full. We'll have our own draw, which is nice."
 
The LMU support is a nice touch going into a storied program like Ohio State (3-4). There will be national championship banners — the most previous being in '16 and '17 — hanging in the rafters and the nation's leader in kills (5.32), points (6.06) and second in attacks (9.88) per set leader in Jake Hanes on the Buckeyes' side, but the Railsplitters have some game changers, too.
 
Pedro Carvalho is No. 1 across the sport in blocks per set (1.792) while Evan Cory is second in aces (0.862) and fifth in points (5.35) per set to pace a scrappy Railsplitter squad who is itching to finish off a stunning performance.
 
So, why can't Saturday be the day it happens?
 
"Ohio is one of our recruiting areas with three guys on the team already and three more already committed to come here for next year," Cash said. "It's one of the areas we like to tap into and get kids from. Ohio State is a great program — won the national championship in 2016 and '17 — so there's no joke there. They don't lack for talent. They have guys playing high level ball on national teams, professionally so we know what we are getting into with them. With that being said, though, the guys are really hungry and have been preparing well. I think they are pretty excited with the opportunity just like they were with USC and Grand Canyon.
 
"We think there are some things we can do, but our serve and pass are going to be the key to everything. If we are able to do those things well then we'll be able to do some execution things and put some pressure on them, but if we don't we'll dig a hole for ourselves and we are not very good at getting outside of holes yet. At the end of the day, it's what happens between the lines. We'll prepare for that piece of it and hopefully we come out on top."