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Moeller, Kilbourne advance to semifinals May 29, 2004 By Jim Jicha There is one word to describe Cincinnati Moeller’s performance in yesterday’s state quarterfinal matches played at Otterbein College’s Rike Center. Awesome. That’s an adjective that tends to be overused nowadays. I know people who will say every movie they like is “awesome”. It’s like seeing the word “urgent” on a junk mail offering. You know you can throw the offer away because a month later you’ll get another “urgent” offer from the same company. But Moeller was truly awesome. Even Mt. Vernon’s Assistant Coach Ron Doup concurred with that assessment after watching the Crusaders romp shut down the Yellow Jackets 25-8, 25-10, 25-16 in the second match of the day. Moeller played solid fundamental volleyball in every facet of the game. Their passing was superb and it mattered not who was in the back row. Libero Nick Engel did a great job, but so did hitters like Mark Wimmers and Robbie Klein. Wherever setter Chris Lovett was is where the pass went, allowing him to focus on running the offense. Everyone who played backcourt passed well, even Lovett when he had to take one. It also did not matter who was in the front row. And when it came to Klein’s hitting, it didn’t matter which row he was in as he pounded kills from either. Klein often starts his approach from way back even when he’s front row. Offensively, Moeller ran some great fakes that resulted in their getting several uncontested hits. Wimmers scored the Crusaders’ first two kills. Then Klein who was recently named Ohio Volleyball Player of the Year, got in the act. Keith Bradner, who sets and hits scored two aces on a five point run that put Moeller up 10-3. Wimmers and Klein continued pounding away, and then Dustin Hunter scored a kill after Wimmers turned a nice dump by Yellow Jacket setter Nick Orsborn into a nice pass. Bradner scored the game winner on a block. During the first game Mt. Vernon never scored more than one point at a time and four of their points came on Crusader serving errors. John Vonck nailed a couple of kills and Wade Laughery and Alex Nixon also scored. Game two was similar. Mt. Vernon scored first on a Crusader net serve but Wimmers tied it on a kill. Bradner scored on a nice spike down the line off a great backset from Lovett, then put up a nice set himself to Klein who smashed one from back row. After an ace by Lovett it was 6-1. With the score 7-3, Hunter nailed a short set kill, then served up an ace. Ryan Trainor, who had thus far been quiet, scored on a block in the middle and followed by ripping a spike past the blocker for another point, as Moeller moved up 13-3. Moeller’s final three points came on a cross court kill by Bradner, a kill by Hunter and an ace from Wimmers. Game three was closer as Mt. Vernon scored on blocks and some well placed spikes. Laughery started things off with a great block of Klein in the middle. Wimmers scored on a cross court kill from the left, blocked a dump attempt by Orsborn and won a battle at the net with a well placed tip as Moeller went up 4-1. But Mt. Vernon stayed in this game. Trent Kochis scored on a cross court kill. Moeller scored three but a kill by Vonck and an errant Crusader hit made it 7-4. After Moeller moved out to 11-6, Allen Culbertson hit a jump serve ace to close it to 11-8. At this point the play became very intense. A kill by Wimmers and an ace by Trevor Snider made it 13-8. Nixon scored for the Yellow Jackets, but a diving dig by Klein saved another point and Lovett followed with a perfect two hand hit that went over everyone and landed in Mt. Vernon’s right corner. That was a key play because it made the score 14-9 instead of 13-10, and Mt. Vernon scored the next two points as Orsborn killed an overpass and Kochis blocked Wimmers. Mt. Vernon stayed with Moeller a while longer. Culbertson scored a kill and an ace by Adam Brenneman made it 19-15. But that turned out to be the end. Trainor found an open net on a slide right after a nice fake, Klein served up a ball that was dug over the net out of bounds, and Trainor blasted another kill. After a Moeller hitting error, Lovett scored on a dump, Hunter spiked a kill, and Wimmers pounded the final spike from the left as Hunter faked right. The Crusaders will face Worthington Kilbourne in a semifinal today. Kilbourne had a tougher time getting past Kettering Fairmont in the first match 25-18, 25-15, 25-19. The Wolves led much of the match, but Fairmont stayed close in game one and led briefly in game two. In game three they roared out in front and stayed ahead or even until half way through. Kilbourne was led in the first game by Alex Kanenetskiy and Nick Baehr. Fairmont served first, but Kamenetskiy scored the first point of the match with a kill. Baehr killed a short set from Mitchell Staloch, then served up an ace. A double block by sophomore twins Kevin and Jordan Lookabaugh put the Wolves on top 5-1. Outside hitter Dan Peterson scored for Fairmont, and the Firebirds added another on a block by Jeff Moore. The teams exchanged points as Chris Warner scored for Kilbourne, and Peterson nailed a kill on a play where setter Marc Huelsman performed a contortion act to stay out of the net after a somewhat errant pass. The teams continued to exchange points and mini rallies of two or three points, but Fairmont could never get closer than four. Warner scored on a cross court kill and Jordan Lookabaugh made a great dump that sailed over Fairmont and landed in their back court to end the game. Josh Brock drew first blood for Fairmont in game two with a spike that was blocked back but out. Three Firebird errors, a kill by Warner and an ace by Kevin Lookabaugh put the Wolves up 5-1. This rally was undone by five Kilbourne errors as the Firebirds went back on top 6-5. Kilbourne rallied big time with the score 7-7, doubling their score and never looked back. Baehr fueled the spurt with three blocks. Fairmont managed to close to 15-12 on a kill from Jeff Moore and two errors by Kilbourne, but the Wolves pulled away. Leading 19-14, they went on a four point binge thanks to four straight kills, three by the Lookabaugh’s and one from Staloch. A tip by Kamenetskiy that was blocked out of bounds scored the final point. Fairmont came out firing in game three scoring on kills by Brock, Peterson, Kyle Richey and Moore, and took an 8-3 lead. Kilbourne closed to 9-7 and tied it at 10 all. Kevin Lookabaugh scored on two blocks and an off balance tip. With Fairmont still up 9-7 Staloch back pedaled out of bounds to save an errant second touch that was headed out. Instead he put up a two handed dig that landed in a hole on Fairmont’s side. The teams battled back and forth with a kill by Peterson tying it at 13. But the Wolves began pulling away, going up 16-13, 19-15 and 21-16. They traded points until it was 24-19. And then came another one of those reaction plays for which Kilbourne is famous. Warner dug a line drive that was headed into the net, and Staloch popped up a hand to forward the pass over the net to Fairmont’s back row where it was dug out of bounds. Kilbourne will need lots of reaction plays today when they face Moeller.
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