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Moeller unstoppable in State Championship repeat June 2, 2005 By Jim Jicha When defining a word it is sometimes useful to see an example. With a noun this usually isn’t difficult, especially for something physical. But adjectives are a different matter. Take the word “unstoppable”, which Webster defines as “incapable of being stopped”. Have you ever actually witnessed an "unstoppable"? Well it so happens that those who attended the Boys’ State Volleyball finals last Saturday at Sinclair Community College in Dayton saw a team that literally was incapable of being stopped. That team was Cincinnati Moeller. They started the day with a 25-17, 25-17, 25-16 win over fourth rated Hilliard Darby, and ended it by shutting down second ranked St. Xavier 25-18, 25-12, 25-15 to win their second consecutive state championship. Coming into the state semifinal match, Darby was on an 18-match win streak that included the likes of Centerville and Lakewood St. Edward. The state title match pitted GCL co-champions St. Xavier and Moeller in a final showdown. The Bombers were the only team to beat Moeller this year, back in early April in their first meeting. But that seemed like ancient history on Saturday evening as Moeller downed St. X for a fourth time. This also marked the Crusaders' second straight decisive win over St. Xavier. Moeller won 25-15, 25-17, 25-15 on April 30 in the Centerville Elite. Perhaps Moeller’s ability to dominate in the Elite was due to St. Xavier having just won a two hour marathon over then undefeated Kentucky power Louisville Trinity. But Moeller was coming from prom the night before, and they struggled at the Elite with Fairborn and Centerville. More likely is that Moeller’s initial loss to St. Xavier was a blessing in disguise. Head Coach Greg Ulland said as much. “We learned a lot about ourselves when they beat us…it pointed out some weaknesses, and the kids fixed them.” Senior outside hitter Mark Wimmers put it more bluntly, “After we lost that first time we found out we were never gonna’ lose again”. Moeller never did lose another match. They won 81 of 84 games in their 28 victories. And they romped at state over a field some called the best eight teams top to bottom ever. The Crusaders opened practice this season with eleven seniors. The deal was there would be no cuts but everyone had to come out and play hard all the time in whatever role was available. The result was a degree of balance and depth that is rarely seen at the high school level. On this team it seemed everyone had a vertical, and every hitter was a threat. That precluded an opposing defense from keying on anyone, and afforded the Crusaders the ability to fake at will, which they did in both matches on Saturday. Sometimes the decoy came in the middle followed by the real hitter, other times the decoy was on one side with the hit going the other way. Meanwhile, Moeller’s defense and transition were simply awesome. They scored on blocks, they made crisp passes to set up the hitters, they created free balls with tips, and when all else failed, they used digs and heads up plays to keep volleys alive until their opponents made mistakes. At times their blocking was simply amazing. Not only were the blocks perfectly timed, but on hits from the outside the ball would consistently go down toward the center of the net. After it was over Wimmers, who played in the state final two years ago when St. Xavier beat Moeller, described how this year’s team worked and functioned so well together. He hit the nail on the head. Watching them play together as a team was like watching choreography. Everyone was in the right place at the right time, and the players moved in sync like they were in a staged production. And they played with heart all the time. Moeller’s only apparent weakness was a propensity for service errors, but since they were serving so much, that was probably at least in part due to increased exposure. Before the season started Coach Ulland had said his team had no seniors over 6’1” but added “if you come see us you won’t be disappointed”. Was that an understatement! In the semifinal with Darby, Moeller neutralized All East Region Player of the Year Jason Martin by scoring on blocks and digging many of the Ohio University bound outside hitter’s spikes that got through. Some Panther fans said afterwards that Moeller was the best team they had ever seen. Game one stated close with Mark Wimmers scoring first for Moeller and Austin Fleming spiking an overpass to give Darby their only lead at 3-2. Then Dustin Hunter scored on a tip and Joe Gates served six points, beginning with an ace. Danny Brandel and Keith Brandner scored on blocks and Lee Meyer spiked a kill after Gates saved a Darby smash. Moeller increased their lead to 11-4 when Crusader setter Chris Lovett blocked Fleming. (The 6'4" Brandel and 6'5" Meyer are sophomores, by the way.) Zack Null came up with a booming block to start a three-point run by Darby that cut the lead to 14-9, but Moeller got a cross court slide right kill from Kevin Tobias and aces from Lovett and Gates to go up 21-12. The final point came after an intense volley with reaction saves on both sides when Lovett blocked Nick Persons in the middle. Seven of Darby's points came on serving errors. The Panthers came out swinging in game two and they led for a good while. Null scored the opening point, and after kills by Martin and Mike Baker the Panthers were up 4-2. Moeller went up 6-5 on a kill by Brandel that came after Wimmers dug a Martin spike, but Darby responded with a kill by Persons and an ace from Chris Dreger. The Crusaders scored three for a 9-8 edge, but the team from Hilliard matched that to go up 11-9. The teams traded points as Martin scored a knock down kill to put his team up 14-12. However, a service error started a four point Moeller rally that turned into a 12-3 run. Gates served two more aces to ignite the rally. With Moeller up 19-16, Brandel scored on two spikes and a tip to put the game out of reach. Moeller led all the way in the third game. Scott Rotterman scored the first point, and with the score 7-4 Matt McLaughlin served up five points including an ace. Darby closed to 19-13, led by two kills from Martin, and scoring went back and forth to 21-15, at which point Wimmers took over. The outside hitter spiked a kill, blocked a dump attempt and blocked Null to set up match point. Null scored one more for Darby, but Wimmers smashed the game winner off Null’s block, sending the 6’4” middle blocker to the floor in frustration. Darby had a huge crowd and their fans cheered until the end, and again while the Panther players received their awards. The ceremony was an emotional one for Martin and especially for Null who congratulated every one of his teammates. It should be noted that Darby started the season 3-5, and those seniors took their team a long way. In front of a huge crowd of their own, Moeller continued their intense level of play against St. Xavier. Patrick Metz, who sat out the semifinal due to an injury in warmups, scored first as the teams exchanged leads en route to a 6-6 tie. Keith Brandner led Moeller with two kills and a block on Metz, and Derek Endres blocked Brandel to force the tie. Moeller took the lead for good in the ensuing long and intense volley that saw some great digs by the liberos, Nick Engel of Moeller and Chandler Bell of St. Xavier. St. X finally made an error, after which McLaughlin served five points as Brandel scored two kills and a block. The Crusaders pulled ahead 14-7 and 20-12. Brian Kues scored two for the Bombers, blocking Brandel and spiking a kill, but Moeller kept pace, with Wimmers pounding down the game winner. Moeller ratcheted up their play in game two in what has to be one of the most impressive performances ever witnessed in high school volleyball. When it was over the Crusaders were ahead 23-5. The barrage started with kills by Hunter and Wimmers, an ace by Lovett, an error by the Bombers after two saves by Lovett, and another kill by Wimmers. A Crusader service error provided but a brief respite, as Hunter resumed the onslaught with a short set kill. Soon thereafter came four points on blocks, two by Hunter, one each by Tobias and Meyer. The Bombers also contributed three errors, but two came only after heroics by Lovett that kept volleys alive. Even a Bomber time out was to no avail - Moeller followed that with a block. Kues finally scored for St. Xavier on a crosscourt kill, but this was again temporary respite, as the Bombers went under the net trying to save a spike by Meyer. Brandel followed with a smash and then a well placed tip, and when a Bomber spike sailed out the score was 17-2! Despite a block by Kues and two serving errors by Moeller, the Crusaders continued their romp to the 23-5 margin. At that point setter Steve Kehoe served two aces and John Osborn and Alex Riddle scored kills to fuel a 7-1 Bomber sortie, but Hunter ended the game with a kill. St. Xavier showed their mettle in game three with Kues, Riddle and Endres taking them to a 6-4 lead. Moeller went on top 7-6, but the Bombers tied it at 7, and at 8. However, that was the beginning of the end, as Wimmers spiked a kill and Brandel served up five points. Hunter scored two kills, the second coming after a pancake save by St. Xavier’s other libero Brett Engdahl. Kehoe won a play at the net to stop the run, but Engel made a great dig that led to a kill by Wimmers, and two more kills by Hunter and a couple of errors by St. Xavier made the score 19-10. After Riddle scored to make it 20-12, Brandel spiked and blocked for two points. St. Xavier followed with a hitting error and McLaughlin put the Crusaders on the cusp of a state championship with an ace. Kehoe kept the game alive with a nice two handed hit and a short set that Endres dispatched, but it was only a matter of time until someone, in this case Meyer, blasted home the winner, setting off a celebration on Moeller’s side of the net. *********************************************************************** St. Xavier overcame a determined Worthington Kilbourne 25-19, 25-16, 24-26, 25-16 in a semifinal match that saw only two rallies of five points or more. St. Xavier middle hitter Patrick Metz was injured during warm-ups and did not play. Game one was close, with Kilbourne in front early. Kevin Lookabaugh started the scoring with a kill from back court, and Kues promptly tied it. Jordan Lookabaugh smashed a short set kill, but an error resulted in another tie, and Kehoe and Riddle teamed up for a block. An ace by Kues made it 4-2. Kilbourne went back on top as Jordan teamed up with Nathan Palmer and then twin brother Kevin for blocks. Kilbourne stayed even and/or led for awhile, and a kill by Kevin Lookabaugh put them up 11-10. This, however, turned out to be his last point of the game and his team’s final lead. St. Xavier capitalized on Kilbourne mistakes as Kues scored two kills and an ace to go up 16-13. The Bombers used a 6-1 run to go up 24-17, with Kehoe scoring on two dumps and a block, and short setting Kues for another kill. A hitting error sealed Kilbourne’s fate. St. Xavier jumped in front 5-0 in game two on nice serving by Kehoe, and 7-1 on a kill and ace by Kues. From there the scoring went pretty evenly, with St. X edging up further at 19-11. Kilbourne’s final point came on a Kevin Lookabaugh spike. On the next play a St. Xavier pass went too close to the net but Kehoe turned that into a winner with a dump. Kilbourne was not through, however, and with Kevin and Jordan Lookabaugh leading the way took an 8-7 lead in the third frame. Osborne tied it with a kill and Max Knecht served an ace to put the Bombers up, but Nick Baehr blocked Kehoe who was trying to demolish an overpass. At that point St. Xavier scored four straight, with Kues providing three kills, two on tips, and Knecht digging Kevin Lookabaugh. Kilbourne would not let the Bombers pull away, however, and took the lead again 19-18, after an ace by Palmer and a hitting error. Osborne and Kues scored three for St. X, but Kevin Lookabaugh responded with a kill, Jon Jekeli blocked Endres and Kevin served an ace to the back line. Kues retorted with two cross court kills, the second after a great pass by Endres, to put St. Xavier up 23-22. The Bombers then rejected two spikes by Kilbourne until Kevin Lookabaugh smashed one from backcourt for another tie. Jekeli and Kues traded kills to leave it at 24-all, and Palmer then set Kevin Lookabaugh twice more in the backcourt. The first was tipped out of bounds, and the second line-drove off the top of the net and was dug out of bounds for the game winner. Kehoe got his team started in game four with an ace, as St. Xavier led all the way. However, the Bombers did not pull away until Kehoe again came to the line with the score 9-7, and served two more aces and scored on a two-hand hit to lead a six-point Bomber romp. St. Xavier went up 19-10 as Osborne spiked a point and teamed with Endres for a block. Scoring went back and forth from there until the end.
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