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East, South regions rule state quarterfinals May 28, 2005 By Jim Jicha The South and East regions ruled in yesterday’s state quarterfinals as St. Xavier, Worthington Kilbourne, Moeller and Hilliard Darby advanced to semifinal showdowns between the regions. St. Xavier won the first match, knocking off Centerville 25-14, 25-14, 19-25, 25-20. The Bombers had an easier time with the Elks than in their grueling 5-game win last month. Kilbourne defeated Walsh Jesuit 25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 25-19, as Jordan Lookabaugh stepped up with some big plays in the middle. Kevin Lookabaugh paced the Wolves with 22 kills and Jared Johnson led in hitting efficiency with .583 percent on 7 kills. Jordan only had 7 kills, but most were the terminating variety and came at keys points, and the 6’4” junior also provided 4 blocks. Phil Moore came up with 23 digs. Fairborn went four games for the second time with Moeller, but unlike their previous match at Centerville’s Elite, this one wasn’t close. The Crusaders won 25-13, 25-11, 23-25, 25-14 behind a balanced hitting attack fueled by Chris Lovett’s setting. It goes without saying that Moeller looked great on defense too. Moeller raced to a 9-2 lead in game two with Lovett serving two aces, and he along with sophomore Lee Meyer and Kevin Tobias controlling the net. With the Crusaders up 23-13, lefty Keith Brandner took charge, spiking a kill, rejecting a Dan Holloway missive and smashing the game winner. Fairborn came alive in game three, taking a 7-1 lead behind the hitting of Holloway and Chuck Cheatham, and although Moeller closed the gap, even tying a couple of times, the Skyhawks kept their momentum. With the lead down to 14-12, Derek Benson spiked a point and teamed with Holloway for a block, after which Justin Birchfield served an ace. A kill by Meyer sparked a 7-2 Crusader run to a 19-19 tie. But Jarrod Birchfield put Fairborn up for good at 21-20 with a kill, and Holloway arched a tip into a hole over two blockers to make it 23-21. The teams then exchanged kills, Dustin Hunter and Keith Brandner scoring for Moeller, and Benson and Holloway spiking for the Skyhawks. Holloway’s game winning point came off a nice backset from Steve Hale. Fairborn could not extend their momentum into game four, however, as the Crusaders used a balanced attack and blew out to leads of 6-0 and 16-3. Fairborn rallied to 17-10 with Holloway serving five points and two aces. Meyer stopped the run with a kill down the line and an ace, and Mark Wimmers, who was everywhere in backcourt, smashed a kill. Controversy ensued on the next play when a spike by Cheatham rolled the length of the net and landed out on the other side of the court. Moeller was given the point initially, but that decision was overruled, and after a long discussion among three referees, it was ruled Moeller had touched the ball. That did not sit well with the Moeller crowd, nor with Crusader middle Danny Brandel who promptly cratered a spike and followed with an ace to end all Skyhawk hopes of a comeback. Darby looked impressive in the nightcap, although you wouldn’t have guessed if you only saw game one. The Panthers took down Lakewood St. Edward 13-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-15 behind great hitting by All East Region Player Of The Year outside hitter Jason Martin and middle Zack Null. Much of the credit must go to setter Jake McCrae and the Panther defensive corps, including Kyle May and libero Kyle Sebastian, who made his life easier with some stellar passing. But things didn’t go well at first, as St. Ed came out smoking, especially outside Andy Pompei who spiked at least 6 kills. Sophomore John Muscarella and senior Paul Grzybowski were also hot. Darby hurt themselves with eleven errors. St. Edward used a four point rally to go up 10-4 and just kept increasing their lead, putting it out of reach at 21-9 on another four-pointer. Darby got on the board first in the next game with McCrae serving an ace. Grzybowski had two kills as St. Ed tied it 3-3, but a spike by Null put Darby up for good as it turned out, as St. Ed mistakes kept them from early scoring opportunities. It was still close when Eagle setter Sean Martin made a nice hit over everyone into the Panther backcourt. However, Nick Persons killed for a Darby sideout, and sophomore Austin Fleming served up a five point rally fueled by a well placed hit from back court by Jason Martin, two kills from Null, and a tip by McCrae. After that the scoring went back and forth with Darby gaining a point here and there. Null got Darby started in game three with a kill to the Eagles’ back court and Persons served an ace, but once again Grzybowski tied it at 3-3. This was followed by two more ties, the second coming at 6 on a lift by Darby on a long volley kept alive by two Jason Martin digs. Fleming spiked a kill and Darby went up 9-6 on a great left handed spike by McCrae. Pompei then scored for St. Ed, but Martin responded with a spike from back court that was dug over the net and way out behind Darby’s end line. Scoring went back and forth until Martin put Darby up 14-10. The Eagles closed to 18-15 on a Sean Martin short set that Muscarella tipped into a hole. Darby then put the Eagles in a big hole. Persons started it with a kill, and after a block by Null was lifted, Jason Martin mashed two straight. Grzybowski stopped the rally, and St. Ed got a couple more points, but Martin scored three more kills to ice the win for Darby. His final kill came after a partial block by Darby went high in the air and was called by Persons, who waved everyone away just like a high pop in baseball, and delivered a picture perfect pass to McCrae. The handwriting was on the wall in game four when Darby raced to leads of 4-0 and 6-1. Null blocked Muscarella to start it and McCrae served two aces with Mike Baker blocking Grzybowski in between. St. Edward stayed in the game, closing to 7-5 and again to 14-11, but Darby had the momentum. The end came when Martin terminated a McCrae set, and served four more points. His first delivery looked out, but dropped on the back line as St. Ed pulled away. On the next play McCrae had to dig, and scored a kill when Persons set it right back. After a lift by St. Ed, Martin’s next serve rolled off the net for another ace. Lakewood scored their last two on Darby miscues. Persons ended that with a kill and McCrae made another of his spike dumps, and when St. Ed’s next hit was out the match was over. Darby will take on top ranked Moeller today, following the match between Kilbourne and second ranked St. Xavier. |
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