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St. Xavier, Purcell Marian advance to regional final May 19, 2005 By Jim Jicha St. Xavier and Purcell Marian advanced to a regional final showdown on Saturday as they defeated LaSalle and Sycamore, respectively, last night in semifinal action at Moeller High School. LaSalle played the Bombers on even terms for most of the first two games. Game one was tied at 18 when St. Xavier junior outside Brian Kues pounded down two go-ahead kills. The teams traded points leaving St. X clinging to a 22-21 lead, but two Lancer mistakes put the Bombers at the cusp. After Colin Flynn scored one more for LaSalle, Bomber outside Alex Riddle iced the game with a spike that was blocked out of bounds. The Lancers had small leads much of game two. Kues smashed two kills to tie it at 9, but Lancer sophomore Andrew Kroger reposted with a kill and then blocked Kues, and when St. X was called for four hits the Lancers held what was to be their biggest edge at 12-9. The Bombers went on top 14-13 on an ace by Kues, but Flynn put LaSalle back up 15-14, and again at 16-15 after a great fake in the middle. St. Xavier hit their next one out, but followed up with the longest rally of the game by either squad. Riddle started it with a kill, Derek Endres added another, setter Steve Kehoe scored on a dump and Endres and John Osborne teamed up for a block. St. Xavier was now on top 19-17, for good as it turned out. Curtis Bosch broke the run with a smash to backcourt off a set from Flynn. The next play was key as Ryan Rieman followed with a smash that skipped up and sailed out. LaSalle thought the ball had been tipped, but it may have simply nicked the net. At any rate it was ruled out with no touch, after which St. X pulled away, scoring the finale on a screaming ace to the left corner by Kehoe. Game three started with LaSalle hitting the pole and went downhill fast from there for Lancer fans. Kehoe took to the line and served another ace. A block by Kues was dug out of bounds, Riddle and Patrick Metz teamed up for two more blocks, and soon it was 6-0 Bombers. LaSalle closed to 11-7 on a kill by Bosch, but a four point rally gave St. Xavier an eight point lead, which they maintained despite three impressive kills by Flynn. After Lancer middle Karl Ahner scored to make it 23-16, Osborne put the Bombers at match point. Ahner found a hole to keep LaSalle alive, and St. Xavier obliged with two errors. However, Kues hit a spike that was blocked out, and the match along with the Lancers’ season was over. Purcell Marian also won in three games 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 to avenge an early season 22-25, 21-25 tri-match loss to Sycamore. The Cavaliers led most of the time, but Sycamore stayed close and kept things interesting. The difference in this match was Purcell’s 6’10” middle Max Holt who pounded terminating spikes and kept the Aviators’ hitters at bay with several blocks. Sycamore drew first blood on a kill by outside hitter Chris Grannen, and scored again Purcell was caught in the net. But two Aviator miscues were points for Purcell who went on top 3-2 on a double block from Mike Fisk and Mike Carroll. Purcell soon led 7-3, while Holt, who did not start, watched from the bench. Grannen spiked another kill, and Chris Holscher and Brian Kissinger teamed up on a block to make it 7-5. Fisk followed with a dump, but Sycamore scored twice more when Purcell was in the net and Todd Juran served an ace. At this point Holt smashed his first kill, and Fisk delivered an ace to the corner, putting the Cavaliers up 10-7. Sycamore got four kills from Holscher, Grannen and Juran, but their rally was tempered by two errors, allowing Purcell to stay ahead. The Cavaliers went on a four-point run fueled by kills from Jordan Peelman and Jeshajah Israel, and an ace by Peelman. Sycamore narrowed the lead to 18-15, but at this point the heretofore quiet Holt took over. He started with a smash that was dug out of bounds and followed with a block. The teams traded service errors, after which Holt scored on blocks of an overpass and a spike. Purcell’s next serve was out but that was no problem as Holt blocked a spike from backcourt to put his team at game point. Back to back service errors ended it. Purcell was off and running in game two. Peelman got it going with a knockdown kill, Fisk blocked Juran who was trying to smoke a Cavalier overpass, a Sycamore hit was out and pretty soon it was 7-2. Holt added two more points with blocks. Sycamore rallied for four on an ace by setter Curtis Jones and a spike by Juran that Holt blocked out. But after an Aviator service error, Holt cratered an overpass and Fisk served an ace. Scoring went back and forth with Holt spiking a point after digging the serve to make it 19-14. Grannen started a three-point rally with a kill. The next volley saw lots of blocks and saves, and Holt appeared to have scored on a block but was ruled in the net. Scoring then went back and forth as Purcell maintained a two-point lead. Israel put the Cavaliers up 24-21 on a great volley that was kept alive on heads up defense by Cavalier outside Jordan Huesman and Sycamore libero Steve Kramer. Grammen scored a kill for the Aviators but hopes for a comeback were dashed by a service error. Sycamore scored first in game three, but Holt responded with three of his team’s first four as Purcell jumped in front 6-2, and the Cavaliers were never headed. The Aviators stayed within striking distance at 13-9 on a kill by 6’5” sophomore Tony Marquardt 8-6 and an ace by Brad Elkus, but were hurt by serving errors. With Purcell up 15-11 Peelman scored on a well-placed spike to the corner after Grannen had rejected a missive from Holt. Sycamore got as close as 17-14, but Israel killed an overpass, Peelman served an ace and Purcell held steady from there. Fittingly, it was Holt who delivered the coup de grace with a line drive smash to the Aviators’ backcourt. Saturday’s match could be a barnburner. St. Xavier has already beaten Purcell 25-22, 25-15, 25-17, but that was right after Sycamore beat the Cavaliers way back in early April. More recently the Cavaliers topped LaSalle in three and also out dueled Indianapolis Cathedral in a tri-match. Whoever wins Saturday is likely to run into Centerville in what should be an interesting state quarterfinal
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