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Heart is key to Elder's winning Cardinal Classic April 7, 2005 By Jim Jicha “Heart”. That was the word Cincinnati Elder Coach Sean Tierney used to describe his team’s performance in last weekend’s 17th annual St. Charles Cardinal Classic. The Panthers, coming off a three game loss to Moeller the previous Thursday, knocked off Lakota West, St. Xavier and Centerville to take the trophy. They were outscored in two of the matches, but prevailed in all the close games. Tierney credited his backcourt which he said “just doesn’t give up”. That certainly was a factor, as Elder’s digging corps of Eric Grimm, Joe Super and Matt Siefke parried numerous spikes and forced opponents into multiple volleys. Meanwhile the blockers did a great job of tipping would be terminations, creating free ball scenarios. Success is contagious and Elder's hitters were determined to match the defensive effort, according to Tierney who added, “Against St. X we started to believe and that continued against Centerville”. Of course, it also helped that Elder’s front row includes 6’5” power hitters Brian Barth and Mark Lucas. Elder began the day beating a scrappy Lakota East 27-25, 25-17. East was led by middle hitter Blake Evans, sophomore outside Doug Spotts and setter Alex Hoekstra. The first game went back and forth but Elder prevailed in the end, as they would all day. Elder’s defense was really tested by St. Xavier and their setting standout Steve Kehoe, but the Panthers pulled out a 25-22, 14-25, 15-11 victory. Game one was another nail biter with eight ties and the score only 13-13. The Bombers led when the score wasn’t tied. After Elder outside hitter Keith Kramer spiked two kills, the second from backcourt, to tie it at 13, St. X retorted with a cross court smash by Max Knecht and an ace from Alex Riddle. But the Bombers committed two errors resulting in what turned out to be the final tie at 15-15, and Elder forged ahead for good at 17-15 and 22-18, winning 25-22. Game two was pretty much all St. X as the Bombers rolled to a 21-12 lead. A kill by Knecht put them up 23-14, and the sophomore then served up an ace. Patrick Metz spiked the game winner off a nice backset from Kehoe. The Bombers continued their strafing in game three with Riddle and Derek Endres leading them to a 5-1 margin. But an errant hit started an Elder rally, and two aces by Barth and a block by Lucas that landed St. Xavier’s backcourt tied it. The Bombers had one more sortie to go up 9-6, but the Panthers tied it at 10. Then Siefke made a key play, blocking a dump attempt by Kehoe, and followed that with a cross court spike, and the momentum went with Elder. Metz scored one more for St. X, but Barth and Josh Ludwig parried with a block. A well placed hit by Kramer put the Panthers on the verge. Then is was Siefke again, coming up with a great dig and pounding down the final point. The match with Centerville presented problems of a different sort in hitters Tyler Jolley and Ryan Devine. They specialize in terminating volleys, but while ended a goodly number, Elder's defense stopped enough of their spikes to pull out a 16-25, 25-23, 16-14 thriller. The first game was close with many ties early. David Gibble scored Centerville’s first three kills, but Elder came kept pace and led 12-11. A long serve ended that and Centerville took the lead for good when Jolley scored three points, blocking Kramer, tipping into a hole and demolishing a spike. This put the Elks on top 17-12 and Ryan Devine soon started another rally with a blast that was tipped to the far wall. With the score 24-15 the teams traded net serves. Nobody could break away in game two. The Elks took a 7-3 lead and Elder rallied to go in front 9-8. Centerville’s Jesse Manders smashed a spike straight down to tie it and followed with an ace. The score was tied at 10, 11, 12, 13 with both teams playing intense defense. Bloemker and Lucas double blocked Elder to a 14-13 lead. Devine wowed the fans with a great dig that landed in Elder’s backcourt. But Elder got a break when Bloemker smoked an overpass and the Elks committed two errors. The Panthers went up 19-15 but two errors, a booming block by setter Ryan Versen and a cross court kill by Manders off a nice backset tied it again. Siefke put Elder up 20-19 with a spike that was blocked out. The teams traded points, with Devine smashing two kills in the process, leaving the score at 22-22. Elder again went up when Keith Kramer tipped an Elk block into a hole, and Barth broke the stalemate with an ace, making it 24-22. And when the teams exchanged long serves and the match was tied. After Elder took a 2-0 lead in the tiebreaker, Centerville rallied for four with Versen serving two aces. Elder responded with a five point run and led the rest of the way - almost. With the Panthers up 9-5 Jolley produced three blasts that helped the Elks close the gap. After the third one he rotated to the back row, bringing Devine to the front, while Manders pounded a kill to cut Elder's lead to 11-10. Lucas scored on a nice tip over Centerville’s block for some breathing room, and the teams then traded points as Devine smashed a cross court kill, Siefke threaded the Elks’ defense with a backcourt smash, and a Devine spike was blocked out. At that point Elder got a big break when a Centerville serve went awry, making the score 14-12. But the Elks weren’t through. Devine drilled another spike (after Siefke dug two previous Elk missives), and Gibble smoked a Panther overpass. With the tie it was do or die for Elder and they did, just like they had all day. Barth hit a nice tip into a hole that was lifted, and went back to serve. As he did Elder fans began yelling “Don’t jump”, reflecting problems both teams were having with errant jump serves. Barth complied with a nice regular serve. Jolley tried to tie things back up with a terminating swing, but the Panther’s got enough of a block to send the ball high and render it harmless. Bloemker followed with a well placed spike that ended the match. ***************************************************************** Centerville also had a tough time reaching the final, coming back in game two of both preliminary matches. In their opener against Hilliard Darby the Elks rallied from a 22-20 deficit, and won the match 25-18, 25-23. They were then pitted against Fairborn, a Dayton area rival from just up I-675 with lots of seniors, including hitting/setting sensation Dan Holloway, and visions of bagging the Elks. But Centerville prevailed 25-19, 26-24, rallying from a 23-21 deficit in game two. Jolley hit three kills in a row to put his team up 18-9 in the first game. Jarrod Birchfield served two aces to start a Skyhawk mini-rally, and Fairborn outscored the Elks 10-7 the rest of the way, but it was too late. Middle/outside hitter Chuck Cheatham and Holloway led the offense and junior Justin Birchfield made some great digs. Fairborn continued taking it to Centerville in game two, and was close to victory with a 23-21 lead after a kill by Birchfield. But Gibble scored a kill and a Skyhawk hit was out. The Elks returned that favor with a long serve, but Gibble tied it again. On the next two volleys Versen set Jolley, who buried both spikes and ended the Skyhawks hopes of victory. ***************************************************************** Worthington Kilbourne won the Silver championship, defeating Mt. Vernon in the final 28-26, 25-20. Kevin Lookabaugh was a big factor, as the 6’5” junior pounded away at Mt. Vernon’s defenses from front and back court. The Yellow Jackets were able to block some of his shots, but the net result (pun intended) was a plus for Kilbourne. Game one was close with Mt. Vernon leading much of the way until the Wolves rallied for five points behind the serving of Heath Hartshorne to go up 18-15. Mt. Vernon rallied for a 21-20 edge, started by a kill from sophomore Patrick Blubaugh, and a block by setter Alex Nixon. After that the lead went back and forth. John Vonck two handed a hit to Kilbourne’s backcourt to put the Yellow Jackets at game point 24-23. But two kills by Lookabaugh gave Kilbourne the edge. The Wolves were called for a lift after which Vonck blocked Lookabaugh, and Mt. Vernon was back in the driver’s seat. Lookabaugh came right back with a spike that went straight down, and Hartshore served an ace. On the next play a spike by Blubaugh was out, but the backcourt judge said it was tipped. However, the umpire saw it otherwise and Kilbourne was awarded game point. In game two Mt. Vernon again led, by scores of 15-12 and 17-15. Kilbourne took an 18-17 lead, on a hit from back court and an ace, both by Lookabaugh. The Yellow Jackets went back up 20-19, but Lookabaugh placed a running two-handed hit in Mt. Vernon’s back court behind all their players. Jordan Lookabaugh then served a rally that ended the match, scoring twice on aces.
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