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Top teams make it to Final Four, St. Xavier finishes rollercoaster ride on top By Jim
Jicha The final four pairings ended up featuring the expected teams at the State Finals played Saturday at Cleveland State University.
St. Xavier, Moeller, and Centerville had been favored at the start of the season. They were the top three ranked teams in the Coaches Poll most of the year, in one order or another. Hilliard Darby, the highest ranked team in Central Region, completed the foursome.
But just as they have all season, the outcomes of the matches went against the results to date.
Moeller went into the Quarterfinals on Friday with an 0-3 record against Elder and Centerville. So naturally, they beat both of those teams to get to the Final.
But now the Crusaders had a problem. They were 3-1 against St. Xavier, their opponent for the Final. Worse yet, they had recently beaten the Bombers 15-6, 15-9 to win the GCL Showcase.
So when the rollercoaster finally crossed the finish line Saturday evening, it was St. Xavier who rode it to the end.
The State Championship was St. Xavier's first. It was their second appearance in the Final. In 1997 they finished Runner-Up to Moeller.
The Bombers success was in no small measure due to excellent passing. Especially in the Final with Moeller, there were many plays on which the pass went right to the setter at the net. The result was a balanced attack with solid well-placed hits.
During their Semi Final match with Hilliard Darby, the Bombers did a great job of digging.
Of course, digging and passing are really one and the same. In volleyball, everything else follows.
State Championship Match
St. Xavier def. Moeller 15-7, 15-12
When Moeller and St. Xavier squared off for the State Championship match, it marked the fifth meeting of the season for these league rivals.
Moeller was up three to one in matches. They had outscored the Bombers in all four. But the loss was a big one. It occurred in their league match, where St. Xavier blew a third game lead but hung on to win a marathon by the score of 6-15, 15-13, 20-18. That victory enabled St. Xavier to claim the undisputed title in the GCL with an 8-0 record.
The GCL crown was the only title the Bombers had won to date. In what had been a very frustrating season, St. Xavier had lost in every tournament they’d played. They lost to Centerville in the Cardinal Classic; Moeller at Kilbourne’s Wolf Classic; Moeller and Elder at the Centerville Elite; and Moeller again in the GCL Showcase.
But when Bombers beat Moeller in two games on Saturday 15-7, 15-12, they got their biggest win of the season. They earned their second title of the season. And they won the State Championship.
With Colin Johnson starting at server, the Bombers took off at Mach 2 speed in game one. Johnson kicked it off with an ace. A Crusader hit was out. Josh Lorenz blocked Nick Meyer. Johnson nailed another ace on the line down the right side. Grant Simpson blocked Mark Wimmers. A Moeller dig went in the net after another Johnson serve. The Bombers were up 6-0.
The teams traded sideouts and St. Xavier scored on a lift call. After a service error, Meyer demolished an overpass to put Moeller on the board. The teams traded points on hits that were out.
Robbie Klein scored two points for Moeller on kills for the Crusaders. The second came after Meyer made a nice pass on a blast aimed straight at him by the Bombers’ hitting ace Jason Motz.
Grant Simpson blocked a Meyer spike from backcourt for a sideout. Two sideouts later St. Xavier went up 9-4 when Patrick Corrigan blocked a spike by Nate Detmer.
Moeller scored a point on an errant Bomber spike. St. Xavier responded with two points, the first coming when Johnson turned a Meyer smash into a nice pass and the Crusaders then committed a hitting error. Kevin Overmann followed up with a service ace.
Moeller scored on another errant Bomber spike, but St. X got two points on Crusader errors to go up 13-6.
After three sideouts, Meyer tipped a Bomber overpass into a hole. But after three more sideouts, a Moeller hit was out, and St. X was at game point. Meyer hit a spike that was lifted on the second touch for a sideout. But Motz responded with a smash from back court that went out of bounds off two Crusaders’ fingertips. Simpson nailed a service ace and St. Xavier had game one.
Game two started off differently than game one. For one thing Moeller had first serve. Also, there were lots of sideouts. But St. Xavier still managed to take off to a 6-0 lead.
Lorenz and Simpson double blocked for a sideout on Moeller’s opening salvo. Nick Tenhundfeld blocked a dump try by Moeller’s Matt Gold to get the Bombers scoring off the ground. Three sideouts later Simpson added a point with a service ace. He contributed to the next point when Moeller’s overpass of his serve went to Johnson.
The teams traded sideouts and Motz’s spike was blocked out of bounds. After two more sideouts, Motz stuffed a block attempt by Detmer. There were four more sideouts, with Robbie Klein getting two kills and St. Xavier making great defensive plays. Finally Simpson got a kill for sideout and a block for the sixth point.
Then Moeller scored three points. Gold hit one across court into a hole. Meyer had a kill. The Bombers attack got snarled in the net. After a Bomber point, Meyer and Rob Wietmarschen blocked Motz for a point. Simpson got an ace to put St. Xavier up 8-4.
Now the Bombers started making errors, and Moeller capitalized to score eight unanswered points. Mark Wimmers started things off with a kill. After a sideout, Gold made a nice dump to get service back. A Bomber hit was out. An errant Bomber pass went straight to Meyer. Bomber miscues continued, and when Detmer scored on a block the Crusaders were up 12-8.
St. Xavier got a break when a spike by Corrigan rolled off the top of the net into a hole on Moeller’s side. And now the Bombers capitalized as Moeller got the ball stuck in the net. After two sideouts, Moeller had two hits go out, and Motz added a kill. The score was tied at twelve. Jeremy Snell, who had served the last three points, then put the Bombers up with an ace.
Klein broke serve with a kill, but Motz got the serve back when his spike caused a lift.
Colin Johnson, whose ace in game one started the scoring, stepped up to serve. Josh Lorenz’s block took the Bombers to match point. On the next play Lorenz and Grant Simpson teamed up for a block, and the match was over.
The Bombers had finally won a tournament.
Semi Finals
Moeller def. Centerville 3-15, 15-12, 15-11
Third time is a charm, or so the saying goes. Archbishop Moeller saw the wisdom in that adage as they beat Centerville 3-15, 15-12, 15-11 to advance to the State Final.
This was the third encounter for these teams. Centerville won the first 16-14, 16-14 in a match where Moeller reached game point in both games. The Elks won again in the Championship of the Centerville Elite 15-12, 7-15, 15-7.
For a while it didn’t seem like there would be any third time charm for Moeller, as the Elks won game one in lopsided fashion. The first game scoring started slowly. With Centerville only up 2-1, there were already eleven sideouts.
After breaking Moeller’s match starting serve, the Elks scored first on a controversial call when a block by Brett Versen was tipped out of bounds. The teams traded five sideouts with Nick Meyer blasting two kills for sideouts, one at Elks’ setter Reed Chilton.
Following Robblie Klein’s two handed hit that resulted in a lift by the Elks for another sideout, Moeller tied the score on a double block of Greg Caylor’s spike by Klein and Nate Detmer.
Ben Devine’s kill gave the serve back to Centerville. The Elks then scored when a Crusader was in the net on what would have been a sideout back to Moeller.
After the teams traded four sideouts, Centerville increased their lead to 5-1 on a block by Chilton and two Moeller errors.
Six more sideouts ensued, after which the Elks’ Andrew McFarlin scored an ace. Dan Cullis blocked Detmer and the Elks were up 7-1. Moeller scored a point on a long hit by Centerville, but the Elks came back with three more. Meyer scored on a kill to make it 10-3.
From that point it was all Centerville. Moeller was called for four hits on a nice serve by Chilton. Devine had a booming block. Chilton nailed an ace on the line. After two sideouts, Versen hit another ace.
Centerville’s final point came when a Moeller hit was out. Just before that Chilton made a diving dig to thwart a tip by Meyer and keep the ball in play.
Game two started like the first game, slowly. With the score 1-1, there were seven service exchanges. Moeller pulled ahead 3-1 on a block by Matt Gold and a kill of an overpass by Klein. Centerville’s Pete Merrill got an ace, but Moeller came back with a kill.
The Elks came back, tying it 4-4 on Versen’s block of an attempted dump. Mark Wimmers scored a kill, and a hitting error by Centerville put Moeller up 6-4. But the Elks took a 7-6 lead on a kill through the block by Caylor, followed by two aces from Versen.
Usually Versen jump serves, but this time he did not. His first serve just cleared the net and dropped like a rock.
At this point, Meyer hit a tip that was blocked out of bounds. A tip by Klein tied matters, and Moeller went up 8-7 when the Elks got the ball tied up in the net. The teams traded six sideouts, and Klein stepped up to serve. When he was done the Crusaders were up 12-7.
Gold and Detmer started the scoring with a block. Klein had an ace. Wimmers hit a crosscourt spike for a kill. Klein had another ace when the dig sliced out of bounds. On one play Ryan Wiesner made a nice dig standing up to stop a dump attempt by Chilton.
A block by Cullis ended the Crusaders’ run. The Elks came back to tie, scoring on two dumps by Chilton and miscues by Moeller. Chilton’s first dump was spiked hard over the blocker and the dig went out of bounds.
Matt Gold broke the Elks’ serve with a dump of his own. Caylor made a great save on the play, but Centerville’s attack ended up in the net. At this point there were several sideouts. Meyer had a couple of kills for Moeller. Tyler Jolley had two kills for the Elks, one on a tip as he was falling. Finally, Klein got a kill down the line on a slider to restore the serve to Moeller, and Gold scored on a kill.
After four more sideouts, a Centerville player under the net brought Moeller to game point. Klein then nailed a line drive serve down the line for the game.
Game three started with three sideouts. Centerville scored when Jolley blocked a spike attempt by Meyer, and went up 2-0 on a hitting error.
But then the Elks began making mistakes. Moeller scored six points on four hits that were out and two violations. Moeller contributed to the Elks’ problems with some good play. One point came after the Crusaders had blocked several Elks’ missives.
With Moeller up 6-3, Meyer placed a hit in the corner for a sideout. Then he scored two kills. The second came on an Elks’ overpass from a dig of his tip. After two more Crusader points on Elks’ errors, Moeller was up 10-3.
The Elks rallied with four points, scoring on a block by Cullis, two Moeller miscues and a kill down the line by Versen. Moeller scored a point, but the Elks got the serve back when they faked a slide and Versen pounded the ball down the line on the other side.
Chilton hit an ace. Sophomore Ryan Devine then scored when his diving dig of a Meyer smash went over the net and dropped in a hole. This made it 11-9 Moeller.
Mark Wimmers got the serve back for Moeller on a kill. On the next play, Centerville was under the net, and then Meyer nailed an ace on a serve that sent Chilton out of bounds chasing the dig.
The Elks got service back one more time. They closed to 13-11 on a block by Chilton and Cullis, and a hit by Klein that was out when he tried to get over the block. But a Moeller player blocked a tip by Centerville for a sideout.
Klein scored point 14 on a kill off the blocker. Match point came when Detmer and Gold double blocked Centerville. An Elk tipped the block over toward the Elks’ bench and no one could get to it.
That put the Crusaders in the Final to play the winner of the next match between St. Xavier and Hilliard Darby.
St. Xavier def. Hilliard Darby 15-6, 16-14
Midway through the season St. Xavier beat Darby for third place in Kilbourne’s Wolf Classic 15-7, 15-10. For a while the State Semi Final looked like a rerun as St. Xavier won game one 15-6 and took a 10-7 lead in game two.
After two sideouts to start the match, the Bombers scored the first six points of the match. Josh Lorenz started the run with a kill, and Grant Simpson added another. Another point came on a Darby error. After six more sideouts, Jason Motz scored twice, blocking Jimmy Stern and following up with a kill. Colin Johnson’s kill scored the sixth point.
Darby got on the board when Ben Willford blocked Motz for a sideout and Ryan Zelnis scored on a nicely executed dump. After another Bomber point on a lift call, Daby scored two more on Sterns’ kill and a Bomber hit that was out.
Simpson forced a sideout on a kill from back court, and he started a four point Bomber run by scoring another kill when a set from Zelnis inadvertently came over the net. Johnson hit a service ace, and after four sideouts, two Panther mistakes put St. Xavier ahead 11-3.
Josh Harrison got Hilliard going again. His kill through a block gave Darby the sideout. It was Harrison’s turn to serve and he came up with an ace followed by a spike from behind the line that landed for a kill. A bomber hitting error made the score 11-6.
A marathon of service exchanges followed, with several nice kills, a dump by Stern, and some service and hitting errors. Thirteen proved to be the lucky number for St. Xavier, when Motz’s spike was blocked out of bounds for the thirteenth sideout. A Darby hit sailed out of bounds and the Bombers were back on the scoreboard.
Corrigan blocked a missive from Stern for point thirteen. Willford’s kill to the Bomber’s back court gave Darby the serve, but it was only a reprieve. After three more sideouts, the Bombers scored the final two points on an errant Panther hit and a kill through the block by Motz.
The Bombers came out smoking again in game two, jumping off to leads of 3-0 and 5-1. St. Xavier broke Darby’s initial serve. Motz put his first serve into the corner for an ace. Following a nice save by Johnson, a St. Xavier spike was blocked out of bounds by Hilliard. Two sideouts later Kevin Overmann scored on an ace.
Darby scored following a short set sideout kill by Willford when a serve by Stern was lifted. But Corrigan got the serve back on a knock down kill. Lorenz and Johnson teamed up to score on a block. Johnson spiked a Panther overpass for another point.
Darby now went on the first of two runs, scoring six of the next eight points to tie the game at seven. The rally started when Darby faked a hit on a tandem and Stern got a tip into a hole for a sideout. Brian Welsh smashed a short set for a point, and Willford scored on a dink.
Nick Tenhundfeld stopped Darby briefly, forcing a sideout on a kill and scoring on a nice tip.
But Jason Martin’s kill gave the serve back to Darby, and the Panthers scored three more points. Harrison spiked a kill after St. Xavier dug two smashes that knocked players to the floor. Willford scored on a block, and Martin’s ace tied matters at six.
A smash off the blockers and out of bounds by Motz returned the lead to St. Xavier, but after three sideouts Darby tied it again.
Lorenz came up with two kills to force two sideouts. After the second, Overmann nailed two service aces and Corrigan hit a kill on a short set. This put the Bombers up 10-7.
Now Darby came up with their second run to go up 14-11. After a sideout, Josh Manley served five points in a row to start the run. A spike by Martin was lifted for a point. Manley made a great dig in back court to prevent a sure kill on a smash by Motz, and Darby scored on a dink. The Bombers got the ball tangled in the net twice, and some more great defense by Darby led to another point.
After a Darby hit was out, Corrigan got St. X back on the board with a kill. This was followed by intense play on both sides with five service exchanges. The fifth came after Manley made two diving saves and a Bomber hit was out.
Darby ran the score to game point at 14-11 on a block by Harrison and a service ace by Zelnis. Motz got a kill for sideout, but a service error gave the ball back to Darby. A kill by Simpson was followed by another Bomber service error. Johnson saved the game for St. X with a diving dig of a tip at the net which led to a sideout when a Darby hit was out.
Now it was the Bombers who executed a run that won the match. Simpson scored on a kill. After two sideouts Motz tipped the ball into a hole to make it 14-13. Corrigan blocked for a point to tie it. Tenhundfeld foloowed with a service ace to put the Bombers at match point.
But Darby wasn’t finished. Zelnis had a dump for sideout. Motz responded with a kill, but Willford blocked a spike from back court by St. Xavier to force another sideout. The Bombers in turn rejected three spikes from Darby before another Motz kill gave St. X the serve again.
On the next play, after a nice save by Johnson, Tenhundfeld got the ball over the net and Darby was called for a lift.
The Bombers were headed for their fifth match with archrival Moeller, this time for the State Championship.
Quarterfinal Results
Hilliard Darby def. Dublin Scioto 15-11, 13-15, 15-6
The first game was nip and tuck until Darby pulled away at the end. The Irish broke Darby’s match opening serve and scored two points on a block by Kevin Douce and a Panther lift. Darby broke serve and scored three points on two Scioto errors and a kill by John Harrison. Mike Morris tied it for the Irish with a tip.
After another Scioto Point, Darby’s Jason Martin scored an ace to start a serving exhibition by both teams. With the score knotted at 5, Darby’s Josh Manley served three points, two on aces.
Three sideouts later Douce stepped to the line and served four screaming jump serves. The result was three aces, and a Panther overpass that went to Joey Rossetter for another Irish point. That put Scioto up 9-8.
A service error ended the run. Darby then rallied for a 7-point run that won the game. The Panthers hit three more aces in their run, one by Harrison and two by Brandon Mitchell.
Darby raced to a 10-1 lead in game two, and it certainly didn’t look like Scioto was going anywhere. The Irish scored their point first. Darby retorted with three points, the teams exchanged sideouts, and then Jimmy Stern served seven more points. The Panthers scoring included a block by Ben Willford, a kill by Harrison, a nice dump by setter Ryan Zelnis and aces by Josh Manley and Stern. Scioto also contributed with some errors.
Then came a Scioto rally, and it was a big one. The rally started innocuously as the Irish scored on an errant Darby hit. But after Darby went up 11-2, Douce came up with two smashes for kills. Rob Chafin could have had a kill, but a Panther got caught in the net first. When another Panther hit sailed just outside the line the margin was 11-6.
After one more Darby point, Douce went to the serving line. This time he did not jump serve, but he served up five points. The first was another ace. Three more came on a kill and two tips from Rossetter. Another Darby hit was out and the Panther lead was down to one at 12-11.
Darby scored on a kill by Harrison, but Scioto got another sideout when Derrick Moomaw’s hit resulted in a Panther lift. Moomaw then served and Darby got the ball snarled in the net. Not wanting to miss out on the serving exhibition, Moomaw then tied the game with an ace.
There was on more exchange of sideouts. A kill by Douce was followed by Darby again getting the ball tangled in the net. Game two to Scioto 15-13.
The excitement turned out to be short lived, however, as Darby roared to leads of 9-0 and 14-2 in game three. The run started on three Scioto errors. Stern scored on a kill and tip, with Zelnis getting an ace in between. Scioto’s Alex McBride scored Scioto’s second point on an ace. But Willford had a huge block for Darby, and three more Scioto mistakes brought Darby to match point.
Scioto did get a mini-rally going thanks to a back court kill from Douce and two nice hits by Rosetter. But Ryan Zelnis got the serve back by nailing a kill on the slide, and Stern’s block of Douce ended the match.
Stat leaders for Darby were: Kills - John Harrison 11, Jimmy Stern 7; Solo Blocks - Stern 2; Assisted Blocks - Ben Willford 8; Digs - Harrison 10; Assists - Ryan Zelnis 62, 25 of which went for kills.
Centerville def. Worthington Kilbourne 12-15, 15-4, 15-4
Centerville took on Worthington Kilbourne next, and prior to the match Elk fans reported being nervous. After game one, they were in panic mode.
The Elks moved out to an early 5-1 lead, scoring on a dump and a block by Northwest Region Player of the Year Reed Chilton, and a smash by Brett Versen.
Kilbourne’s Alex Kamenetskiy and Centerville’s Pete Merrill traded kills. The Wolves’ Kelsey Begin scored on a block, and a hitting error by Centerville cut the lead to 6-4.
But Centerville started to pull away. Dan Cullis had a nice dig after which Kilbourne was called for four hits. Chilton scored twice on blocks and another smash by Versen made it 10-4.
However, with the score 11-5 and things seemingly under control, the Centerville fans’ worst fears were realized as Kilbourne erupted for eight unanswered points. The run started when an Elks’ hit was out. There were two sideouts, after which a Matt Lookabaugh smash was lifted by Centerville.
Centerville’s Ben Devine nailed a kill for a sideout with the Elks still in control 11-7.
But Chris Warner had other ideas, and his kill gave the serve back to Kilbourne. Warner then served the next six points. Lookabaugh had a kill, and he and Sean Safell teamed up on a block. The Elks got called for four hits after Kamenetskiy made a great save for Kilbourne. Lookabaugh scored on a stuff block and would have a second but an Elk was whistled for being under the net.
When the run was over the Wolves were on top 13-11. Centerville got one more point on a dump by Chilton. But a kill by Begin gave the serve back to Kilbourne.
Begin and Kamenetskiy teamed up for a block on Versen to get the Wolves to 14. So Versen let off on his next spike to go over the block. When the ball also went over the line, game one went to Worthington.
The start of game two had to have had the Centerville fans really squirming, as Kamenetskiy and Lookabaugh teamed up on a block, and Justin Douridas nailed a service ace. This got Kilbourne off to a 2-0 lead.
A kill by Devine forced a sideout and the Elks got on the board on a kill by sophomore Tyler Jolley. After a few sideouts a Versen smash from backcourt put Devine at the serving line. Chilton scored on a dink, Devine hit an ace, Chilton had a block and Greg Caylor smashed a kill through the block. When Devine was through the Elks were up 6-2.
Although there were several sideouts, Centerville continued their run until it was 13-2. Caylor scored two more kills, and Chilton had an ace. Chilton, who simply had a phenomenal match, also smashed a kill from back court on a set from Devine.
A Brian Smith kill for sideout finally broke the Elks’ run as Kilbourne scored. After the teams traded points, a short set kill by Cullis ended game two. The match was tied.
Game three started tentatively with the teams scoring on each others’ mistakes.
A Reed Chilton spike forced an error by Kilbourne for a sideout. Chilton then scored twice on a tip and a block, and Caylor blocked Lookabaugh’s spike attempt. Smith’s kill temporarily stopped the Elks, but after seven more sideouts, Jolley scored on a block.
Four sideouts later Devine stepped and served up six more points. Chilton faked everyone out when he went into his setting position and then dump spiked the ball into a huge hole at the last nanosecond. Cullis followed this with a block. Chilton got another dump spike, and he followed that with a block that resulted in a lift by Kilbourne.
On the next play the Wolves’ hit went right at Chilton. So he passed nicely to Cullis who set Caylor for another booming kill. With the Elks now up 12-2, things were going Centerville’s way and their fans could breathe a little easier.
Smith forced a sideout and a Lookabaugh ace scored one for the Wolves. But Chilton had yet another dump, and he and Cullis teamd up on a block to make it 13-3. Begin scored what was to be the final point for Kilbourne.
After Jolley’s kill for sideout, Chilton nailed an ace. And taking nothing off his spike this time, Brett Versen hammered a knock down kill to end the match.
To say Reed Chilton had a phenomenal match might be an understatement. Just look at the leaders. Kills – Chilton 14; Versen, Jolley 10; Cullis 8; Blocks – Chilton 4; Cullis 3; Versen 2; Assists – Chilton 47, Devine 4; Digs – Chilton 11; Versen 10; Andrew McFarlin 5.
St. Xavier def. Stow 15-13, 15-4
The third match featured a showdown between the Northeast and Southwest with Stow taking on Cincinnati St. Xavier. The teams somewhat appeared tentative at the start as they tested each other out.
Danny Irving started the scoring for Stow with a service ace. A Bomber was under the net, putting Stow up 2-0.
St. Xavier got an ace from Kevin Overmann, but Stow’s Ben Spurlock followed with two kills for sideout and a point. The teams traded points on errors. Two St. X kills, the second by Jason Motz tied matters at 4. Stow scored again, but then Motz and Grant Simpson scored kills to put St. X up 6-5.
Stow tied the game for what was to be the final time when a Bomber was in the net trying to stop a Spurlock spike. After a sideout, Overmann served four points to give the Bombers a 10-6 lead and some breathing room. The scoring came on blocks by Simpson and Nick Tenhundfeld, an ace by Overmann and a kill by Simpson.
Two Bomber mistakes resulted in Bulldog scores, but the Bombers added three points of their own on an ace by Simpson and a block and an ace by Patrick Corrigan.
Then Collin Springer got hot for Stow. He forced two sideouts on a block and a kill as Stow scored twice on Bomber miscues, then nailed a kill from back court to cut the lead to 13-11.
A short set kill by Corrigan pushed St. X to game point. This was followed by seven sideouts with some nice hits by Corrigan and Spurlock. Stow closed to 14-13 on a kill by Springer and an ace by Kyle Etcher.
But St. Xavier was not to be denied. Josh Lorenz broke Stow’s serve on a kill off the block. He then teamed with Motz to block Corrigan for game point.
While St. X won the second game 15-4, they had a lot more trouble than the score would indicate. There were 45 sideouts, and Stow was very much in the game. However, the Bombers were effective at forcing sideouts and keeping Stow from scoring.
When Motz hit a knock down kill to put the Bombers up 5-1 it looked like the game might be a fast one. But it took 14 service exchanges before St. X scored again. During this time the play was intense on both sides, with solid hitting accompanied by some great digs and saves.
The fourteenth sideout came when a spike from backcourt by Simpson was blocked out of bounds by Stow. The Bulldogs then committed two errors to put St. X up 7-1.
The Bombers continued building their lead to 12-1, in spite of several more sideouts. Corrigan had a tip land on the line, and followed that with another tip that Stow blocked out of bounds.
At this point there were five more sideouts, after which Stow finally got back on the board scored when a Bomber got into the net. Andy Pribonic and Spurlock teamed up on a block for another Bulldog point.
A kill from back court by Motz ended the mini-rally, however, and St. X approached match point on an ace by Overmann followed by a block of a Stow block by Corrigan. After Collin Springer got Stow’s final point, Corrigan’s kill off the block gave the serve to St. Xavier. When a Stow overpass went to Jason Motz the match was over.
Moeller def. Elder 15-7, 15-10
The final match of the day featured another league rivalry, with Moeller taking on Elder. Crusader fans were concerned about the condition of their State Player of the Year, Nick Meyer. The 6’8” middle hitter had been having back spasms for the past two weeks. This was causing him to play with a lot of pain. He had also missed several recent practices.
As it turned out Meyer was able to play front row. While he was not able to terminate the ball the way he normally can, Meyer played a smart game, using a combination of tips and well placed spikes to score kills. The result was a nice 15-7, 15-10 win, avenging a loss earlier in the month to the Panthers.
Any nervousness by Crusader fans at the start was alleviated when Moeller raced to a quick 8-0 lead. Meyer and Matt Gold teamed for a block, and Meyer also scored on a kill and a block. Gold added a couple of service aces.
Elder got on the scoreboard on a tip by John Bertke, an ace by Jeff Nienhaus and a kill by Scott Spitznagel. But a kill from backcourt by Moeller’s Ryan Wiesner forced a sideout that brought Meyer back in the game. The middle hitter promptly nailed a short set kill, then teamed with Rob Wietmarschen on a block, and Moeller was up 10-3.
Nienhaus hit a nice dump spike for sideout, and Elder scored on a Crusader hitting error. A serving error gave Moeller the ball. Moeller’s junior outside hitter Robbie Klein scored twice on a kill and block, and Detmer made it 13-4 with a block.
At this point both teams put on a hitting exhibition, as they traded sideouts and points. Elder’s Brian Meyers hit a smash down the line into the corner. Detmer had a nice kill on a slide to the right.
With Moeller up 14-6, Nienhaus got another dump spike for a sideout, and Elder scored their final point on a double block by Bertke and Meyers.
Matt Gold hit an ace for game point, but not before seven sideouts punctuated by some more stellar play. Klein had a great serve that would have gone for game point, but Elder made a great save.
Game two started like the first. Elder scored first on a ace by John Tiemeier. After five sideouts, Eric Schatzle served four points for Moeller, hitting two straight aces. After a point by Elder, Moeller got three more, as Meyer hit a block and a kill.
Trailing 7-2, Elder’s Nienhaus blocked Klein for sideout, as the Panthers mounted a rally. Spitznagel’s ace made it 7-5. Mark Lucas blocked a spike by Meyer, and that was lifted by a Crusader. Bertke and Nienhaus blocked then Klein it the game was tied at seven.
Unfortunately, two Panther errors gave Moeller a 9-7 lead. Elder scored one more point, but then the roof fell in. Klein hit an ace. Two sideouts later, Nick Engle hit an ace. An Elder player was in the net, and a ball dropped between two Panthers. When Nick Meyer found a hole for his tip, the Crusaders were up 14-8.
Elder got two more points on Crusader mistakes. But after a service error by the Panthers gave the serve to Moeller, Nate Detmer’s spike was blocked out of bounds.
And Moeller was on their way to a showdown with Centerville.
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