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LaSalle wins first Worthington Kilbourne HFA title April 21, 2007 By Jim Jicha Cincinnati LaSalle struck gold in the 15th annual Home Field Advantage tournament last Saturday as they defeated then unbeaten Hilliard Darby 25-22, 15-25, 25-20 in the championship match. It was the first time the Lancers had won the event, which is hosted by Worthington Kilbourne. LaSalle edged ahead 21-19 on a 3-point, and hung on to prevail in a see-saw game one. Darby led initially, paced by 6’5” John Tholen and 6’4” Austin Brown. But LaSalle tied it at 5 and went up 9-7 and 13-9 behind kills by Kyle Ficker and some great digs from libero Joe Zint. The Panthers retied at 15 on two kills from senior outside Pete Stahl and an ace by Dustin Horn. Two blocks by 6’4” middle Andrew Kroger put LaSalle back up by 18-16, but Darby came right back, with a cross court smash by Derek Brooks giving them a 19-18 lead. LaSalle outside Jason Ruberg tied it again with a kill. Darby obliged with two errors, and the teams traded points with Lancer setter and tourney MVP Zach Meyer making a great dump for a 24-22 lead, after Ficker dug a well placed Darby tip to avert yet another tie. An errant hit ended matters. Darby shot ahead 4-0 in game two, but LaSalle tied at 6 and went up 11-10 on two kills by Ficker. However, Brooks demolished the next volley to ignite a 14-3 Panther run, which was led by two kills and a block from 6’5” Thomas Howard. Stahl terminated the game with a shot that ricocheted off the block and into the netting separating the two courts. Howard began game three with another kill, and after two Lancer points, he scored again on a slide smash. Setter Everett Bell served an ace, and a block by Howard was followed by a tip by Stahl that put the Panthers up 5-2. It appeared the match might be following the script of Darby’s semifinal 2-1 win over St. Xavier, but Ficker had other ideas. The senior outside scored on a well placed tip that was dig into the net, and then served up five straight tallies, including an ace. Darby never led again, but stayed close. They tied once more at 13, but Ficker put LaSalle back on top with a kill and teammate Brian Jacob came up with a booming block that landed on the line to make it 16-13. The Panthers narrowed the margin to 20-18 on a dump by setter Austin Miller, after a diving Zint had thwarted yet another Darby spike. Ficker reposted with a smash through a double block, and two Darby miscues gave the Lancers some breathing room at 23-18. Tholen kept Panther hopes alive with a kill, but Kroger demolished a back court spike, and after a net serve (that almost cleared the net), Jacob smashed match point through the block. LaSalle advanced to the final with a 25-19, 25-17 win over northeast power and the undefeated Lakewood St. Edward. The Lancers used a 5-1 run to pull ahead 16-11 in game one. The Eagles crept closer with outside hitter Dave Malloy providing two points and middle Aaron Flick smoking a Joe Tima short set. But Kroger ended a long volley with two well placed kills, and when Ruberg blocked an Eagle short set spike, the Lancers were up 20-14, and they were not threatened again. An ace by Ficker put LaSalle up 24-14 in game two, and after three Eagle points Ruberg ended it with a cross court shot. St. Edward prevailed over Cincinnati St. Xavier in a close match for third place 25-21, 26-24. St. Xavier led 23-21 and 24-23 in game two, but Flick tied it with a kill as the Eagles put it away, thereby avoiding a tiebreaker. Darby defeated St. Xavier 18-25, 25-11, 25-18 in their semifinal. Bomber middle hitter Jack Habig scored the first kill in game three, but Howard tied it with cross court smash and Bell served four in a row, the first off a booming block by Stahl. The Panthers opened up a 9-3 margin, but St. Xavier rallied and was within two or three several times. With the end nearing, a service error put Darby up 22-18. Stahl teamed with Tholen on a block, and following an errant Bomber spike, Stahl demolished an overpass for the match. St. Charles took the Silver with a 25-17, 25-19 win over Westerville North. The Cardinals flew out to a 16-6 lead in game one behind the hitting of Tristan Butcher and Phillip Hanson. A cross court spike by sophomore Ned Gruber ended the game. St. Charles built a 15-8 game two margin, with Brandon Jones contributing two key kills. But the Warriors scored twice on a kill by Scott Nufer and a Lee Andrews block, and they crept to 19-17 on a block by Geoff Peterfy. St. Charles then scored two, and when North setter Andrew Woodward came up with two great dumps, Hanson countered with a cross court termination and a short set blast that left the score at 23-19. St. Charles setter Justin Miller took the Cardinals to the brink with a dump and gave Hanson a great short set with which to end the match. Westerville North won what may have been the wildest match of the day, a 30-28, 23-25, 25-23 cliffhanger over Walsh Jesuit. North prevailed in game one after Walsh roared back from a several point deficit and took a couple overtime leads. Nufer retied it for North at 28 and Woodward scored two blocks for the win. Walsh Jesuit hung on to win game two after North roared back from 16-8 to 19-17, helped by Andrew Lee’s serving. Digs by Walsh middle Kevin May helped Walsh to a 23-20 margin. But scrappy Westerville tied it up, and only a diving dig by Walsh outside Kevin Sweeney averted a North go ahead. Walsh eventually scored point 24, and setter Kevin Eichenbaum served an ace for the game. North led by three or more for much of the tiebreaker, but Walsh closed to 20-19 on two spikes by freshman Alex Condouri. Led by by Peterfy who contributed a kill and service ace, North spurted to match point. But three North errors and a block from Buchi Offodile saw the lead again cut to one. Hopes of a Walsh victory were promptly dashed, however, by an untimely net serve. St. Charles downed Pickerington North in their semifinal 17-25, 25-19, 25-20. After North crept to within three in the tiebreaker behind Andrew Maggard’s hitting, two kills by Cardinal sophomore Ned Gruber sealed the win. ******************************************************************* Speaking of wild matches, Pickerington North won a donnybrook over Westerville North Thursday evening 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23, 21-19. It was the second time this season the Panthers had come back from 0-2 against the Warriors. Pickerington also won in late March 19-25, 23-25, 25-13, 25-22, 15-13.
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