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Archbishop Hoban flawless in tiebreaker after 25-23 comeback wins June 5, 2009 by Jim Jicha Defending state champion Archbishop Hoban overcame a third game blow out along with a height disadvantage, and rallied to defeat Chaminade-Julienne 18-25, 25-23, 13-25, 25-23, 15-9 in a Division II semifinal at Walsh Jesuit High School last Saturday. The Knights faced St. Charles, whom they beat in the semifinal last year, for the championship on Sunday. The win was Coach Matt Mihelic’s 100th career victory. Hoban trailed most of games one and three and never led in either. And they had to rally from 17-21 in game two, and from 12-18 and 19-21 in game four. But they led all the way in a flawless tiebreaker effort, and won going away after the Eagles had closed to 11-9. The first four games were reminiscent of the first six games of the 1960 World Series in which the New York Yankees, having outscored the Pittsburgh Pirates 46-17 and out-homered them 8-1, nevertheless wound up playing a seventh game. The Pirates prevailed in that one 10-9, helped by four homers including a bottom of the ninth blast by Tiltonsville, Ohio native Bill Mazeroski, and took the Series four game to three despite a 27-55 run disadvantage. Chaminade kicked things off as junior setter Nick Michel prevailed on a play at the net, and 6’5” First Team All-Ohio senior outside Ethan Klosterman and middle hitter Charlie Jackson double block killed. Junior setter/outside RC Kunig got Hoban on the board, and when C-J hit long the game was tied. But the Eagles quickly moved ahead for good, 5-2, as 6’6” senior middle David Kracirik tipped for a point while the Knights contributed two errors. Scoring went back and forth to 9-7. C-J then scored three, with senior right side Nathan Constable finding an empty spot in the right back, and Michel following with a heads up save over the net which the Knights mishandled. After more point trading, Hoban closed to 15-13 as Second Team All-Ohio senior outside hitter Mike Horth blasted two cross court kills while libero Chris Herbert kept the ball in play with saves. Hoban stayed close for a bit, thanks to two dumps by First Team All-Ohio junior setter Willy Veverka. But C-J junior outside Mike Piekenbrock spiked a kill and Klosterman block killed to keep pace. And after one more dump by Veverka, C-J surged out to 23-17 on a short set termination by Jackson, a bad receive of Jackson’s ensuing serve and a block by Kracirik. Soon after, Kracirik took the Eagles to game point and Klosterman demolished an overpass to end it. Game two went back and forth, by contrast, with three lead changes and nine ties. C-J scored first and the teams traded two points apiece. A kill by Klosterman put the Eagles ahead 4-2 and that grew to 7-3 on a hit to right corner by Kracirik and a block by Constable, helped by passing from Honorable Mention All-Ohio junior libero Christian Volk. But the Knights rallied on block kills from sophomore middle Mikey Sokol and junior middle Adam Weaver, and Hoban moved ahead 10-8 as Weaver spiked three Veverka quick sets. Weaver added three more kills but four errors kept Hoban from expanding their lead further than 14-12. Following a Knights’ net infraction, Klosterman spiked, hit and blocked the Eagles back in front 16-14. The Knights tied at 16 but C-J kept a step in front on a termination by Klosterman, and Kracirik and Piekenbrock paced another four-point Eagle run to 21-17. But Hoban rallied again, scoring on a kill by Sokol after Volk had pancaked a dump from Veverka. With C-J still up 21-19, Klosterman made a diving save, but Hoban prevailed when Veverka block killed on a play at the net. C-J called timeout, but to no avail, as their next hit sailed long tying the score at 21. Kracirik came to the rescue, crunching an overpass that ended a long volley kept alive by a pancake from outside hitter Eric Antonucci. But an Eagle error retied the score. An extremely long volley ensued with saves on both sides by Herbert, Kunig, Antonucci, Volk, and Michel – did we miss anyone? – and when Horth finally ended it with a kill the Knights were back in the saddle. Horth encored with a smash off the block, after another big save by Antonucci, to take it to game point. Jackson reprieved temporarily, blasting a Michel short set up the middle. But Weaver retorted with a smash that was dug into the stands and the match was even. Klosterman and Kunig traded points to start game three. But after that it was all Eagles, as Klosterman blocked and Kracirik spiked a cross court kill for a 5-1 lead. When Hoban closed to 6-4, Klosterman line drove one point and served five more while Volk kept Hoban from scoring. The Knights came back to 13-10, but C-J answered back with four. With the Eagles up 18-12, Klosterman tipped and terminated for two, and after one more Hoban point, Klosterman blasted another point and Michel served out. Hoban drew first blood in game four on a smash by Weaver. But Klosterman riposted from back row with a running jump spike delivered near the net (but with Klosterman still airborne), and Jackson block killed on Weaver. Hoban tied at three on two kills by Kunig with an intervening overpass blast from Jackson. But Hoban then hit into the net. That brought Michel to the line, and he served another run as Hoban compounded their first gaffe with five more to give C-J a 9-3 advantage. Coach Mihelic did not call a timeout and Antonucci finally ended the run with a termination to back court. Mihelic explained afterward “There was nothing that I could say that would negate all those errors. There was no coaching point I could make”. He said that despite the errors “I felt they were going to turn”. Sokol followed with a kill, but Klosterman responded with a blast that was blocked over and out. Scoring went back and forth, a point or two either way at a time, and when the score reached 18-12, the Knights were closer to being eliminated, but no closer to the Eagles. But Sokol scored again and Horth nailed a spike from back court, and although Hoban’s next missive was long, Hoban was a point closer at 19-14. Antonucci converted an off set into a well placed kill, and on the next volley Weaver rejected a spike and C-J’s follow up attempt was into the net. Sophomore Tyler Gerwig served an ace to the right line. His next serve was in the net, but the Knights were closer still at 20-17. Antonucci got them going again with a smash to back court that was dug into the bleachers. C-J obliged with a hitting error that made it 20-19. Jackson scored for C-J on a short set kill by Jackson, bur Veverka parried that with a block kill on a play at the net. On the ensuing volley, C-J hit long trying to get past a wall put up by Weaver and Kunig. Then Weaver holed a shot, putting Hoban on top 22-21 for its first lead since 1-0. Michel responded with a tying dump which Hoban mishandled into the net. But on the next play, after Weaver dove for a save, Kunig hammered another go-ahead point to the back middle. The Knights then served into the net, but Kunig delivered a huge cross court smash to left corner that put Hoban on the verge 24-23. Sokol then stymied C-J's next attempt at a kill and although the Eagles kept the ball in play, their next hit sailed out. The match was even again. Chaminade-Julienne ran into a buzz saw in the tiebreaker as Hoban continued its hot streak of game four, with one major improvement. The Knights stopped making unforced errors! Completely! As a result, the Eagles would earn every single one of their nine points via a kill or a block. Kunig started things with a kill to the back line, and after a block kill by Horth, he delivered another point to the right back. Klosterman terminated into the right middle to get the Eagles on the board, but two miscues put Hoban ahead 5-1. Klosterman scored again with a tip, then block killed on Kunig. But Sokol holed a Veverka quick set, and Kunig followed with an ace into the right corner. The teams traded scores with Kracirik block killing Sokol, and Antonucci finding a hole. C-J closed to within 8-6 as Kracirik reposted with a kill, and Klosterman ended a long and contested volley with a blast from back court. A kill by Jackson was, unfortunately for the Eagles, sandwiched between errors of their own making, leaving the score 10-7. But Piekenbrock kept C-J within two with a kill, and when Veverka deftly dumped a teammate's serve receive that came too near the net, Klosterman answered with a second effort kill. Horth, however, responded for Hoban with a drive to left back. And when Weaver dug a knock down spike over the net to avert another C-J touché, Horth nailed a cross court shot from the right, then encored with a smash from the same spot off the block to put Hoban on the cusp at 14-9. Michel tried to keep things alive with a dump, but he was met by a brick wall named Kunig, whose match point block sent the Knights into their second straight state final appearance. **************************************************************** Most of Chaminade’s players were sporting Mohawk haircuts, the result of a team bonding session the evening before. The entire team also wore wristbands and orange headbands in honor of a fallen teammate, Lucas Pfander, who drowned last summer in a boating mishap on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. Pfander, a starting outside hitter in 2008, would have been a senior this year.
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