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St. Charles avenges Buckeye Classic loss with win over Roger Bacon; advances to title match June 4, 2009 by Jim Jicha St. Charles advanced to the Division II state championship match with a 25-17, 25-12, 18-25, 25-16 win over Roger Bacon last Saturday in the first semifinal played at Walsh Jesuit High School. This marks the Cardinals' second advance to the final - they finished state runner-up to Thomas Worthington in 1990. St. Charles fell to Archbishop Hoban in the semifinal last season. It was Roger Bacon’s first appearance at state, and it’s not that the Spartans haven’t fielded good teams over the years. But until last year’s creation of a second division, their tournament trail had been blocked by the Moeller, St. Xavier, Elder triumvirate. With their victory the Cardinals avenged a 19-25, 25-15, 16-18 loss to Roger Bacon in the Buckeye Classic. The different outcome was the result, according to Coach Shane Farrell, of improved passing and net play. “We had no block the first time”, Farrell said, adding “we also passed a lot better (this time) and could run all the options of our offense”. Farrell noted that his team was able to vary their offense, hitting long or tipping short, depending on what the Spartan defenders were doing. Roger Bacon Coach Adam Goller summed it up with “They ball controlled us to death”. That they did, especially Honorable Mention All-Ohio libero Zach Hartmann, with help from outside hitter Matt Van Volkenburg, Second Team All-Ohio middle hitter Ned Gruber and the rest of the corps of skilled back row players. The Cardinals began the day with kills by Van Volkenburg and 6’3” sophomore middle Andy Sellan. But 6’3” junior middle Matt Westerfeld got Roger Bacon on the board with a liner to the corner, and after the Cardinals misfired on two volleys and outside Eric Strotman popped into a hole, the Spartans were up 4-2. Senior setter/opposite Damon DiSabato countered with a line shot down the right and the teams traded points until the Cardinals retied at six. Spartan right side Kevin Kay scored on a smash to back middle, and after a tying block by St. Charles middle Nick Summers, 6’4” First Team All-Ohio middle Cody Parker put the Spartans back atop with a tip off the block. However, following a serving error, DiSabato and Summers teamed for a block kill and Gruber aced as St. Charles retook the lead for good. With the score 12-10, DiSabato served six points, including two aces while Sellan contributed two points. The Spartans narrowed the gap to 19-14, but the Cardinals surged to 23-16, and after one more kill by Parker, Van Volkenburg hit a line drive that was dug under the net and Sellan spiked off a block for game point. Gruber scored from back court to open game two as the Cardinals again went up 2-0. However, Roger Bacon capitalized on two more miscues, plus blocks by Kay and Westerfeld to move in front 4-3. The teams traded lead to make it 6-5. At that juncture, the 5’11” Gruber blasted a kill off a defender, tipped for a point and blocked Rose to put his team up for keeps 8-6. The lead expanded to 11-7 when DiSabato scored from the right and Gruber blasted away from back court. Strotman pounded two kills to narrow the gap to 11-9, but Summers pounded a James Yurkovich quick set, then served two aces as the Cardinals flew out to 16-9. Spartan Honorable Mention All-Ohio junior setter Jake Rose dumped into a hole to stop the run, but DiSabato added another kill and an ace, and Gruber added three more points, the last one a game winning pop that came after Sellan dove for a save in front of the bench. Roger Bacon scored first in game three on a liner by Westerfeld that was dug under the net. Gruber nailed another kill from back court as St. Charles went up 2-1 and, as in the first two sets, scoring went back and forth. But with things knotted at eight, the Spartans seized the momentum, when Parker put up a hard to reach tip that led to a Cardinal double hit. Rose then blocked Yurkovich, who was trying to dump a too-close-to-the-net receive of Parker’s serve. Parker then drilled a smash from back court that was dug too near the net and led to a back row violation by St. Charles. Following a Spartan miscue, Strotman spiked and Westerfeld blocked for two kills each, and shortly thereafter Strotman blasted another kill and boomed a block to blow the game open 20-10. St. Charles rallied with five, but Roger Bacon countered with two, and at 23-18, Rose blocked a tip and outside hitter Ben Barnes terminated the game with a blast to deep left. Roger Bacon scored first in game four on a Cardinal lift that was abetted by Spartan junior libero Sean Speed’s saving dig. But DiSabato and Gruber spiked kills, and when DiSabato aced and Yurkovich holed a dump, the Cardinals led 4-2. The Spartans retied at five on kills by Westerfeld and Parker. That, however, was the beginning of the end. Gruber smashed a kill through the block on the left to start a four point run, in which DiSabato scored from back court and Summers blocked Parker. And although the Spartans narrowed a bit, led by Strotman and Westerfeld, 12-10 was the closest they came. Gruber pounded three more kills in a 7-2 run that was fueled by back sets from Yurkovich and helped by fakes from Sellan that created open net opportunities. With the score 21-16, DiSabato prevented a Spartan block from landing with a one-handed dig, and Summers block killed. That started a run to the finish as Gruber added another point from back court, Sellan blocked and Van Volkenburg spiked off a block for the match winner.
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