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State tourney preview: St. Xavier and Roger Bacon favored in close calls May 20, 2009 by Jim Jicha The regular season is completed and everyone has 20-plus matches under their belts, but the state title picture isn’t that much clearer than it was in March when we said things could be up for grabs. They still are, and although a couple of teams have emerged as favorites, a surprise champion is an intriguing possibility in each division. With more parity than in recent years, the key to winning a state title will be the ability to sustain a high level of intensity through five games while holding mistakes to a minimum. Division I St. Xavier and Archbishop Moeller are the leading choices in the South and in Division I. We’re sticking with our preseason selection, St. Xavier, although for a brief period from May 9 through early evening May 12 we were leaning toward Moeller. The Bombers started the season by winning the St. Charles Classic, but had a close 26-24, 25-23 call in the opening round with St. Ignatius. Then they beat Elder, Moeller and LaSalle in succession, thereby establishing themselves as the team to beat. But on April 17 they dropped a 23-25, 25-27, 32-30, 24-26 decision at Centerville and the following weekend fell to Moeller in the title match of the Centerville Elite. Two weeks hence the Bombers lost again to Moeller 25-23, 19-25, 14-16 in the Buckeye Classic championship match, that occurring just two days after they were surprised by Elder 25-23, 26-28, 21-25, 24-26. But they closed the season with a flourish, taking out Moeller 25-17, 25-22, 25-22 and beating LaSalle decisively to win the GCL South title. We expect St. Xavier and Moeller to face off again, this time for the state championship. But to even get to the quarterfinals, the Bombers must deal with Elder again in the regional championship. The Panthers have height on their side and their six losses may provide as much motivation to themselves as to their opponents. All are to Moeller, Elder and LaSalle and, save for the opening season setback to the Bombers, all went to tiebreakers. Four were two-pointers. Elder finished number one in Hilliard with wins over both Darby and Davidson, and has beaten other regional powers such as St. Ignatius and St. Edward. They also downed Division II favorite Roger Bacon 25-16, 25-17, 34-32. St. Xavier over Elder is a close call, and before they meet again, Elder must get past Milford which is in its best season ever, while St. Xavier gets to play Mason which split matches with Milford. Moeller’s only losses in Ohio have come at the hands of St. Xavier, and the Crusaders are 5-2 against Elder and the Bombers. They’ve also beaten the leading teams from the other regions, Centerville 25-23, 25-21, Mt. Vernon and Lakewood St. Edward. Their regional final opponent is expected to be LaSalle, a team they nipped 25-22, 29-31, 25-20, 23-25, 16-14 to open the season, and then beat in four last week. Seven of LaSalle’s nine losses are to their GCL brethren. The other two came at the hands of St. Charles and St. Ignatius, and they've avenged both. The Lancers have also beaten the likes of Worthington Kilbourne, Roger Bacon, McNicholas. If they Lancers get past Moeller they can reach the final. But first things first. Looming in the regional semifinal is Sycamore, which finished runner-up to Lakota West in Great Miami Conference. Centerville is expected to advance as usual from the West region. The Elks' three losses are to Elder in four, to St. Edward in five in the first round of the Centerville Elite, and to Moeller 23-25, 21-25 in the Buckeye Classic Gold Bracket. They finished fifth in the Elite, beating Hilliard Darby and Mt. Vernon, and fifth in the Buckeye Classic with wins over Darby and Hilliard Davidson. The Elks began their season by winning the Lakota West Tri-Match, and have defeated most if not all of the other West powers. Lakota West nipped Sycamore the first week of the season 22-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-23, 15-13 and that match decided the Greater Miami Conference title. Later in the year they defeated St. Edward 31-29, 25-22 and host Beavercreek, but lost to Archbishop in the same quad. To reach state, West will have to beat Beavercreek again, and get past the winner of Kettering Fairmont and Northmont, teams they’ve also bested before. Heading East we find Mt. Vernon, which started the season with a tri-match loss to Hilliard Davidson, but rebounded to defeat St. Edward. The Yellow Jackets finished 8-0 in the OCC Capital Division with two wins over Pickerington North. Significantly, they have beaten Worthington Kilbourne three times, once for the Buckeye Classic Silver bracket title, Hilliard Darby and St. Ignatius. Last week they tuned up for the tournament with a four game decision over Division II power St. Charles. Their other three losses are to Moeller, St. Xavier, and Centerville. Ironically, Hilliard Davidson, which finished third in the OCC Ohio Division, will probably be the Yellow Jackets’ opponent for the regional title. The Wildcats poignantly illustrate why deciphering the winners is so difficult this season. They beat not only Mt. Vernon, but St. Ignatius as well. Those teams finished 3-0 against Hilliard Darby, which in turn beat Davidson twice. The other East bracket should go to either Worthington Kilbourne or Darby. The two split their matches this season and tied for the OCC Ohio title. Kilbourne lost to eventual champion LaSalle 25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 25-20, 9-15 in their Wolf Invitational, and two of their setbacks to Mt. Vernon were close. The Wolves defeated Archbishop Hoban and Roger Bacon in the Buckeye Classic Silver Bracket. Darby continued their OCC dominance with a young team and a new coach. Their ten losses are misleading as all came against ranked opponents, specifically Centerville, Elder, Mt. Vernon, Moeller, St. Ignatius, Elder and Kilbourne. Pickerington North and Dublin Coffman could make things interesting for Kilbourne and Darby, respectively, in the regional semifinal matches. We now head north where St. Edward and St. Ignatius are heavily favored to advance. St. Edward won both of their meetings with St. Ignatius, and the two would surely love to tango a third time for the state championship. St. Edward won big in the first round of the Centerville Elite with a 25-22, 29-31, 14-25, 26-24, 15-9 decision over the host Elks, but then fell to Moeller and Elder. The Eagles are 2-1 against East powers, with wins over Kilbourne and Davidson, and a loss to Mt. Vernon. St. Ignatius has had some success against the GCL. The Wildcats opened the season with a 24-26, 23-25 loss to St. Xavier and finished fifth in the St. Charles Classic by beating tough Louisville St. Xavier and Pickerington North. They brought home the Kilbourne Wolf Invitational trophy, defeating LaSalle for the title. But they were nipped in a Buckeye Classic rematch with the Lancers 26-28, 30-28, 13-15. Against the East they beat Darby and Kilbourne and lost to Davidson and Mt. Vernon. Division II Comprising five of the state’s six top teams, the recent Buckeye Classic Silver Bracket afforded a preview of where this division may be headed. Roger Bacon nipped St. Charles 25-19, 15-25, 18-16 in round one, and eventually finished third with a win over D-I toughie Kettering Fairmont. The Spartans earned the highest place, eleventh, of any D-II team in the state. St. Charles, meanwhile, finished fifth in the bracket with wins over Archbishops Hoban and McNicholas, both of whom in turn defeated Bishop Watterson. So where does this leave us? Well, Roger Bacon is now our pick to go all the way - we chose McNicholas in the preseason, if you recall – and not just because of their performance in the Classic. The Spartans compiled a perfect GCL mark against the Division II schools, defeating McNicholas and Purcell-Marian twice apiece, and West powers Chaminade-Julienne, Archbishop Alter and non-league Edgewood. But Roger Bacon’s first win over McNicholas took four games, and their season ending three-game sweep last Friday was a too close for comfort 25-22, 25-23, 25-23. The Spartans, who also beat D-I powers Sycamore and Milford, will have their work cut out for them in Saturday’s regional final against the winner of McNicholas and Purcell Marian. McNicholas finished the regular season 9-14, but it will be no surprise if they win the state. The Rockets have to be the tallest team in Ohio and they’ve played the strongest schedule of anyone in D-II. They started the season with an eighth place Gold Bracket finish in the St. Charles Classic, playing the final two matches without a setter and missing two defenders. Most of their losses were to strong and/or powerful D-I opponents, and the only D-II teams to beat them are Roger Bacon and St. Charles. Rocket wins include Chaminade-Julienne, Archbishop Alter, and Lakota West, and a 24-26, 24-26 loss to St. Edward is notable. Senior laden St. Charles has ruled the East, albeit their second win over Bishop Watterson - 28-26, 25-21, 25-23 – caused some squirming in the stands. The Cardinals have beaten the likes of Kilbourne (twice) and Sycamore, and against the GCL big schools they split with LaSalle and forced a tie breaker with St. Xavier in the final of the St. Charles Classic (which was played at Pickerington North and, hence, not on home turf). Their recent win over Hoban avenged an earlier 25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 16-25, 13-15 loss to the Knights, but the Cardinals are still looking to avenge another loss to Hoban. That occurred in last year’s state semifinal. If they get past the winner of Watterson and Dublin Scioto, and then beat the South champion, they’ll get their chance in the final, if Hoban gets that far. That’s a lot of ifs. Hoban does seem headed back to the final four, having beaten the likely challengers in the North region. The Knights started the season with a gutsy win over Louisville St. Xavier, and all their losses were to ranked teams, seven of them D-I. Besides splitting with St. Charles, they’ve beaten Bishop Watterson. Of relevance to this weekend’s regional final, the Knights own two wins over Walsh Jesuit, but they struggled at times in each. That brings us to the West where Chaminade-Julienne and Archbishop Alter seem headed for a fourth meeting, and a rematch of last year’s regional final which was won by Alter. For that to happen, however, Alter must get past Bishop Fenwick, while Chaminade has to beat Edgewood. Both of those matches look to be battles based on previous encounters. Chaminade beat both Alter and Edgewood in tiebreakers en route to garnering the Kettering Officials’ Tourney championship in March. The Eagles beat Alter again in their first GCL encounter, and they won the Edgewood tri-match in May encoring over their hosts again in a tiebreaker, and taking Lakota East in straight sets. The Eagles wrapped up the regular season with a gritty 27-29, 25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 15-11 over Kettering Fairmont. Alter gained a measure of revenge when they nipped Chaminade in their third meeting 22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 16-14 at Chaminade. The Knights, who also beat Edgewood in the Officials’ Tourney, won the Mason Tri-Match, taking Milford in the process, and they pushed McNicholas to five in mid-April. **************************************************************************** Rankings Division I 1 St. Xavier 2 Moeller 3 Elder 4 St. Edward 5 Centerville 6 Mt. Vernon 7 LaSalle 8 St. Ignatius 9 Worthington Kilbourne 10 Lakota West 11 Hilliard Darby 12 Hilliard Davidson 13 Kettering Fairmont 14 Milford 15 Sycamore Division II 1 Roger Bacon 2 St. Charles 3 McNicholas 4 Archbishop Hoban 5 Chaminade-Julienne 6 Archbishop Alter 7 Bishop Watterson 8 Walsh Jesuit 9 Edgewood 10 Purcell Marian
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