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St. Edward captures first Elite title with wins over Moeller, Elder and St. Xavier May 11, 2010 by Jim Jicha A favorite ice cream shop of mine has a sign that reads “too much of a good thing is wonderful”. I was reminded of that during the first round of the Centerville Elite tournament, while struggling to see as much as possible of four matches being played simultaneously in two gyms. When the contest between Lakewood St. Edward and Archbishop Moeller went five games, it was an opportunity to watch without distraction the Eagles as they took an initial big step toward becoming the first northeast Ohio school ever to win this tournament. The Elite annually pits top teams in Ohio against each other - eight of the then top ten ranked Division I schools were in this one. St. Edward’s best previous finish was fourth in 2009. Perhaps even bigger than winning the Elite was that the Eagles also took down three-fourths of Cincinnati’s Greater Catholic League in the process, knocking off Moeller, Elder and St. Xavier in succession. St. Edward Coach Neil Corrigan wasn’t shocked. “I knew that we could compete, but we’d never proven ourselves (against GCL powers), despite winning a game here and there”. He added “I didn’t think we should win, but I knew we could”. The Eagles had in fact beaten Moeller on opening day at the Mount Vernon Quad, and because of that, “we knew what to do” said setter Chris Royer. Moeller, however, was not at full strength that day, with outside hitter Tucker Skove and his 47-inch vertical sidelined by an ankle injury. Moeller arrived in Centerville with Skove back in the lineup, and in sole possession of first place in the GCL, fresh from a win over Elder. St. Edward came tantalizingly close to toppling Moeller in last year’s state semifinal, taking two of the first three sets and leading 17-11 in game four. But Moeller prevailed 25-18, 23-25, 24-26, 27-25, 15-12, after also trailing 10-9 in game five. This time it was the Eagles who came back 25-16, 22-25, 17-25, 25-9, 15-13, after Moeller “took us apart in game three”, which was how Corrigan put it. The Eagles rebounded with flawless volleyball in game four, and rallied from 7-10 in the tiebreaker. After St. Edward won game one, Skove made his presence known, terminating two volleys to spark a three-point run to a 22-18 game two lead. St. Edward answered with three, but the Crusaders upped the margin to 24-21, helped by a diving dig in the middle from Skove. After a short set demolition by Eagles sophomore middle Owen McAndrews, Moeller middle blocker Ben Vickers ended the game with a blast in the middle. When Moeller won game three going away 25-17 and went up 2-1, the Eagles faced an uphill battle. So Coach Neil Corrigan ordered his troops to serve short floaters and they did so with precision, taking the Crusaders out of system for a while. McAndrews led the early scoring, and Zack Champa, Mike Powers and Andrew Winter spiked kills to complete a 25-9 romp. Champa led off the tiebreaker for St. Edward, but Crusader middle John Ablen tied it with a kill off the slide and Skove blocked a tip. After Powers retied matters, Moeller went up 4-2 on an ace by setter/opposite Landen Hunter. The Crusaders upped the ante to 6-3, helped by libero AJ Eckhoff who made a diving save that landed for a kill, and they continued to 10-7 behind points from outside/middle Mike Zoller and setter/opposite Marshal Luning. But St. Edward tied it up as Powers spiked a kill and teamed with McAndrews on a block. Hunter smoked a Luning short set to put the Crusaders back on top, but Champa retied with a kill from the right, helped by the faking McAndrews who drew the blockers to the center. Following a long Crusader hit, Powers scored from the left to give St. Edward a 13-11 edge. Moeller would score twice more but could not prevent McAndrews from blasting two Chris Royer short sets into oblivion. With not much time for a break, St. Edward moved on to face Elder, which had bested Hilliard Darby in straight sets. Showing no signs of fatigue, the Eagles clawed out a 32-30, 25-22, 29-27 victory. St. Edward grabbed early game one leads of 5-3, 11-8 and 13-9, but Elder rallied to the fore and led 20-18 after an ace by libero Ryan Welch. Two terminating blasts from McAndrews retied it but outside hitter Matt Moehring put the Panthers back on top. A net serve ensued, however, and blasts by McAndrews and Winter pushed St. Edward to a 23-21 advantage. Harpenau blocked but a service error made it 24-22. Panther 6’7” outside C.J. Zureick came to the rescue with two kills to tie at 24, and after he tied it again at 25 with a cross-court blast, setter Steven Kent gave Elder the lead with a dump. St. Edward fought off two more game points before Powers gave them a 29-28 edge with two kills. McAndrews kept St. Edward a step ahead with a block and kill, and when a Panther hit sailed long the Eagles were up 1-0. Game two went back and forth to 17. From there St. Edward took advantage of two Panther errors to go up 21-18 as McAndrews block killed in the middle and Winter smoked an overpass from McAndrews’ serve. Elder closed to 21-20 when 6’7” middle John Lucas blocked Winter, but Winter streaked his next spike past the block for a kill and the teams parried to 24-22. A block by Powers ended it. Game three saw several ties and lead changes, with Moehring helping Elder take a 19-17 lead. A kill by Champa and two aces from Winter put St. Edward back in front, and the Eagles charged to a 24-21 match point lead behind blocking from Royer and McAndrews and a blast from back court by Winter. Elder was not finished, however, and after Moehring hammered an overpass, Harpenau block killed and Kent won a play with McAndrews at the net, tying the score. McAndrews blasted two short set go-ahead kills, but Harpenau and Zureick answered each, and the teams exchanged lifts. Winters created a fourth match point scenario with a blast that was blocked way out, and when an Elder defender dug his forthcoming line drive serve into the upper deck, the Eagles were headed for their first Elite final. St. Xavier drew first blood in the title match on kills by Andy Keyes and outside Ben Lottman. But St. Edward tied at three, and used a 9-1 run to open up a 15-7 lead. After the Bombers closed to 16-12, Powers and McAndrews spiked four kills in a five-point run. St. Xavier rallied within 22-18, but could only trade points to the end as McAndrews and Winter relentlessly pounded away. Powers kicked off set two with a tip, and after Bomber middle Derek Jung block killed to tie, the Eagles jumped ahead 4-1 on an ace by libero Ben Durst. They kept a step or two ahead through three ties to 11-9. But Lottman sparked a three-point run into the lead, and St. Xavier kept pace through three more ties to 15-14. And when St. Edward scored three, St. Xavier answered with a 6-1 run behind kills from Keyes, Jung and Lottman to move out to 21-18. Point trading advanced the score to 23-20, as Bomber defensive specialist Brian Shannon contributed a diving save. But the Eagles got a break when an overeager Bomber was called for reaching over for an over-passed serve, and when Powers followed with an ace and a blast by Winter was lifted, the game was tied. After another save by Shannon, setter Matthew Kues scored with a smash down the left. McAndrews answered by terminating another Royer short set and, following a kill by Bomber middle Stephen Creevy, Winter powered the Eagles in front 26-25 with two demolitions. Kent alertly dumped into a hole to re-knot the score, and when St. Edward obliged with two errors, the match was even. Game three started back and forth despite three terminations by McAndrews, and a kill by Bomber outside Colin Flesner resulted in a fifth tie at 6-6. After McAndrews rotated out, however, St. Edward took charge. Winter drilled two spikes and Royer served an ace, sparking the Eagles to a 15-8 lead. St. Xavier rallied for four, but after point trading to 18-15, St. Edward re-upped their edge with four unanswered points. St. Xavier closed again, to 23-20, as Jung blocked, Lottman spiked and Flesner aced. But Powers took it to game point with a kill, and one Bomber sortie later, Winter iced the game with a blast from back court. Game four also began with point trading, with four ties to 4-all. The Bombers edged ahead when Lottman scored with a cross-court shot and Shannon landed a diving dig into the Eagles’ left corner, and they remained atop to 13-10. At that juncture, Powers scored on a spike from backcourt, and McAndrews served up five points including an ace, lofting the Eagles atop 16-13. Kent stopped that onslaught with a dump and the Bombers moved back in front 18-17. With play very intense Lottman kept St. Xavier in control, nailing two kills for a 22-20 lead and another that made it 23-22. McAndrews, however, answered with a short set bomb. Winter then put St. Edward on the cusp with a blast that sliced out off a block, and when he followed with a match point block, the Eagles had proven themselves. Chris Royer summed the day up succinctly. “We played with high intensity and kept our momentum. We knew what we had to do, and we went out and took it”. A lot easier said than done no doubt. ****************************************************************** St. Xavier reached the final by shrugging off a game three blowout and overcoming five service errors in the tiebreaker to upend then undefeated Lakota West 21-25, 25-18, 11-25, 25-20, 15-11. West opened up leads of 7-2, 16-10 and 20-13 in game one, behind kills from outsides Dylan Kembre and Rio Onuki, and blocking by middle Chris Stanislovaitis. The Bombers closed to 22-20, but Kembre hammered a kill and Stanislovaitis blocked to make it 24-20, and the teams traded errors to end it. St. Xavier used a seven-point run, sparked by two aces from Flesner, to take a 16-11 set two lead, then kept momentum and won on a block by Jung. West was unstoppable in the third set, however, turning a 7-5 lead into an 18-7 romp. Following two Bomber points, they went up 23-9 as setter/opposite Dallas Kaiser hammered a kill, Kembre tipped into a hole, Onuki followed a kill from backcourt with an ace, and 6’4” middle blocker Jay Fintel cremated an overpass from Onuki’s next serve. Kaiser and Fintel answered St. Xavier points to the finish. Kembre started the scoring in game four as the Firebirds took a 4-2 lead. But the momentum changed when Jung block killed in the middle, and after Lottman tied it at six, St. Xavier added four more and took the lead for good. With the Bombers up 22-17, Jung and Lottman took turns answering Lakota points to the end. West scored first in the tiebreaker on a serving error, and after two lead changes and four ties, the Firebirds were up 6-5, thanks to five Bomber miscues. But Flesner tied it with a kill and St. Xavier stopped making mistakes, as Keyes and Creevy added two kills and Kues served five points. A long serve left the Bombers in front 11-7, and Keyes resumed the run with a spike that was blocked out. Flesner pounded a point through a double block, and Jung and Flesner double blocked to bring on match point. A long serve afforded one more reprieve, and the Firebirds rallied to 14-11 before Flesner put the match away with a kill that slashed off a block and out of bounds. ****************************************************************** Lakota West prevailed over Elder 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 14-25, 15-13 for third place, after the Panthers overcame a 0-2 deficit. West led early 6-2 in the opening set, but had to rally after Elder took leads of 9-7 and 13-10. Stanislovaitis scored the Firebirds’ final two points on kills. The Firebirds were ahead much of game two, although Elder made it close rallying from 15-20 to 21-22. But after a Panther net infraction on an attempted block, Kaiser scored from backcourt, and when Elder could not return a hit by outside Jeff Trau the game was over. Elder, however, rallied from 11-14 to take a 16-15 lead in game three, and the Panthers slowly pulled away. Zureick pounded a kill off the block to bring on game point, and the Firebirds hit into the net after Moehring returned a dump that was slammed right at him. It was all Elder in game four as the Panthers jumped in front 9-4 and maintained their intensity throughout. Senior middle Matt Harpenau hit into a hole for game point. Kembre got West going in game five with a kill, but Elder broke from 4-all and led 9-5 after a block by Harpenau. The Firebirds scored twice as Stanislovaitis spiked a cross-court kill and blocked, but the Panthers kept pace to 11-8 with Harpenau pounding a short set into the middle and middle hitter Andrew Barnette spiking past the block. Then the Firebirds mounted a furious rally. Onuki scored from the left, Kaiser hooked a shot from the left that landed on the right line, and after Kembre defused a Panther bomb into a nice pass, Onuki tied it with a kill through the block. Unfazed by a service error, the Firebirds edged ahead when 6’4” middle blocker Jay Fintel landed a spike into Elder’s right corner, and then teamed up with Kaiser for a block. Lucas terminated a Chad Thornton backset into oblivion to retie the score at 13. But Kembre answered with a blast through blockers, and after Onuki averted another tie with a diving dig, Kembre encored with a match point blast. ****************************************************************** In first round action, Lakota West survived a tough battle over East region top ranked Mount Vernon 25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21. The Firebirds came to the tournament undefeated at 9-0, but Mt. Vernon had won 13 straight after an opening season loss to Moeller. That occurred in a quad at which the Yellow Jackets defeated both Archbishop Hoban and St. Edward. Game one proved to be the decider as Lakota West survived a slow but sure Yellow Jacket rally from 15-20 that started with two kills by 6’4” setter/opposite Carter Cassell. With the Firebirds still on top 22-18 Yellow Jacket outside Chris Omahan and middle Ben Bennett teamed up on a block, Omahan added a kill and Mt. Vernon finally tied things at 23. But Stanislovaitis kept the Firebirds in the driver’s seat with a kill off the slide. Mt. Vernon then hit into the net trying to save a block by Kaiser, ending the game. With Lakota West ahead two sets to none, Mt. Vernon took a 15-8 lead in game three, led by their setter/opposite tandem of Cassell and Chris Ingersol. West narrowed the gap to 17-15, but Bennett pounded two kills to fuel a 5-2 Yellow Jacket spurt to 22-17. Kaiser, however, sparked a five-point run by West that knotted the score. Cassell ended the rally with a blast from the left, and kept Mt. Vernon a step ahead with two more kills as Kembre found holes to force two more ties. With the Yellow Jackets ahead 25-24, a block by Bennett in the middle sent the match on to game four. Lakota West kept Mt. Vernon at bay in game four and led 23-19 after a line drive dump by Kaiser. The Yellow Jackets closed within two thanks to Firebird miscues, but then returned the favors. Mt. Vernon rebounded with wins over Centerville and Moeeler to take fifth. In other first round matches, Elder rallied from 15-19 and 23-24 in game three to defeat Hilliard Davidson in straight sets 25-20, 25-15, 27-25. Davidson tied up set three at 13 on a kill by junior middle blocker Jimmy Curtis, and the Wildcats led 19-15 after a termination from senior outside David Carraher. Elder rallied in front 21-20, but the Wildcats scored on a kill off the block by 6’4” outside Jordan Zickafoose, a back court smash from Carraher and a block in the middle by Curtis to force three ties to 23. When a Panther cross-court shot landed just out, a fourth game was in the offing. Moehring retied it, however, with a soft hit down the left, and a long Davidson spike gave Elder a match point opportunity. Following a net serve, Zureick drove a blast to back middle that was dug way out, and when a Wildcat hit sailed out the match was over. St. Xavier overcame a game-two pounding and beat Centerville 25-19, 15-25, 25-17, 25-21. The host Elks blew out to a 19-10 game two lead on six straight points, started by 6’4” outside/opposite Sam Sheers who slammed a kill and served up the rest. Sheers helped his cause with a smash from back court and an ace. Junior outside Paul Clark contributed two block kills while libero Steve Splawinski kept things going with a dig off the ceiling. When Elder ended the rally, 6’5” outside/opposite Johnny Glover started a new one with a cross-court kill. He teamed with senior middle Kevin Timperman on a block and added a tip to put the Elks up 23-11. Soon after, Timperman hammered a David Riggsby quick set to make 24-14. One Bomber point later Riggsby converted an errant pass into a game-winning tip. St. Xavier rebounded in game three and broke open an 18-all game four deadlock to claim victory. Creevy started the rally with a kill and, after an Elks’ error, Mike O’Brien served an ace. After a long serve, the Bombers added three more as Jung demolished a quick set from Kues right at someone to make it 24-19. Glover kept the home team alive with two kills, but when a blast by Lottman was dug into the ceiling the match was over. Centerville finished seventh with a win over Hilliard Davidson. ****************************************************************** After the celebrating was over, St. Edward Coach Neil Corrigan mused about the difficulties of living 230 miles away from Centerville, and then said “If you’re working on a state championship, you need to come down here and win”. The last six state champions have done just that. ****************************************************************** First Round Cincinnati Elder def. Hilliard Davidson 25-20, 25-15, 27-25 Cincinnati St. Xavier def. Centerville 25-19, 15-25, 25-17, 25-21 Lakota West def. Mt. Vernon 25-23, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21 Lakewood St. Edward def. Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller 25-16, 22-25, 17-25, 25-9, 15-13 Second Round Mt. Vernon def. Centerville 21-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-23 Moeller def. Hilliard Davidson 25-14, 28-26, 25-16 St. Edward def. Elder 32-30, 25-22, 29-27 St. Xavier def. Lakota West 21-25, 25-18, 11-25, 25-20, 15-11 Championship St. Edward def. St. Xavier 25-20, 26-28, 25-21, 25-23 Third Place Lakota West def. Elder 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 14-25, 15-13 Fifth Place Mt. Vernon def. Moeller 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 Seventh Place Centerville def. Hilliard Davidson 25-15, 25-21, 25-21
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