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Another Clash Between St. Xavier and Moeller in Store

May 16. 2006

By Jim Jicha 

The more things change the more they stay the same. That saying aptly befits Cincinnati powers Moeller and St. Xavier, heading for their fourth straight state championship match showdown. St. Xavier won the crown in 2003, with the Crusaders winning out the past two years.

Moeller was decimated by the graduation of eleven seniors which for most teams would translate into a rebuilding year. The Crusaders also lost 6’6” middle hitter Lee Meyer to an ankle injury the first week of this season, leaving 6’4” middle hitting terminator Dan Brandel the lone returnee with significant varsity experience. But the Crusaders reloaded from last season’s undefeated junior varsity, and while the names - James Emming, Judd Hopkins and Brian Schings - are different, the hitting is the same.

The Bombers lost five seniors. A bigger change is that junior Drew Kurtz now has a major setting role, and this has freed Ohio State bound setter Steven Kehoe to do more hitting. St. Xavier has the finest passing in the state with the likes of Chandler Bell at libero, and Kehoe and Brian Kues have been an unstoppable force on the outsides. Kues, by the way, plays a lot taller than his 6’0” listed height. 

Moeller hasn’t stopped the duo, with the result that St. Xavier has beaten the Crusaders three straight times since losing their initial meeting of the season.

Their first win over Moeller in the title match of the Wolf Invitational may not have seemed significant at the time. After all the Bombers had beaten Moeller once in each of the last two seasons, and Moeller did win one game 25-13. But St. Xavier won the other three games convincingly, the first 25-8.

The next weekend St. Xavier rallied from a two game deficit to dethrone Moeller in Centerville’s Elite championship by the score of 22-25, 16-25, 25-19, 25-17, 15-10. After an early 8-4 Crusader lead in game three, Bomber middle Jack Habig served six straight points and, save for 1-0 to start game five, Moeller never again led.

Three days later, the Bombers won at Moeller no less, 25-12, 26-24, 25-19, and gained a tie for the GCL title.

With all that it would seem St. Xavier has the inside track to win state, but a wildcard is Meyer's expected return to the Crusader lineup.

Cincinnati Elder is another wildcard, because the third best team in both Cincinnati and Ohio is in St. Xavier's regional bracket. With one of the state’s top hitters in 6’5” Brian Barth, the Panthers nearly upended Moeller the first weekend of the season when Meyer was playing, and they did beat St. Xavier, but they're 0-4 since against those two. Elder split with Centerville.

Possible spoilers in the Moeller's bracket are LaSalle and Sycamore, who play each other in a semifinal.

Centerville, and either Lakota East or Fairborn, are the front-runners in the West. Centerville has been plagued by injuries, and their 18-6 record could be misleading. With one of Ohio's top setters in Ryan Versen, and hitters like David Gibble, Dan Evans, and 6’8” middle Nick Valencia the Elks can play with anybody.

Centerville must first contend with Beavercreek, then the winner of Kettering Alter, led by senior outside Jon Fullencamp, or Kettering Fairmont. The Elks are 9-0 in games against those three with the closest score 25-18.

Lakota East is led by setter Alex Hoekstra, and 6’3” hitters Robert Polleys, and Doug Spotts. The Thunderhawks looked great at St. Charles' Cardinal Classic, taking Moeller and St. Xavier to three (in best of three), but haven't matched that intensity against the major powers since then.

Fairborn and Middletown will face off for the right to play East, and that match is a tossup as Fairborn won an early season squeaker between the two. The Skyhawks also recently won a close four game match over East, although East then beat Roger Bacon who beat Fairborn. So this is anybody's bracket to win (if Fairborn and East play my money is on the Hawks). 

Hilliard Darby has finally established themselves as the team to beat in the East, after early losses to Worthington Kilbourne and Gahanna-Lincoln. The Panthers avenged those, and they also toppled Walsh Jesuit 25-18, 22-25, 27-25, 22-25, 15-11 at Centerville, thanks to hitters Mike Baker, Nick Persons and Chris Dreger who led a 20-24 comeback in game three.

Darby stopped arch-rival Davidson in last week’s OCC Challenge of first place teams. Panther setter Jake McCrae and Wildcat middle hitter Ryan Cahill were respective all conference Players of the Year.

Davidson has five close wins over Pickerington North and Worthington Kilbourne. However, they are 0-3 versus North powers Lakewood St. Edward and Akron Hoban. The Wildcats beat Louisville (Ky.) Trinity and Cincinnati LaSalle in the Wolf Open and won Pickerington Central’s tournament. Ryan McGuire and Brady Callahan gave Darby fits in game four on Tuesday.

The Wildcats are lucky to be alive, following a cliff-hanger district win over Thomas Worthington 23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 15-11. Their biggest regional threat is Pickerington North.

The Panthers, who feature a balanced attack led by setter Ryan Mahoney, have toppled Kilbourne twice, and they beat Mt. Vernon and Lakota West in their own tournament. They must get past St. Charles, who upended Gahanna last weekend.

On Darby's side of the state bracket, Mt. Vernon will face perennial central Ohio power Worthington Kilbourne in a regional semifinal. The Yellow Jackets  avenged their loss to North in the OCC Challenge 25-14, 25-21, 22-25, 21-25, 15-9, as hitters Grant Cassell and Patrick Blubaugh, and libero Scott Hubbard took charge in the tiebreaker.

Kilbourne is an uncharacteristic 10-12, but don't be fooled. The Wolves have played a rugged schedule that included two Illinois powers. They split with Darby and Centerville, and played even at times in four losses to Moeller and St. Edward. Kilbourne is led by 6’5” middle Kevin Lookabaugh and junior opposite Jared Johnson. Phil Moore who is one of the best liberos around.

Up north the teams to beat are Lakewood St. Edward and Walsh Jesuit. St. Edward is 2-1 versus Walsh and their only other losses are to St. Xavier and Centerville. The Eagles are 6-0 against Davidson and Mt. Vernon and they swept Akron Hoban in three. They are led by setter Sean Martin, and hitters Andy Eyerman and Aaron Flick.

St. Edward prevailed over host Kilbourne 23-25, 18-25, 27-25, 25-12, 18-16 for third in the Wolf Open. The Eagles also beat Davidson and played St. Xavier tough in a 25-27, 17-25, 22-25 loss (game two was 16-all).

Walsh Jesuit, led by setter Brad Seislove and 6'5" middle Bob Dorff, won a comeback over a young Akron Hoban 19-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-13, 15-9 to take the Wolf Silver.

Hoban is an obvious roadblock in Walsh Jesuit path to state with 6'5" sophomore middle Curtis May. Kent Roosevelt and Massillon Jackson will try to play spoiler in St. Edward's bracket.