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St. Xavier overpowers field to win Wolf Open April 21, 2008 by Jim Jicha Cincinnati St. Xavier captured their second Home Field Advantage Wolf Open Tournament title in three years last weekend (April 11) with straight set wins over Cincinnati LaSalle, host Worthington Kilbourne and Lakewood St. Edward. The Bombers finished 6-0 in games in scrimmage play on Friday to go 15-0 for the weekend. (With another week of play under their belts, St. Xavier is now 9-2 overall. Both losses are to unbeaten Cincinnati Elder.) St. Xavier won the championship match with a 25-13, 25-23, 25-15 over St. Edward. The Bombers scored first on a block by outside Ryan Engdahl followed by a kill from Ben Lottman. St. Edward tied it on a smash by Adrian Rutt, but St. Xavier quickly pulled away 13-6 behind the blocking of setter Derek Kues, middle hitter Steve Walsh and Lottman. Matthew Kues followed a crosscourt kill by Engdahl with four straight service aces to make the score 23-10, and kills by tourney MVP Ryan Doll and Engdahl ended the game. Game two was nip and tuck with St. Edward leading 11-10. The Eagles stayed a step in front on a block from outside Thomas Fayen and a kill by Rhett Cash, but St. Xavier edged ahead 15-14 when Engdahl dove for a save at the net and Derek Kues dumped the ball into a hole. The Eagles retook the lead but were hurt by errors as St. Xavier moved back in front 19-17. Unfazed, St. Edward retied it and went on top 22-21 helped by blocking from Rutt and setter Chris Royer. Fayen served what appeared to be an ace on the line, but line judge ruled it out and Chaz Jennings promptly served two aces for the Bombers, to push them to match point. And after an errant Bomber missive, Engdahl blasted a crosscourt shot that was blocked over but out. Game three went back and forth up to 12 when St. Xavier took advantage of Eagle errors to pull away. Rutt put up a big block on Doll that left St. Edward down 18-15. But Walsh answered with a kill, and the Bombers strafed their way to match point on a dump and a stuff block by Noonan, a backcourt smash from Doll, and kills by Noonan and Walsh. ******************************************************************************* St. Edward downed St. Charles in one semifinal 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 25-18. The Eagles broke from 6-6 to a 15-9 lead in game one, and took quick charge of game two 14-4. The third set went back and forth, and the Cardinals pulled ahead 18-15 on a block by Ned Gruber. Junior outside Damon DeSabato followed with a kill, and when Patrick Feeney line drove a dig over the net for a point, St. Charles was up 21-17. After two St. Edward points, Gruber dug an Eagles stuff block and a kill by DeSabato made it 22-19. Sophomore middle Brian Merkle scored the game winner on a well-placed tip. St. Edward, however, reestablished control at 15-8 in game four. The Cardinals rallied for five on solid serving by Gruber, but Winter reopened the lead by line driving a kill and serving up three points, and scoring went back and forth from there to the finish. In the other semifinal St. Xavier used solid defense and made a minimum of mistakes to defeat Worthington Kilbourne 25-19, 25-18, 25-13. The host Wolves led a good bit of game one. After St. Xavier scored two, middle blocker Sam Johnson got Kilbourne on the board, and the Wolves moved up 9-7 behind blocking and hitting from opposite hitting John Barry. The Bombers led 11-9 after Engdahl and Winter dug several spikes and scored on two of their own, but Barry and 64 outside Clayton Straker put the Wolves back atop at 13-12. And after another Bombers' lead, 66 Kilbourne sophomore middle blocker Colin Hackworth smoked a Bomber overpass to knot it back up. That turned out to be the end for Kilbourne, however, as Doll smashed a crosscourt kill and the Wolves followed with two errors. Kues added a dump before Barry broke the run. With St. Xavier up 23-18, Kilbourne blasted three spikes to no avail. One was saved after a dig by Doll ricocheted off Walsh, Engdahl dove to dig another and St. Xavier finally scored the point. Jennings demolished the game point with a smash from the right. Kilbourne charged out to a 4-0 game two lead on a kill by outside Jeremy Ocheltree and two aces from Clayton Straker. St. Xavier rallied to tie at 7 and after some back and forth moved in front 16-11 behind a short set kill and block by Jennings. They extended the margin to 19-13 and 24-16, with Doll ending the game on a kill from back court. Game three was close early with Kilbourne on top 7-6 after a kill by Barry. Walsh tied it with a kill and followed up with an ace, and when he was done serving, the Bombers were up 16-7. Doll eventually scored the match winner after Engdahl turned a Kilbourne blast into yet another nice pass. Gahanna Lincoln defeated Stow Munroe Falls in the Silver championship match 25-8, 25-20, 25-18, behind the hitting of senior middle Ryan Engel, and setting of Andrew Leopold. Stow was led by senior outside Troy Aleman and 66 junior middle Matt Sindelar.
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