Boys State Tournament 2008

Division I Final

Cincinnati Elder (29-0) def. Cincinnati St. Xavier (22-6) 25-23, 25-16, 29-27

Division II Final

Archbishop Hoban (24-4) def. Cincinnati McNicholas (21-6) 25-23, 27-25, 25-20

Division I Semifinals

Cincinnati Elder (27-0) def. Hilliard Darby (18-11) 25-23, 23-25, 25-9, 25-19

Cincinnati St. Xavier (22-5) def. Worthington Kilbourne (25-4) 25-21, 25-16, 25-17

Division II

Archbishop Hoban (23-4) def. St. Charles (13-14) 25-23, 25-23, 25-15

Archbishop Hoban advanced to the state final with a 25-23, 25-23, 25-15 win over St. Charles. It was the top ranked Knights’ third victory this season over the third ranked Cardinals. This one was closer, and Hoban Coach Matt Mihelic expected it to be so. Calling the Cardinals “a very fundamentally sound team” he noted that “they “were only a couple of plays from winning the first two games”. Mihelic had cautioned his team that anything can happen, and that you have to play and win games to move on. Having played them before, the Cardinals knew they needed to put the ball away to score. And having played many close matches, they also knew how to close matches, if you’ll excuse the play on words.

And in the end perhaps the difference came down to Quincy University bound Hoban outside hitter JoJo Sokol, who had several timely hits, and contributed digs, aces and blocks to the cause. He’s also their closer, and in this match he ended every game, the first with a back row spike into a hole, the second with a blast that was touched out of bounds, and game three with a smash that was blocked into the stands.

Game one went back and forth up to 11-11 and there were six more ties from there. Two of St. Charles’ scores came on kills by junior outside Ned Gruber after junior outside Matt Van Volkenburg dug Hoban blasts. Hoban pulled ahead 15-13 on a tip by Paul Blischak and a block on Gruber by Sokol. Gruber returned the favor with a block on Sokol, and after 6’5” Hoban middle tipped a Scott Weaver short set into a hole, Gruber tied it at 16 with a tip and ace.
With Hoban up 21-19, Damon DiSabato scored on a well placed hit from back row and the Cardinals rallied for three and the lead. But Hoban came back with three of their own and after a knock down kill by Gruber, Sokol ended it.

Gruber and senior middle Mitch Gainer led the Cardinals to a 4-2 game two lead, before Hoban rallied for four behind kills by Sokol and a block from Weaver. Cardinal sophomore opposite Nick Summers ended that, and Van Volkenburg added two kills to put St. Charles up 8-6, but Hoban retaliated with six straight, started by a kill from 6’6” middle Curtis May, and fueled by two aces from Sokol.

The Cardinals crept back to a tie at 14, and moved ahead 18-16. They were up 19-18 when Sokol terminated a volley. Four errors followed, three of which belonged to St. Charles. That put Hoban up 22-20 and the teams traded points from there, with 6’5” middle Nick Crème blasting point 24 before Sokol ended it.

Game three started off close but with Hoban up 7-6, May hammed a short set from Weaver and then served up five points, including an ace, as 6’5” middle Nick Crème contributed a block. St. Charles never recovered.

Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas (21-5) def. Kettering Archbishop Alter (18-9) 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18

Second ranked Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas defeated a very scrappy Kettering Archbishop Alter 25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18 Saturday to advance to a showdown today with top ranked Archbishop Hoban for the Division II state title.

McNicholas Coach Denny Murphy said afterward he expected a tough game based on their previous encounter (won by McNicholas 25-21, 20-25, 25-14, 25-18), and on how well Alter Coach Tina Jasinowski prepares her team.

Fourth ranked Alter certainly came prepared to play yesterday, and they fought and scrapped for every point with enthusiasm to the end.

The Knights took a 4-2 lead with setter/outside Robbie Courtney and middle Anthony Hess scoring kills, and Courtney adding a dump.

But outsides Jason Weigand and Sean Von Hoene put the Rockets in front 5-4 and they increased the margin to 8-5 and 13-8, helped by blocks from 6’6” outside Gary Bauer. Alter chipped away with 6’9” junior Kevin VanOss cutting the lead to 17-16 on a cross court blast. Junior outside Ryan Kramer added a kill and block, and freshman Keaton Pieper served an ace as Alter went up 19-18. But Von Hoene terminated the next volley and Rocket libero Mark Hamad fended off Alter missives until one went into the net. McNicholas shot to a 24-19 lead as Randy Reese served an ace and Bauer scored two kills and a block. After a kill by Kramer, Bauer hammered the game ending shot down the line.

In game two McNicholas got off to leads of 4-2, 6-3 and 9-5 behind hitting from Bauer and 6’6” sophomore middle blocker James Hoffman. But then Knights’ setter/outside Robbie Courtney lined a kill from back row, and 6’4” middle Anthony Hess popped a point into a hole. And after the Rockets obliged with two errors and junior outside Ryan Kramer and Hess scored two more kills, Alter was up 11-9. The teams traded the lead with Courtney coming up with three big kills and a block to keep Alter in front 17-16.

Then, in a reversal of game one, McNicholas rallied back on top, 20-17, only to see Alter use an 8-1 run to win the game. Knights senior setter/outside Sam Miller added a kill and a block to the cause.

At this point Murphy told his Rockets they needed to improve their passing - he felt Alter had done a better job in game two – and he told them if they kept hitting they’d be there at the end.
That seemed to work as McNicholas drew first blood in game three on a kill by 6’6” sophomore Steven Battaglia. Bauer added two cross court kills, a block and two aces, to propel McNicholas to an 8-4 lead. Trailing 11-6, Alter closed to 13-12, but Battaglia and Bauer spiked a point apiece and teamed on a block to open things up to 16-12 and Alter never was closer than three thereafter. Courtney fought valiantly to the finish scoring on two big blocks to make it 24-21, but the game ended on the next volley when Alter was called in the net after McNicholas had originally been so called.

Bauer terminated the first volley of game four and, after Alter briefly tied, the Rockets spurted ahead 10-5. Alter retied with Miller scoring a kill and Pieper lining two aces, driving one of them fiendishly into the right corner. The Knights even took a 14-13 lead. But Weigand tipped into a hole and Bauer pounded a score from back row, and after one more tie on a tip by Courtney, the Rockets took the lead for good on a net serve by Alter.

Rocket setter Mike Oberschmidt lined a dump into a hole for a 19-16 lead, Battaglia blocked to make it 20-17, and after a final Alter point by Courtney, the Rockets scored out with Weigand and Battaglia teaming up for a game winning block.

Division I
Hilliard Darby (18-10) def. Cleveland St. Ignatius (17-7) 26-24, 25-17, 25-15

Fourth rated Hilliard Darby defeated Cleveland St. Ignatius 26-24, 25-17, 25-15 to avenge an earlier 14-25, 25-21, 33-35 loss to the ninth ranked Wildcats. For awhile it seemed St. Ignatius might have Darby’s number again.

After outside hitter Blake Fraley gave Darby a 1-0 lead, junior outside Gregory Herceg smoked a cross court shot to tie at 2-2 and Ignatius rolled to leads of 4-2, 8-4 and 15-8. Several Wildcats contributed, setter Matthew Roth with a heads up pop over the net of a too-close-to-the-net pass, J.J. Zakelj with two blocks, a kill and an ace, Patrick Adler with two kills and a block, and Alex Robertson with a nifty defensive play.

But 6’6” opposite Thomas Howard scored on a spike through the block, setter Austin Miller blocked a short set Wildcat spike and Howard served an ace as Darby came back to 15-12. St. Ignatius scored three of four to go up 18-13 and they kept pace to 20-15.

Then things got even closer. Following a net serve by the Wildcats, 6’4” middle Austin Brown stuff blocked for a point, outside Dustin Horn spiked a kill and Darby was within 21-19. Zakelj terminated a point, but Darby closed to 22-21. The teams traded points and Adler followed with short set blast to make it 24-22.

And then disaster struck for the Wildcats. Darby’s 6’6” Ohio State bound middle hitter John Tholen had but one point up to now, but he added two more, demolishing a short set from Miller and teaming with Miller on a block. The Wildcats’ next hit sailed out due to trying to avoid another block by Tholen (who was right there), and a hitting error ended the game in favor of Darby.

Game two began on an even note. Darby scored first, again on a kill by Fraley, and the teams point traded to five.

Howard made it 6-5 with a kill through the block, but with it St. Ignatius’ turn to score, Tholen ended the trading session with a short set smash. Five Wildcat miscues and another Tholen point later the score was 13-5 Panthers.

St. Ignatius closed a bit to 20-14, but Howard put them on the ropes with three straight kills. They still kept fighting, and though down 24-16 they dug three spikes by Tholen and scored on a short set kill by Herceg. However, Howard then delivered the coup de grace.

Tholen started game three off with a kill as Darby went up 4-0. He added another to make it 5-1 and two more to keep the Panthers in front 7-4. St. Ignatius closed to 7-6, but Darby moved out to leads of 9-6, 12-8, 14-9 and 17-10, and the Wildcats never threatened again. Howard scored the game winner on a kill from the right that was blocked across court and out.

Worthington Kilbourne (25-3) def. Lakewood St. Edward (20-6)
25-18, 25-13, 25-18

Eighth ranked Worthington Kilbourne won a surprisingly easy 25-18, 25-13, 25-18 decision over seventh ranked Lakewood St. Edward. It was the only time all day that a lower ranked team beat a higher ranked one.

The two teams had not met this year, but St. Edward finished second in Kilbourne’s Wolf Open, losing to St. Xavier in the final after third place Kilbourne lost to St. Xavier in the semifinal by a similar score. More recently, both teams had beaten St. Ignatius in five.

When asked about her teams’ big win, Wolves’ Coach Glynda Rice said “We haven’t peaked yet. Our best match is still ahead of us”. Rice noted that Kilbourne has been plagued with injuries, and her starting eight has been together only during the last half of the season. But she said the injuries helped strengthen the team in the long run because “a lot of guys could do things to get more versatile”.

They looked very versatile in game one, blowing out to a 9-0 lead. Junior middle blocker Ben Gentry, who sometimes plays the air guitar after a big kill, demolished a short set from David Scheaf to start things off. Outside Clayton Straker blocked for a point, and those two encored while junior opposite John Barry served two aces. Gentry added a two handed block and demolished another short set.

Eagle middle blocker Thomas Fayen tipped to end the run, but Kilbourne never led by less than five. Outside hitter Jeremy Ocheltree scored their final two points.

The Wolves opened game two up 3-0 on a kill from Straker and two more aces by Barry. Three errors left the score 4-2, and Fayen made it 4-3 with a straight down kill. Straker and junior middle blocker Sam Johnson put the Wolves up 6-3. Middle blocker Adrian Rutt delivered a kill down the left as St. Edward got back to within one at 6-5. Barry made it 8-5 with a cross court smash and errors on both sides left the score 12-8.

Then disaster befell the Eagles again when Straker smoked a kill into an empty left corner and Barry served up another six points to make it 19-8. Most of the rest of the points for both sides came on miscues, until Barry and Johnson teamed up for a game winning block.

Kilbourne began game three with a net serve, but quickly moved on top 3-1. Rutt tied the score with a tip, but Kilbourne added four straight on kills by Ocheltree and Barry and an ace by Gentry.

Rutt then smoked a short set by Chris Royer and blocked for a point, and shortly after served an ace to bring St. Edward within a point at 8-7.

But Kilbourne erupted again with four and grew their lead to 15-9. And after St. Edward closed to 17-15 behind Fayen and Rutt, Kilbourne rode to the finish on an 8-3 run, with Gentry pounding a short set and Straker stuff blocking for the final two points.

And by the way, Rice hit the nail on the head when she said the Wolves’ best match is ahead of them, because a review of the play by play shows they committed a whopping 31 errors. Despite that, they still outscored their opponent 75-49.

If this team can play with the same intensity and execute with the same proficiency as they did last night – and if they cut their errors by half – look out!

Cincinnati Elder (27-0) def. Lakota West (18-5) 25-13, 25-15, 25-14

Cincinnati Elder rolled into a state semifinal match with Hilliard Darby with a 25-13, 25-15, 25-14 win over gutsy but outgunned Lakota West. Elder got off to a fast 3-0 lead when senior hitter Rob Malone pounded two Craig Wessels short sets into oblivion and 6’4” senior opposite Tony Baldrick served an ace.

Lakota West stayed close for awhile. Junior outside Patrick Hansford spiked a kill and after point trading, setter Randy Thomas scored a dump, and sophomore Dylan Kembre served up two untouched aces. That put West atop 7-6, and the score was still even at 9-9 when Elder blew the game open.

The Panthers went ahead 13-10, 18-11, and 24-12. Junior middle Jake Neiheisel scored a kill and two blocks, Baldrick added two blocks, outside hitter Andrew Wessels spiked three kills and Craig Wessels contributed a dump. Andrew also delivered the game point.

In game two the Firebirds jumped to a 4-0 lead, much to the excitement of their fans. Sophomore middle Chris Stanislovaitis scored on a spike that was blocked over but out. Another point came on an Elder lift, but this came after Firebird junior outside David Lendl hustled way behind the back line and dove to save an errant pass which Randy Thomas then popped over to Elder’s side.

The excitement proved short lived, however, as Elder outside Clancy Gay spiked a kill and served five points. The teams traded scores to a 9-7 Elder lead, at which point the Panthers added four more. With the score 15-10 Malone hammered a termination and Baldrick softly lofted a hit from back row into a hole. Andrew Wessels delivered four kills, one off a set by Baldrick, and when Baldrick returned to front row he and Gay four more kills and a block, as Elder outraced West to the finish.

Game three scoring started with Baldrick nailing a kill, Malone blocking, Baldrick serving an ace and Malone getting a kill.

Kembre scored three kills as West stayed close at 9-5 and a kill by Firebird outside Tyler Ostrander left the score 11-8. But from there Elder produced runs of 2, 3 and 5 to go up 21-10, and 6’6” junior middle Curt Graman finally ended the match with a kill.

Cincinnati St. Xavier (21-5) def. Centerville (21-7) 25-22, 25-19, 25-17

Second ranked St. Xavier beat number five Centerville for the third time this season to advance to a state semifinal with Worthington Kilbourne. This time the score was 25-22, 25-19, 25-17. The other two scores were 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 25-14 and 25-14, 25-19, 26-24, and this result was consistent.

Game one began with a flurry as players on both sides went all out to keep the first volley alive. Setter Andrew Ervin and libero Sean Hayes of Centerville went way back to retrieve an errant dig. The third touch was a backwards racing dive with an over the head dig some twenty feet behind the line that left two bodies on the floor and the ball back in St. Xavier territory.
Senior outside Ryan Engdahl finally scored a kill for the Bombers, but Centerville promptly tied on a short set smash by 6’6” middle Steve Gang. St. Xavier went up 3-1 and 5-3, but Elks’ outside Austin Tudor started a three point run that put Centerville on top, and the teams traded six points apiece leaving the score 12-11 Elks.

Centerville scores included kills by middle Dan Cox, outside Dan Kopicky and Gang and a huge block by Gang on Bomber hitting ace Ryan Doll. St. Xavier scored on kills by Doll, Steven Walsh, Michael Cunningham, and Chaz Jennings. You get the idea – these teams have lots of weapons.

At any rate, St. X tied again at 13 on a kill by Jennings, and Doll served a go-ahead ace. Shortly after setter Derek Kues delivered a cross court overpass kill to make it 15-13. But Centerville retied at 16 on a cross court smash and tip by Gang. The Elks, however, were called for two hits on the next volley and Engdahl and Jennings followed with blocks for a 19-16 lead which they increased to 23-19. Two Bomber misfires narrowed the gap, but Doll delivered a termination and, following a cross court smoke by Cox of a set from Elks setter Bryan Gorsuch, Kues dumped a pass of a short serve into a hole for game point.

Game two scoring began with the setters. Ervin served an ace to get Centerville rolling and Kues followed with a dump and ace. There were four ties to 4-4, but the St. Xavier scored twice and stayed ahead until Gang tied at 8 on a big block.

At that point, Engdahl pounded two points and, following a net serve, St. Xavier scored four more as Cunningham and libero Mitchell Ram saved one volley, Doll spiked two points and Jennings demolished an overpass. From there scoring went back and forth to the end which came on a kill by Doll.

Cunningham scored first in game three for St. Xavier, but the Elks came back with a kill down left side by outside Alex Hill, and a block by Tudor teaming with Gang. St. Xavier tied on a back row kill by Doll who then rotated front and, after a kill by Engdahl, spiked two more points of his own. That gave St. Xavier a 5-2 lead which the Bombers kept throughout.

Centerville crept to within 12-11 on blocks by Kopicky and Gang, which ended intense volleys, and a kill by Gang. But St. Xavier got two kills from Jennings to go up 14-11. After point trading, with the score 16-14, the Bombers outscored the Elks 4-1, and with the score 21-17 they scored out.

Bombers Coach Bill Ferris said his team’s strategy for beating Centerville was ball control. He wanted his servers to be aggressive, keep the receivers off balance and make the setters work hard. He concluded with “I thought we did a good job”.

Interestingly, Centerville Coach Monte Moser had summed up similar thoughts about St. Xavier in just two words a couple of hours before the match. Talking about the Bombers’ defense he said “nothing falls”.

Leading the Bombers offensively were: Engdahl 11 kills, 5 assists; Kues 37 assists, 4 kills; Doll 16 kills, 2 aces, 2 assists; Walsh 6 kills, 1 ace; Cunningham 5 kills; Jennings 9 kills