'I don't need to do much to motivate.' St. Xavier, McNicholas win volleyball regionals

Familiar foes went toe-to-toe with regional championships and a trip to the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys volleyball state tournament on the line Saturday.

In an all-Greater Catholic League regional final, McNicholas won a five-set thriller over Fenwick to reach the Division II state finals for the second straight season.

In Division I, St. Xavier swept Moeller to end the Crusaders' hopes for a fourth-straight title.

McNicholas will try for its first boys volleyball state championship while St. Xavier shoots for the program's fourth state championship and first under OHSAA sanction.

The state tournament semifinals begin Saturday, May 25, at Wittenberg University, with state championships the following day.

Back-to-back state trips for McNicholas

McNicholas had not dropped a set since falling in three to Moeller on April 29, sweeping its last five matches prior to a rematch with Fenwick in the regional finals. That streak ended when Fenwick opened the match with a victory before the Rockets nailed down the five-set win, 20-25, 25-20, 25-15, 24-26, 15-9.

The Rockets struggled in the first set to get around the Fenwick blockers, but an adjustment on blocking assignments fixed the offensive attack for McNicholas.

"We changed up who was blocking who, who passed to who," McNicholas head coach Julie Mulvey said. "We didn't take any players out, we just started in a different rotation and it made a huge difference."

The Rockets improved to 21-5 overall with the victory and will face the Region 7 winner Independence in the state semifinals. McNicholas, a junior-heavy team that reached state as sophomores last season, has the experience of being in the final weekend and looks forward to using that experience to reach the program's first state championship game.

"They know what it's like on the big stage," Mulvey said. "They know what they have to do. They've already played the team that we're probably going to meet and they know exactly what they need to do to win it."

In a season of injuries and reworking lineups, Fenwick still managed a 17-8 record and finished second to McNicholas in the GCL-Coed.

"I'm really proud of our boys," Fenwick head coach Tina Gustely said. "We had a lot of adjustments to make due to those critical injuries. It changed our season definitely, but I think our boys did the best job they could with the adjustments of not having everybody in all the time."

St. Xavier breaks out of regional for first time in five years

St. Xavier clinched the Ohio High School Boys Volleyball Association Division I state championship in 2019, but has failed to advance out of the regionals since. In the last three seasons, St. Xavier fell in five sets in the regional final to end the year.

In its fourth meeting of the season against Moeller, St. Xavier erased that trend, needing only a three-set sweep, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19, to break through to the state tournament. While the Bombers need two more wins to complete their season where they'd like, the feeling of relief in winning the regional didn't go unnoticed.

"I think that's probably fair to call it a sigh of relief," St. Xavier head coach Bill Ferris said. "We knew we could not look ahead this year. We were comfortable with our schedule to prepare for this week and this match today so it is nice to get over it.

"We know the work's not done, but it feels good to get this win and get on to the championship."

The Bombers improve to 25-1, including their fourth win over Moeller on the year. St. Xavier's lone loss came in the Centerville Elite finals to Olentangy Liberty, which will be their opponent in the state semifinals. The Bombers faced Liberty twice in the regular season, winning the first meeting in a tri-match March 16.

Both meetings with Liberty, last season's state runner-up to Moeller, came on days with multiple matches played, mimicking a tournament style that the teams are currently going through.

"That's what I'm going to talk to my guys about," Ferris said. "We played well when we were tired and we lost to them when we were tired because we had long matches ahead of those matchups against Liberty."

Liberty took the first two sets against Moeller in last season's state final before the Crusaders completed the reverse sweep. The Bombers know they'll be facing a team with a chip on its shoulder at state similar to the one St. Xavier felt at the regionals.

"I'll talk about how they're feeling how we felt going into this Moeller game, but I don't need to do much to motivate these guys this year," Ferris said. "We've got great seniors and they're great leaders and great players on top of it."

Moeller's run at four-straight titles ends

Moeller finished its first season under head coach Casey Pieper with a 19-5 record, but four of those five losses came to rival St. Xavier, including the regional final that ended Moeller's run at four straight state championships.

"Depending on who you ask, we may have gotten lucky the last few years to get past (St. Xavier), but that's the how the chips fell and this year it didn't quite fall our way," Pieper said. "I know the guys we have that are coming back will be interested in finally getting a win in the regular season against those guys and we'll be ready for next year."

Season one for Pieper didn't continue the title reign, but the rookie head coach knows his first season was successful and will be necessary for his growth as a coach and in the growth of the returning players.

"It was a great year," Pieper said. We had a great group of eight seniors who led our team and did an awesome job. There's a learning curve for me too on how to work with those guys now that they're a little older. Having this group as the first team that I coached was a cool experience to have."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: St. Xavier, McNicholas win regionals to reach OHSAA volleyball tourney