OHSAA boys volleyball: Olentangy Liberty, Hilliard Darby fall in Division I state semis
SPRINGFIELD – In what was billed as a battle of heavyweights, the Cincinnati St. Xavier boys volleyball team delivered the knockout blow by winning the final three sets against Olentangy Liberty in a Division I state semifinal Saturday at Wittenberg.
The Bombers advanced to Sunday’s 3 p.m. final against Cleveland St. Ignatius by beating Liberty 19-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-10.
Liberty and St. Xavier each entered the match 25-1, with each losing to the other during a regular-season split.
The Patriots played in their fourth consecutive state tournament but are still looking for their first championship.
“We set the school record for wins in a season for the fourth year in a row,” coach Dave Hale said. “We had a goal to win a state championship, but the way things went we got matched up with St. X at this level instead of in the championship game. There’s nothing you can do about that.
“It’s going to hurt if you put forth a lot of effort, a lot of time into something that doesn’t go the way you want it to. You always want to give your best effort.”
Entering the match, Liberty was ranked first and St. Xavier second in MaxPreps’ state poll.
Senior outside hitter Caden Whiteside led the Patriots with 14 kills and senior setter Connor Severson had 25 assists.
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Andrew Berkemeier led a balanced attack for St. Xavier with 18 kills and 11 digs, while Joe Taggart had 16 kills and Brady Jones had 15 kills. Jones will play at Ohio State.
Aiden Berkemeier had 55 assists.
St. Xavier is seeking its fourth state title with the last coming in 2019.
“They got a little momentum at the end of that first set and they used that to carry them,” Hale said. “They started to feel better about themselves. Volleyball is a strange sport that way. Once you start getting momentum, it makes a difference.”
Cleveland St. Ignatius 3, Hilliard Darby 0
Darby dug itself an early hole and could not recover in a 25-14, 25-14, 25-21 loss to St. Ignatius.
The Panthers (21-6) were competing in their first state tournament since 2019.
“Each set we were winning early 1-0,” coach Evan Bell said. “The first play of each game we had a lot of momentum, but we struggled on offense tonight to get anything going. We got stuck in a couple of rotations and their lead just kept getting bigger and bigger. They did a good job taking all the momentum out from underneath us.”
Aidan Kolb and Chris Jones led Darby with nine kills apiece. Mason Heit had 27 assists and Alex Eldridge had 11 digs.
“This senior group has been through a lot,” Bell said. “We had some goals coming into their senior year. We wanted to hang a state banner, but anything short of that is a disappointment. We accomplished a lot – OCC champs for the 22nd time (and) regional champs. (We) made it to the state tournament. There’s a lot that we accomplished.”
Jack Ragon had nine kills and nine digs for St. Ignatius (24-3). Andrew Brobbey had 24 assists.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA boys volleyball: Liberty, Darby fall in Division I state semis
