Berlin, St. Charles, Thomas Worthington lose volleyball state semis
· Yahoo Sports
Competing in its first state tournament, the Olentangy Berlin boys volleyball team saw its title hopes end May 29 at Wittenberg University.
Hudson (21-5) defeated the Bears 31-29, 25-16, 25-15 in a semifinal and will play Cincinnati Moeller in the state final at 1 p.m. May 30 at Wittenberg.
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Berlin (21-6) rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the opening set to take a 7-6 lead and led by as many as seven on three occasions before the Explorers answered to take a 24-23 lead.
The Bears tied the match at 24 and had a chance to close out the set, leading 28-27, before Hudson rallied.
The Explorers controlled play in the final two sets to complete the sweep.
Jett Boyce led Berlin with 31 assists, seven digs and two blocks, while Kushal Patyam had 11 kills and five digs and Jacob Lusk added nine kills, three blocks and two digs. Mitch Moran had six digs and five kills.
Hudson, which lost in the state semifinals in 2023, is seeking its first OHSAA state title.
Thomas Worthington falls to Cincinnati Moeller
Thomas (23-4) also fell short in its title quest, losing to Moeller 25-14, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10 in the other Division I semifinal.
The Cardinals responded several times in the match, including when they built a 19-13 lead in the second set after losing the opener.
After losing the third set to fall behind 2-1, Thomas held off elimination by winning the fourth set, taking the lead for good at 20-19.
Moeller (21-4) never trailed in the fifth set. Tied at 6 after three straight Thomas points, the Crusaders scored three in a row to take the lead for good.
Alex Ondo led Thomas with 41 assists, three kills and two blocks. Curt Buddie had 21 kills, seven digs and one block, Aleko Giampouranis had 10 digs, eight kills and three blocks and Jacob Pitts added seven kills, seven blocks and one dig.
St. Charles swept by Middletown Fenwick
A disappointing day for central Ohio teams concluded with St. Charles losing to Fenwick 25-21, 25-18, 25-16 in a Division II state semifinal.
The first set ended up being the most competitive one of the match, with St. Charles (22-5) erasing a 9-6 deficit to take an 11-10 lead before Fenwick went ahead 12-11 and never trailed again.
St. Charles never led in the second set. It led 10-6 in the third before Fenwick rallied to take the lead for good at 13-12.
Charlie Koesters led St. Charles with 14 assists, five digs and three kills. Jack Ishmael had six kills, two blocks and one assist, and Jack Wiza added five kills, five assists and one dig.
Fenwick (21-6) will play Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in the state final at 4 p.m. May 30.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at [email protected] and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio teams go 0-3 in OHSAA boys volleyball state semifinals