SPRINGFIELD, OH – Moeller and Fenwick competed in the state semifinals of the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys volleyball tournament on May 29 at Wittenberg University.
Moeller opened the tournament weekend for Greater Cincinnati squads with a five-set thriller victory against Thomas Worthington. The Crusaders (20-4) cruised through the opening set but battled in the final four to win 25-14, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10 over the Cardinals (23-4).
Moeller, without head coach Casey Pieper, who was out of the country for a wedding, was led on the floor by assistant Bill Eckhoff.
“It’s interesting that first set the way that thing came out,” Eckhoff said. “I think that we caught them off guard and I don’t think they really expected us to come at them as hard as we did.”
Moeller converted on 13 of its 14 sideout chances in the opening set as the Cardinals only scored consecutive points in that set just once.
Each team traded sets before Moeller wrapped it up in the fifth. Moeller led the entire fifth set outside of a 6-6 tie after a 3-0 Thomas Worthington run. The Crusaders had a 3-0 run of their own at the point and finally won on an attack error by the Cardinals.
Three Crusaders had double-digit kills, led by 16 from Drew Ewers and 15 by Adam Quehl. Thomas Metzger had 10. Nick Dollard had 47 of the team’s 52 assists and Tyler Wong had a team-high 17 digs.
The Crusaders clinched a spot in the boys volleyball state championship for the sixth time in the last eight tournaments (missing the previous two), winning four of those including three-straight from 2021 to 2023.
Hudson (21-5), which beat defending state champion Cleveland St. Ignatius in the regional finals, beat Olentangy Berlin in the other Division I state semifinal. The Explorers and the Crusaders will play for the Division I state final at 1 p.m. on May 30 again at Wittenberg.
Fenwick (20-6) will later meet Columbus St. Charles (22-4) in the Division II state semifinals.
The Enquirer will update this story and photo gallery.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Moeller wins five-set thriller to reach OHSAA boys volleyball finals
Reporting by Alex Harrison, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
