Competing in its first state tournament, the Olentangy Berlin boys volleyball team saw its title hopes end on May 29 at Wittenberg University.
Hudson (21-5) defeated the Bears 31-29, 25-16, 25-15 in the semifinals and will play Cincinnati Moeller in the state finals at 1 p.m. May 30 in 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 seven three times before the Explorers responded to take a 24-23 lead.
The Bears tied the game at 24 and had a chance to close out the set, leading 28-27, before Hudson rallied.
Mitch Moran looks for a point against Olentangy Berlin in a Division I state semifinal May 29 against Hudson.
The Explorers dominated 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 title.
Thomas Worthington’s Curt Buddie gets a spike in the Division I state semifinals on the 29th at Cincinnati Moeller.
Thomas Worthington falls to Cincinnati Moeller
Thomas (23-4) also fell short in his quest for the title, losing to Moeller 25-14, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-10 in the other Division I semifinal.
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The Cardinals responded several times in the game, including building a 19-13 lead in the second set after losing the opening goal.
After losing the third set to go 2-1 down, Thomas pulled away to win the fourth set, taking a commanding 20-19 lead.
Moeller (21-4) never trailed in the fifth set. Tied at 6 after three consecutive points by Thomas, the Crusaders hit 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.
Jack Ishmael hits the spike of St. Charles in a Division II state semifinal loss to Middletown Fenwick on May 29.
St. Charles was swept by Middletown Fenwick
A disappointing day for middle Ohio teams ended with St. Charles lost to Fenwick 25-21, 25-18, 25-16 in the Division II state semifinals.
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The first set ended up being the most competitive of the match, St. Charles (22-5) erased a 9-6 deficit to take an 11-10 lead before Fenwick took a 12-11 lead and never trailed.
St. Charles never led in the second set. It led 10-6 in the third before Fenwick rallied to make it 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, while Jack Wiza added five kills, five assists and one dig.
Fenwick (21-6) will play Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in the state finals at 4 pm May 30.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and @DispatchFrank on X.
This article first appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio teams go 0-3 in OHSAA boys volleyball semifinals
