2023 HS Season

What are roster predictions for GCL teams this season?
I’m just guessing so take with a grain of salt, but I’d say:
Elder:
OH - Lanter
OH - Harvey/Tierney/Jones
S - Kelly
S - Voss
MH - Niemann
MH - Tucker/James
Opp - Tucker/James
L - Samuels
Bench - Murray, Davis, Brandt, Jackson, Hofmeyer/Hutzel/Mohs

X:
OH - Meyer
OH - Tressler/Berkemeier
S - Berkemeier
S - Tran (if a 6-2)
MH - Jones (Brady I think?)
MH - Terrell/Shields
Opp - Terrell/Shields/Krebs
L - Byrum
Bench - Bender and then I don’t know the rest lol

Moe:
OH - Hagerty
S - Marcum
MH - Patterson
MH - Threm
Opp - Geselbracht
L - Oliver
Bench - Yox, Rahe
I’m blanking on other Moe guys, but they return a heck of a lot from last year’s title team
 
Moe:
OH - Hagerty
S - Marcum
MH - Patterson
MH - Threm
Opp - Geselbracht
L - Oliver
Bench - Yox, Rahe
I’m blanking on other Moe guys, but they return a heck of a lot from last year’s title team
MH - Ernst
OPP - Todd
S/OH - Dollard
The rest would come from last year's JV... Shutte? Blomer? Balda? Sauer? Todd?
 
I’m just guessing so take with a grain of salt, but I’d say:
Elder:
OH - Lanter
OH - Harvey/Tierney/Jones
S - Kelly
S - Voss
MH - Niemann
MH - Tucker/James
Opp - Tucker/James
L - Samuels
Bench - Murray, Davis, Brandt, Jackson, Hofmeyer/Hutzel/Mohs

X:
OH - Meyer
OH - Tressler/Berkemeier
S - Berkemeier
S - Tran (if a 6-2)
MH - Jones (Brady I think?)
MH - Terrell/Shields
Opp - Terrell/Shields/Krebs Pung?
L - Byrum Stewart
Bench - Bender and then I don’t know the rest lol Carmosino, Boyett, Good

Moe:
OH - Hagerty
OH - Dollard?
S - Marcum
MH - Patterson
MH - Threm
Opp - Geselbracht
L - Oliver
Bench - Yox, Rahe, Ernst, Todd
I’m blanking on other Moe guys, but they return a heck of a lot from last year’s title team
Some additions in bold
 
Jerome scrimmaged Desales last night. The first two sets they played starters, and I think after that were just getting everyone in, but Jerome won the first two 25-21 and 25-19. I thought Jerome losing their setter would be a critical blow, but they moved their outside there and he looks pretty good. Expected a little more from Desales. Still plenty of time left to work out the kinks though.
 
Who are your top 5 in each region for D1? How about a team that will be better than people think?

Southwest Predictions:

1. X
2. Moe
3. Walnut
4. Elder
5. Centerville

Surprise: Lakota East

Northeast:

1. Ignatius
2. Hudson
3. Ed’s
4. Jackson
5. Brecksville

Surprise: Firestone

Central:

1. Liberty
2. Mount Vernon
3. Jerome
4. Berlin
5. Kilbourne

Surprise: Westerville North
 
Who are your top 5 in each region for D1? How about a team that will be better than people think?

Southwest Predictions:

1. X
2. Moe
3. Walnut
4. Elder
5. Centerville

Surprise: Lakota East

Northeast:

1. Ignatius
2. Hudson
3. Ed’s
4. Jackson
5. Brecksville

Surprise: Firestone

Central:

1. Liberty
2. Mount Vernon
3. Jerome
4. Berlin
5. Kilbourne

Surprise: Westerville North
Pretty rock solid. Personally, I’d have Moe over X and probably Darby or Olentangy over Kilbourne, but all the surprise schools are perfect. Upper Arlington should be another one that’ll be a lot better this year.
 
Pretty rock solid. Personally, I’d have Moe over X and probably Darby or Olentangy over Kilbourne, but all the surprise schools are perfect. Upper Arlington should be another one that’ll be a lot better this year.
Moe and X will interesting, but I'm thinking X might be able to topple Moe this year.
OHs: X w/ Meyer and Tressler/Berkemeier, Moe w/ Hagerty and Dollard, but could see them give Patterson another go here. Advantage: X; X bigger, way more athletic and better at passing/defense

MHs: X w/ Jones and Boyett, Moe w/ Patterson and Threm, or Threm and Ernst if Patterson were to play OH. Advantage: Moe; kinda close, IMO, because those X middles will be athletic, but Moe has experience

Opp: X w/ Terrell/Shields/Berkemeier, Moe w/ Geselbracht. Advantage: Moe; experience and played a key role last year

Setter: X w/ Berkemeier/Tran/Carmosino, Moe w/ Marcum. Advantage: Wash; depends on what X decides to run. If it's a 5-1 with Berk, I like X because of offensive capabilities and size

Defense: X w/ Stewart/Byrum/Krebs/possibly Tran, Moe w/ Oliver/Rahe. Advantage: X; just more options it seems with more Varsity experience

X seems to have more all-around talent, but we're also talking about the 2-time defending champs and Meyer has, IMO, shown himself to be a top coach in the state. Seems to get the best out of his players when it matters most and isn't afraid to make changes in big moments. X was also thought to have plenty of talent in the past, only to disappoint a bit in the tournament; as recently as 2021. For as talented as they are year in and year out, it'd be nice to see X win some more hardware.
 
Top 5 IMO in OHIO

1A. Big Moe-Back to Back until they lose or if they lose are #1. Returning 5 big time players from a State Championship team. Can they replace serve receive and defense….

1B. St. X- They might have the best arms in the state. (Fore sure the most depth). Will they run 5/1 or 6/2. Can they be more balanced on offense or will they be a one man show. Time will tell. Serve receive will be the only question.

3. Iggy- They return some big time talent. Will they be ready for the south? Can they take the next big step and compete consistently at that level.

4. Walnut- The best 1/2 punch in the state IMO. Can the supporting cast be enough to get them out of the South…. It will be a battle all year long. It just might be there year!

5. Elder- They lost the most. Replacing two 1st All State players isn’t possible but they could be the best serve receive and defense teams in the state. Will they be able to score enough to compete with the above teams….?

Who will crack the top 5?
6-10 in the state?
 
Per Lasalle twitter, they took all 4 sets against walnut hills.
3 of 4 sets. Lasalle won 25-22 in the 1st, Walnut won 29-27 in 2nd and then it just says Lasalle took 3rd and 4th sets. I can't say I'm totally surprised, as Lasalle should have a better supporting cast around Hausfeld, but it's also a scrimmage so you can't really know what funky things were done just to mix things up with lineups. It'll be interesting to see who sets for Walnut and who steps up as 3rd and 4th offensive options. Wheatley and Tombragel will keep them in a lot of matches, but their arms might fall off by the end of the season.
 
3 of 4 sets. Lasalle won 25-22 in the 1st, Walnut won 29-27 in 2nd and then it just says Lasalle took 3rd and 4th sets. I can't say I'm totally surprised, as Lasalle should have a better supporting cast around Hausfeld, but it's also a scrimmage so you can't really know what funky things were done just to mix things up with lineups. It'll be interesting to see who sets for Walnut and who steps up as 3rd and 4th offensive options. Wheatley and Tombragel will keep them in a lot of matches, but their arms might fall off by the end of the season.
My mistake. Still, raises some questions about Walnut Hills’ state championship chances in my eyes.
 
My mistake. Still, raises some questions about Walnut Hills’ state championship chances in my eyes.
IMO, 2020 was probably their best chance. Hagerty, Lipscomb, Vogelpohl, Borgmann, Britt and then possibly Wheatley and Tombragel getting reps as freshmen and Smith-Trondle as a sophomore. 2021 was another good shot at it, but fell short after giving Moeller a good match. I think they've just gone through a good stretch of really good players and have certainly made a splash in the interest in volleyball at the school, but they might be calming down a bit in how competitive they can still be going forward. Wheatley and Tombragel can keep them in almost any match this year, but could definitely see Loveland winning the ECC this year. Walnut's got some tough opponents on the schedule: Moeller, St. X, Centerville and I'd say McNick and Roger Bacon will be tough too. Lots of young, impressive talent on those teams.
 
IMO, 2020 was probably their best chance. Hagerty, Lipscomb, Vogelpohl, Borgmann, Britt and then possibly Wheatley and Tombragel getting reps as freshmen and Smith-Trondle as a sophomore. 2021 was another good shot at it, but fell short after giving Moeller a good match. I think they've just gone through a good stretch of really good players and have certainly made a splash in the interest in volleyball at the school, but they might be calming down a bit in how competitive they can still be going forward. Wheatley and Tombragel can keep them in almost any match this year, but could definitely see Loveland winning the ECC this year. Walnut's got some tough opponents on the schedule: Moeller, St. X, Centerville and I'd say McNick and Roger Bacon will be tough too. Lots of young, impressive talent on those teams.
That 2020 team would have been good, but St X and Moeller were both loaded that year. Walnut could have beaten Elder, but not sure about the others.

2021 was a solid chance for them. 2022 would have been the best shot with Smith-Trondle, though. The "what-ifs" are big around that injury.

I'm not sure anyone thought Walnut had championship chances this year, especially with just one team from the South making it. They have more significant holes this year I think, and I'm not sure the coaching will do much to help overcome that so it will mostly be on the OHs to drag them as far as they can.
 
That 2020 team would have been good, but St X and Moeller were both loaded that year. Walnut could have beaten Elder, but not sure about the others.

2021 was a solid chance for them. 2022 would have been the best shot with Smith-Trondle, though. The "what-ifs" are big around that injury.

I'm not sure anyone thought Walnut had championship chances this year, especially with just one team from the South making it. They have more significant holes this year I think, and I'm not sure the coaching will do much to help overcome that so it will mostly be on the OHs to drag them as far as they can.

It's not decided that only one team from the South will make it to States.
 
It's been determined that there will be 4 teams at state for D1 and D2, but I don't believe even the regions have been set, let alone when those regions would cross over with each other.
Sure, but I doubt that they would pull two from the same region and one from two others. Not a great long term plan.
 
That 2020 team would have been good, but St X and Moeller were both loaded that year. Walnut could have beaten Elder, but not sure about the others.

2021 was a solid chance for them. 2022 would have been the best shot with Smith-Trondle, though. The "what-ifs" are big around that injury.

I'm not sure anyone thought Walnut had championship chances this year, especially with just one team from the South making it. They have more significant holes this year I think, and I'm not sure the coaching will do much to help overcome that so it will mostly be on the OHs to drag them as far as they can.
I hope very strongly they can continue to raise the profile of boys' volleyball in public schools in the Cincy area. Plenty of Columbus area public schools have made their mark and even Dayton has had some solid public school teams in Centerville, Beavercreek and, to a lesser extent, Northmont. Would be great to see it around Cincy to give more of a challenge to the big 3 every now and then.
 
Elder Varsity roster:
1677882580114.png
 
Moeller Varsity roster (some surprises here, like having 3 sophs and a freshman on Varsity for the defending state champs who already return a lot):
1677882728097.png
 
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