2024 HS Season

Flyer28 said:
D1 Regional Final picks at the halfway point:

Region 1- Liberty over Pickerington North
Region 2- St. Ignatius over Brecksville Broadview
Region 3- Thomas Worthington over Darby
Region 4- X over Moeller

It'll be worth monitoring what they do with the format of the Final 4. Under the old system, the pairings at states rotated each year. I think Region 1 played Region 3 and 2 played 4 last year. Hopefully they'll continue to rotate so we get some new matchups in the semifinals each year.
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Wait until after the Centerville Elite tournament before predictions. 😉
 
Flyer28 said:
D1 Regional Final picks at the halfway point:

Region 1- Liberty over Pickerington North
Region 2- St. Ignatius over Brecksville Broadview
Region 3- Thomas Worthington over Darby
Region 4- X over Moeller

It'll be worth monitoring what they do with the format of the Final 4. Under the old system, the pairings at states rotated each year. I think Region 1 played Region 3 and 2 played 4 last year. Hopefully they'll continue to rotate so we get some new matchups in the semifinals each year.
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Agreed. Would be a shame this year if Liberty played X in a semi final, though.
 
MyNameIsDoug? said:
I’d argue that it’s the big 3, then could be any one of McNick, Fenwick or Lakota East and then LaSalle. The private schools in Cincy will continue to dominate because that’s just the culture in the area. A lot of those kids start playing when they’re 8 or 9 years old; the public schools simply don’t have that consistently. Lakota East is probably the best public school this year, though. Honestly, no idea who the next best would be, but it’d be a significant drop off from LE. Maybe schools like Walnut, Mason, Edgewood, Taylor, Lakota West? I don’t know, but Cincy public schools don’t have it like Columbus in terms of competitiveness
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I should clarify here. The big 3 aren't in a class of their own this year. It seems to be X by themselves at the top then Moeller then Elder. X just swept Elder in a relatively easy 3.
 
MatchPoint said:
Is anyone at either X-Ignatius-MV or St. Charles-McNick-Hudson?
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Wasn’t there, but have seen these scores:
St. Charles def. McNick 26-24, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23
St. Charles def. Hudson 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-16
Haven’t seen a score for McNick vs. Hudson

DII looks to be St. Charles’ for the taking right now, but think Fenwick and McNick are their biggest threats come tourney time. They’re currently 11-1 and their only loss was a 4 setter to St. X
 
SiberianHawk said:
Ignatius def. MTV 3-0. Only caught the final set score of 25-23

X def. Ignatius 3-1 : 27-29, 25-20, 25-17, 25-12
X def. MTV 3-0 : 25-12, 25-11, 25-17
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall (not directed at you, just generally) some rumblings on here in the past about X not scheduling really tough outside of the obvious GCL home and homes and Centerville Elite.

That's certainly not the case this year. They've played/scheduled most if not all of the best D1 teams from every region. Add in Fenwick, St. Charles, and McNicholas from D2 who all seem to be very solid.

If you can stay healthy with a gauntlet like that, it definitely helps in the tournament.
 
CK123 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall (not directed at you, just generally) some rumblings on here in the past about X not scheduling really tough outside of the obvious GCL home and homes and Centerville Elite.

That's certainly not the case this year. They've played/scheduled most if not all of the best D1 teams from every region. Add in Fenwick, St. Charles, and McNicholas from D2 who all seem to be very solid.

If you can stay healthy with a gauntlet like that, it definitely helps in the tournament.
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If I remember correctly, they played several under the max number of matches in 2022, which isn't really typical of a top team. Last year and this year though, their schedule is very competitive. That's probably what you're thinking of.
 
MatchPoint said:
If I remember correctly, they played several under the max number of matches in 2022, which isn't really typical of a top team. Last year and this year though, their schedule is very competitive. That's probably what you're thinking of.
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Got it. I had that in my mind when I posted, but there's been more than a few thinly veiled posts about their scheduling over the years that I wasn't sure.

Assuming X and Liberty are at Elite, that should be a great match if they both advance to meet each other. But multiple match days leave things open to many factors that aren't there in a state tournament (now that the format changed).

Should be a fun end of the year in both divisions.
 
CK123 said:
Got it. I had that in my mind when I posted, but there's been more than a few thinly veiled posts about their scheduling over the years that I wasn't sure.

Assuming X and Liberty are at Elite, that should be a great match if they both advance to meet each other. But multiple match days leave things open to many factors that aren't there in a state tournament (now that the format changed).

Should be a fun end of the year in both divisions.
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Yeah, think the criticisms were more about the lack of games than anything else. Sometime in recent memory they only had something like 17 on the schedule, but they usually seem to play top teams even then
 
That said, X is the favorite and has shown it thus far. They tend to drop some sets, but prevail in the end reasonably handily.

Not sure what to attribute the lack of consistency within matches to (they aren't that young correct?) but that's high school sports in general.
 
CK123 said:
That said, X is the favorite and has shown it thus far. They tend to drop some sets, but prevail in the end reasonably handily.

Not sure what to attribute the lack of consistency within matches to (they aren't that young correct?) but that's high school sports in general.
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Looking at their schedule it’s definitely not a cupcake schedule in opponent or layout. They seem to have several tri/quad/tourneys on early Saturdays after big Friday night GCL matches. Think that could explain some of the closer sets/couple lost sets here and there. Can anyone confirm from seeing them in person if they’re resting anyone on Saturdays a la load management in the NBA?
 
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SportsFan4Life said:
View attachment 57047
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I'll take a stab at some predictions here:
X over Centerville in 3
Moe over BVBH in 4
Liberty over Elder in 3
Darby over St. I's in 5

Championship bracket:
X over Moe in 4
Liberty over Darby in 3

3rd place:
Moe over Darby in 4

Championship:
X over Liberty in 4

Consolation bracket:
BVBH over Centerville in 3
Elder over St. I's in 4

5th place:
Elder over BVBH in 4

7th place:
St. I's over Centerville in 3
 
Before I take a stab at the centerville bracket, how are the teams in the elite looking health wise? Anyone have any insight? Curious if anyone is missing starters, anyone coming back, etc
 
CincyVballGuru said:
Before I take a stab at the centerville bracket, how are the teams in the elite looking health wise? Anyone have any insight? Curious if anyone is missing starters, anyone coming back, etc
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Liberty was without L Austin Mallory in their quad, where they lost to St. X. He will be back for the Elite 8
 
I’ll take a stab at the bracket predictions. Basing this off Darbys outside being out. If he’s not that might change things.

St. Xavier over Centerville in 3
BVBH over Moeller in 5
Liberty over Elder in 4
St. Ignatius over Darby in 5

Championship Bracket
St. Xavier over BVBH in 3
Liberty over St. Ignatius in 3
1st place match
St. Xavier over Liberty in 5
3rd place match
BVBH over St. Ignatius in 4

Consolation Bracket
Moeller over Centerville in 3
Darby over Elder in 4
5th place
Moeller over Darby in 5
7th place
Elder over Centerville in 4

St. Xavier
Liberty
BVBH
St. Ignatius
Moeller
Darby
Elder
Centerville
 
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Darby's outside is likely out for the season, but he went down after Liberty, which was their second match of the season. The Darby team we'll see at the Elite 8 is the same Darby team we've seen for almost a month.
 
Elder going 5 with Walnut right now. Would be a big win for the Eagles!

Walnut play Lakota East late this month - could be a good one!
 
Falcon11 said:
Elder going 5 with Walnut right now. Would be a big win for the Eagles!

Walnut play Lakota East late this month - could be a good one!
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Walnut wins in 5, 16-14 last set!

Big win for the Eagles! Could shake up the rankings a bit. Walnut has some decent wins - beat D2 #4 Roger Bacon and now D1 #8 Elder. Their schedule isn't the toughest, but only loss is a close one to Badin in the first match of the season.

Only games I see them maybe dropping is LE and LaSalle.
 
Falcon11 said:
Walnut wins in 5, 16-14 last set!

Big win for the Eagles! Could shake up the rankings a bit. Walnut has some decent wins - beat D2 #4 Roger Bacon and now D1 #8 Elder. Their schedule isn't the toughest, but only loss is a close one to Badin in the first match of the season.

Only games I see them maybe dropping is LE and LaSalle.
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Wow. I thought Elder seemed to be having a down year, but this has to be a kick in the gut for them. Obviously a lot of credit to WHHS for the big win. Was it streamed anywhere? Any feedback about the match to add some context?
 
CincyVballGuru said:
Wow. I thought Elder seemed to be having a down year, but this has to be a kick in the gut for them. Obviously a lot of credit to WHHS for the big win. Was it streamed anywhere? Any feedback about the match to add some context?
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Tommy Tierney didn't play the first few sets. But Walnut played well.
 
Falcon11 said:
Tommy Tierney didn't play the first few sets. But Walnut played well.
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That’s kinda surprising. Is he hurt?(That would be unfortunate). Or Was Sean giving him rest thinking it would be a cakewalk and then pulled the trigger too late? That would seem like a poor coaching decision to me.
 
Without having seen them play and only going off of box scores, this Walnut team is confusing. Badin this year is not the Badin of the past couple years (big reliance on Brockman, very young and undersized around him) so that loss feels a bit odd. They also let West Clermont and a very down Loveland team take sets from them and won in 5 against Roger Bacon who I think is a team Elder *should* be able to handle in 3 or 4 (but if Tierney is hurt or something, that changes them drastically). There’s other factors at play I’m sure, but, overall, good for Walnut for still competing after losing one of the best OH tandems I’ve personally ever seen
 
You've got to give credit to Walnut & their coaches. Yes they no longer have Wheatley/Tombragel duo but they're playing well as a team. They have a young team with 2 sr, 4 jr and rest so. They've got something to prove and it'll be fun to watch them and see how they do.
 
MyNameIsDoug? said:
Without having seen them play and only going off of box scores, this Walnut team is confusing. Badin this year is not the Badin of the past couple years (big reliance on Brockman, very young and undersized around him) so that loss feels a bit odd. They also let West Clermont and a very down Loveland team take sets from them and won in 5 against Roger Bacon who I think is a team Elder *should* be able to handle in 3 or 4 (but if Tierney is hurt or something, that changes them drastically). There’s other factors at play I’m sure, but, overall, good for Walnut for still competing after losing one of the best OH tandems I’ve personally ever seen
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I'd argue a close loss to a decent Badin team first match of the year isn't that crazy. Could have been figuring out lineups.

If you look at the scores on Max Preps, Walnut absolutely smoked West Clermont the first two sets (25-13, 25-11) then lost the third where they probably played some backups (21-25). Then my guess is starters went back in and finished it off (25-11). Against Loveland it looks more like a rough start playing down to an opponent (lost 21-25) then got going and won 25-10, 25-10, 25-18. Could also be a case where coaches started younger guys the first set or something, I'm not sure. But with scores like those, they weren't really close matches.

I would bet Roger Bacon vs Elder will be a good match in May -- and if Tierney is out (or compromised) RB may even be favored to win. RB is a good team with flaws.

I guess I agree with @ohvball that we should be giving Walnut their flowers. Their core have all played club for multiple years. You also can't discount that several of those kids played in big matches (granted, with Tombragel and Wheatley) the past few years, so they probably aren't as scared of the "big" teams as other schools would be.
 
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