Would be shocked if Tierney was simply resting Tommy, that is not something he has done in the past. My guess is he is dealing with an injury. Also saw that Davis had a big game and Brandt struggled a little bit. Anyone actually at the match to confirm. All those outsides, Tierney, Brandt, and Davis r very undersized. Will be a struggle for them, especially without strong middle play to pull some blockers away.
2024 HS Season
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CincyVballGuru
New member
Elder seems to have had a drop In depth/talent at the lower levels the last couple years so it’ll be interesting to see if the Varsity staff can develop them and find success. Their varsity staff is extremely talented, but with Bianco being around less and less at the JV level it’ll be interesting to see how that impacts the development. He was far and away the best coach in the city if not the state at the JV level.
MyNameIsDoug?
Well-known member
Oh yeah, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to take anything away from them. Just thought some of those scores seemed odd. Hand up that I expected them to have an off year after losing those 2. I was also unaware they have so many kids playing club, so you’re right in how much that helps. Any time you can grab a win from one of the big 3, it’s a huge boon to the program.
Although I do tend to agree with the above that their youth talent has seemed to be a bit down in recent years and it might be catching up to them. Hope this isn’t indicative of the BWAC as a whole or that the league is having a hard time finding good youth coaches.
Bengals1974
New member
Definitely agree that the scores don’t always add up, could be a result of a relatively younger team that plays up and down depending on the level of the opponent. But that elder game was scary, outside of the box score Walnut led for almost the entirety of the game and if it wasn’t for small lapses in hitting, mainly from the middles they could’ve perhaps taken the game in 4 or maybe even 3. Swift has seemed to have taken a jump defensively compared to last year and the offense when clicking is very good, could be a team to look out for down the line, unfortunate they won’t be at centerville tournament this year.
Seems that Walnut hasn't ever been in it. This year you might understand because people were expecting a down year, but the fact that the past several years they weren't there was always a bit sad. Is it invite based?
Bengals1974
New member
If memory serves last season was the only time Walnut has been invited and they had a generally poor showing, I would imagine since Centerville hosts it they would control the teams that play
Yes, by invitation so that teams know they will have 3 guaranteed matched on their schedule. It's really the only realistic way to do it, unless it was a 16 team tournament and you broke into gold and silver brackets based on the rankings (seeding is based on rankings now).
I know it's always been Centerville's thing, but they are on the verge of being not very good for a while now and taking up a spot where they are in way over their head.
MyNameIsDoug?
Well-known member
Harsh, but getting to be fair. Although Centerville did make it to state just 2, maybe 3, years ago coming out of the same region as Beavercreek, Northmont’s good couple of years and a few others, right? Granted, Elder took care of them handily
SiberianHawk
Member
I'm still waiting for someone to do a WC-style tournament. Four groups, 16 team elimination bracket after.
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| St. Xavier | Liberty | Moeller | St. Charles |
| Berlin | BBH | Darby | St. Ignatius |
| McNick | Elder | Pick North | La Salle |
| Fenwick | Walnut Hills | Thomas Worthington | Mount Vernon |
Alright, we just need 8 courts and 16 referees to pull it off
.I didn't remember them being in it last year, my mistake - I stand corrected!
Despite having two studs, they were kind of a weird team last year.
I'm still waiting for someone to do a WC-style tournament. Four groups, 16 team elimination bracket after.
Group A Group B Group C Group D St. Xavier Liberty Moeller St. Charles Berlin BBH Darby St. Ignatius McNick Elder Pick North La Salle Fenwick Walnut Hills Thomas Worthington Mount Vernon
Alright, we just need 8 courts and 16 referees to pull it off
You may remember this, but Worthington Kilbourne and St. Charles both used to have tournaments like this. Pool play on Friday night and brackets Saturday morning. Kilbourne had 6 courts running at a time I believe.
SiberianHawk
Member
I don’t actually. When was that? I’ve been hoping someone would pull off a multi-day event like that, but I never knew of any examples.
MyNameIsDoug?
Well-known member
This actually does sound vaguely familiar...maybe from the mid to late 2000's? Early 2010's?
They started in the 90s and ended maybe early 2010s?
It would be fun to have a tournament like that again, I agree. I also assume it would be difficult to get each of Moeller, Elder, and X there since that would open up the possibility of playing each other 4 times in one year with Centerville Elite factored in.
SiberianHawk
Member
At the Pick N Quad
Pick N def Beavercreek 2-0
MTV def Berlin 2-1 : 19-25, 25-22, 25-23
Pick N def Berlin 2-0 : 25-17, 25-21
Beavercreek def MTV 2-0 : 25-23, 25-21
Pick N def MTV 2-0 : 25-21, 25-23
Berlin def Beavercreek 2-1 : 25-23, 22-25, 25-23
Pick N def Beavercreek 2-0
MTV def Berlin 2-1 : 19-25, 25-22, 25-23
Pick N def Berlin 2-0 : 25-17, 25-21
Beavercreek def MTV 2-0 : 25-23, 25-21
Pick N def MTV 2-0 : 25-21, 25-23
Berlin def Beavercreek 2-1 : 25-23, 22-25, 25-23
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Liberty beats X in the Centerville Elite finals.
Darby beats Moeller in the 3rd place game. Since Darby and Liberty are in separate regions, two central teams looking likely to make it to states.
Centerville takes a set from BBHS and took Elder to 5. Glad to see they put up a fight, but finished in 8th as expected. I retract my previous statement about their being in way over their heads.
Darby beats Moeller in the 3rd place game. Since Darby and Liberty are in separate regions, two central teams looking likely to make it to states.
Centerville takes a set from BBHS and took Elder to 5. Glad to see they put up a fight, but finished in 8th as expected. I retract my previous statement about their being in way over their heads.
Fenwick beats St. Charles in 4.
With that result, and the McNicholas win over Fenwick and St. Charles beating McNicholas, D2 looks to be very competitive at the top.
McNicholas hosts Fenwick for the rematch on Monday, where Fenwick can solidify themselves as the favorites with a win. A loss would just add to the hype for the post season.
D1 is also more fuzzy with previously undefeated X going down to Liberty in their rematch. I know there was talk about Liberty not having their libero in the previous meeting, correct?
States are shaping up to be some hopefully great matches in both divisions.
With that result, and the McNicholas win over Fenwick and St. Charles beating McNicholas, D2 looks to be very competitive at the top.
McNicholas hosts Fenwick for the rematch on Monday, where Fenwick can solidify themselves as the favorites with a win. A loss would just add to the hype for the post season.
D1 is also more fuzzy with previously undefeated X going down to Liberty in their rematch. I know there was talk about Liberty not having their libero in the previous meeting, correct?
States are shaping up to be some hopefully great matches in both divisions.
Agreed that 2 central teams will make it to states. It won’t be Darby though.
Thomas vs Darby should be a great regional final.
X’s serve dominated the first set and kept Liberty out of system. Liberty righted the ship in that regard and effectively used their middles in sets 2-4 to not only score themselves but put other hitters in very advantageous matchups with single blockers. The 30-28 third set seemed to be the back breaker for X. They were trading points for the final 10 and either team had a few chances to win it. It was a well played match by both teams. X did play up to their abilities but Liberty is that good. What seems to separate Liberty from other top teams is they can consistently score with both of their middles. And Whiteside was probably the best player in the tournament today.
CincyVballGuru
New member
Heard from Moeller friend that Joe Taggart was not there today for X. Assuming he was just sick and not injured, That is a definite piece that should put X back in a spot to exploit more matchups and counter Whiteside. Plus X played Moeller last night which is a lot back to back. If they are both 100% health/fresh when if they play again could have the makings of a 5 set instant classic
SiberianHawk
Member
Some notes from the Pick N quad since it's kinda that 2nd tier of teams flying under the radar compared to the Centerville tourney.
Pick N impressed me. They have some very big hitters that can jump over blocks and absolutely crush the ball. One hit bounced up to me in the stands and just deflecting it off my hand sent it another 5 feet into the air. Berlin just couldn't stop them. However, only one of them seemed to be a very technical hitter, and that became a risk when they went up against a larger block in MTV. I predict that reckoning will come in the tournament when they run into Liberty (or even Berlin/MTV again if they shut down that attack). Still, having multiple massive attack options like that at all times was just too much for everyone else. Definitely the best team at the quad.
Berlin still seems to be at the same level. Strong, but just not able to get past MTV and now Pick North. The MTV/Berlin match once again went full sets, continuing the streak, but for some reason, MTV just keeps getting the best of Berlin in that final set. Granted, MTV's defense had a bit of a reawakening in the final set, including an absolutely incredible dig by the libero on a wide-open overpass hit that caused a huge momentum shift. I still think it's a 50/50 tossup whenever those two meet.
Beavercreek overperformed expectations. Their 2-0 win over MTV was the biggest surprise of the day. They also took Berlin down to the wire. They're not a big team, but they have a good middle and a scrappy defense. I'd say they're dangerous to anyone outside the top 6-7 teams. I could see them being comfortably ranked around 10-15.
MTV is really feeling the weight of injuries come down on them. For a team that had an attack trying to go blow-for-blow with Liberty last year in the regional final, it looked totally offline. Gantt being out is obviously huge, but it looks like their setter was also dealing with a minor injury. During the Pick N match, I think they were on their 3rd setter of the season. Full credit to them for still trying to run some advanced offensive plays, but that ball was going all over the place for them. Their defense was much improved from what I saw earlier in the season and was receiving much better, and that block can still go up against most offenses in the state.
Overall, it was a very even group of four teams. Out of the 14 sets, I think only four didn't have one team score at least 21 points.
For now, D1 East is comfortably in the order of Liberty > [Big Gap] > Pick N > Berlin/MTV > [Big Gap] > Everyone else.
Pick N impressed me. They have some very big hitters that can jump over blocks and absolutely crush the ball. One hit bounced up to me in the stands and just deflecting it off my hand sent it another 5 feet into the air
. Berlin just couldn't stop them. However, only one of them seemed to be a very technical hitter, and that became a risk when they went up against a larger block in MTV. I predict that reckoning will come in the tournament when they run into Liberty (or even Berlin/MTV again if they shut down that attack). Still, having multiple massive attack options like that at all times was just too much for everyone else. Definitely the best team at the quad.Berlin still seems to be at the same level. Strong, but just not able to get past MTV and now Pick North. The MTV/Berlin match once again went full sets, continuing the streak, but for some reason, MTV just keeps getting the best of Berlin in that final set. Granted, MTV's defense had a bit of a reawakening in the final set, including an absolutely incredible dig by the libero on a wide-open overpass hit that caused a huge momentum shift. I still think it's a 50/50 tossup whenever those two meet.
Beavercreek overperformed expectations. Their 2-0 win over MTV was the biggest surprise of the day. They also took Berlin down to the wire. They're not a big team, but they have a good middle and a scrappy defense. I'd say they're dangerous to anyone outside the top 6-7 teams. I could see them being comfortably ranked around 10-15.
MTV is really feeling the weight of injuries come down on them. For a team that had an attack trying to go blow-for-blow with Liberty last year in the regional final, it looked totally offline. Gantt being out is obviously huge, but it looks like their setter was also dealing with a minor injury. During the Pick N match, I think they were on their 3rd setter of the season. Full credit to them for still trying to run some advanced offensive plays, but that ball was going all over the place for them. Their defense was much improved from what I saw earlier in the season and was receiving much better, and that block can still go up against most offenses in the state.
Overall, it was a very even group of four teams. Out of the 14 sets, I think only four didn't have one team score at least 21 points.
For now, D1 East is comfortably in the order of Liberty > [Big Gap] > Pick N > Berlin/MTV > [Big Gap] > Everyone else.
Bengals1974
New member
Any info on what happened in the Elder Lakota East game? Heard rumors of a Lakota East win in 3? Down year for elder or is the rest of the Cincinnati area beginning to catch up to the big 3?
CincyVballGuru
New member
Down year for Elder with at least 2-3 more as they are significantly behind X and Moeller at the lower levels both in talent and Depth. Be interesting if Tierney retires after Tommy graduates rather than go through a multi year “rebuild” especially with Joe B around less and less to help develop the younger guys. Plus maybe he goes the same route Joe B did with wanting to watch his son play in college. Jury is still out on the abilities and quality level of the new coaches at their JV and frosh levels.
Amazing what a couple of years can do to a program, back to back finals appearances to now. Wasn't a whole lot in the pipeline following the 2022 class, minus Samuels. Hopefully they can start getting those west side Catholic schools to start producing again.
MyNameIsDoug?
Well-known member
Elder's JV team is pretty good. 10-1 after tonight. I think their top guys will provide a nice compliment to this year's Varsity team next year since there's so many juniors. Elder's usually had their best seasons when they're relatively balanced or senior heavy. They're very junior heavy this year.
I was able to watch the stream of this match. Lakota East did play a good match, but Elder could not get out of their own way. It would be interesting to see how many unforced errors they had. It felt like the majority of the points LE scored were due to Elder's unforced errors. It feels like this has been the trend for them lately.. The skill set is there, but it feels like the execution is not.
TenRingsAndCounting
Member
2022 Moeller broke Elder