Wanted to see how the Elder-Moeller match ended last night before I made some predictions (Moe won all three 25-22 so Elder is close, just can't get over that hump).
Moeller over Davidson in 3
Ignatius over Darby in 5
Elder over Northmont in 4
St Xavier over Centerville in 3
Moeller over Ignatius in 3
St Xavier over Elder in 4
Darby over Davidson in 4
Northmont over Centerville in 4
Moeller over St Xavier in 4
Elder over St Ignatius in 4
Northmont over Darby in 4
Davdison over Centerville in 4
Moeller probably should have lost last week to St X after going down 0-2, but were able to rally and win convincingly in sets 4 and 5, after surviving set 3.
Coming down the stretch I'll be interested in a couple of seed races for D1:
North - St Ignatius has a hold on #1, but does everyone else #2-#4 go to the other side in attempt to make the State Bracket?
South - Moeller will be #1, X likely #2 so where does #3 Elder go?
East - Who gets the #1 East spot? Darby or Olentangy, do these two play at all the next couple weeks?
West - Who gets the #1 West spot? Beavercreek or Northmont? Do they play at all down the stretch?
As the year is winding down, any thoughts on D-I and D-II POY and 1st teams? Would expect to see a heavy Moeller/X/Elder presence as the 3 best teams. Who from Moeller would be the frontrunner for POY? Is Rose a lock for D-II?
I haven't seen much volleyball this year, just a handful of teams. Was it a down year talent-wise?
Trivia question: Who was the last middle to win State POY in Ohio?
Kelso POY 2013 from Darby
Jarrod Kelso, the current Vanguard 18-2 coach is the correct answer
Moeller drops their first match of the year to St X last night - 26-24, 26-24, 25-17.Not very often anyone says this, but Moeller is having a historic season while generally flying under the radar. Many on here (myself included) picked Moeller anywhere from 3rd-5th place in D1 this year and they are undefeated.
S - Peed Attack 18-1
OH - Gallagher N/A DS - Burnett N/A
OH - Fuller Attack 16-1
MH - Kiser, C Attack 18-1
MH - Kiser, B Attack 18-1
OPP - Devolve Attack 18-1
L - Haas Attack 16-1
MY GUESSES:
South D1 POY:
Kiser - Moeller MB
1st Team:
Devolve - Moeller
Daeschner - Elder
Huber - St. X
Batsch - Loveland
Albers - Elder
Hilvert - St X
2nd team:
Peed - Moeller
Schatzman - Elder
McCarthy - St X
Kress - Sycamore
Kroger - Milford
Beyke - Mason
Hagerty - Walnut Hills
_________________
South D2 POY:
Harvey - LaSalle OH/S
1st Team:
Fulmer - McNicholas
Grosheim - LaSalle
VanSteenkiste - Badin
Jones - Roger Bacon
Schultheis - Purcell Marian
Jeffers - Monroe
Might be looking too much into this, but the regional teams generally come from the players' own coaches recommendations. With that being said, I'd tweak some of your guesses for the GCL South suggestions.
If I were to guess, I'd think McLaughlin would rank them as 1- C. Kiser, 2- Devolve, 3- Peed 4- Haas, 5- B. Kiser. That would put Kiser/Devolve on the 1st team and at least Peed on the 2nd team, with Haas either winding up there or on H.M. with Kiser and potentially Fuller. I'd personally put Peed above Devolve, as Peed has been the key to Kiser's success, but Devolve has definitely had a good enough season to merit placement on the 1st team and they won't have 3 on the 1st team.
Ferris would definitely have Huber at 1 and a lock for the 1st team, probably put Hilvert 2nd, Kastner 3rd, McCarthy 4th. Those 3 could probably be in any order, but that's my guess. Ferris has always favored Hilvert over McCarthy and the fact that Kastner's only a junior is the only thing keeping him from being 2nd. That would put Hilvert and Kastner on 2nd team and push McCarthy to H.M., most likely with Mauch and potentially Connaughton, with Zelczak being a long shot there as well.
Tierney would almost definitely put Daeschner first based on the talent difference, but I'd be surprised if Dirr wasn't higher than any of their hitters as the emotional leader of the team and captain. If you talk to Sean, he always raves about the intangibles that Dirr brings to the team and, alternatively, Schatzman, Albers, and Stapleton have all been benched in big matches this year due to attitude. Albers would be 3rd as their best offensive weapon all year and will be on the verge of 2nd team/H.M. I'd think the other GCL coaches would vouch for Albers to be bumped up to 2nd, given how much he gave them both trouble all year long. Schatzman would then be 4th, primarily on reputation, with Hargett being a strong bet for H.M. with how strong he came on in the 2nd half of the year.
Add it all up, it looks like this...
1st team:
C. Kiser, Moeller (POY)
Huber, X
Daeschner, Elder
Devolve, Moeller
Hilvert, X
2 non-GCL spots
2nd team:
Dirr, Elder
Peed, Moeller
Kastner, X
Albers, Elder
3 non-GCL spots
H.M.
McCarthy, X
B. Kiser, Moeller
Haas, Moeller
Mauch, X
Hargett, Elder
Schatzman, Elder
7 non-GCL spots
Again, that's not necessarily who I think *deserves* it, but that's my guess based on the coaches' input of their own guys.