Boys Volleyball: Ashton Christensen helps put Dublin Coffman Shamrocks on winning path

As one of only three key returnees, senior outside hitter Ashton Christensen wasn’t sure what to expect from the Dublin Coffman boys volleyball team.

The Shamrocks, who were Division I regional runners-up in 2019, went 11-9 a year ago with a 10-player senior class leading the way.

Despite its inexperience at the varsity level entering the season, Coffman again heads into the East Region tournament, which is set to begin May 20, with a winning record.

“I wasn’t very optimistic going into this season, but as we started practicing together, I’ve loved the team and we’ve come together,” Christensen said. “It’s just been the energy of the team. A lot of us are already friends, so that helps us a lot with staying positive on the court. We just have to keep our heads up, that’s our biggest thing, and have no unforced errors.”

“(My role is) much different. Last year, I was the player that would play in and sometimes get subbed out for, and this year I’m kind of the main player who tries to hold the team together.”

Christensen, who has committed to Daemen University in Amherst, New York, has performed well in his leadership role, and the Shamrocks also have benefited.

Coffman, which finished 9-3 in the OCC-Central Division, was 9-5 overall before facing host Jerome and Scioto in the Battle of Dublin on May 13.

Christensen is one of seven seniors in the program, with classmates Alden Rowe (outside hitter) and Sam Kim (middle hitter) also playing key roles a year ago.

The other seniors are Tej Somi Reddy (defensive specialist), Morgan Shang (libero), Adil Jamal (middle hitter) and Sid Suresh (defensive specialist).

Junior Jonathan Loynes has stepped in at setter, while freshman Logan South is a key contributor at middle hitter. Loynes is the younger brother of Ryan Loynes, a 2021 graduate who was the Shamrocks’ setter last season.

“We’ve gotten a lot more chemistry recently,” Jonathan Loynes said. “It was a bit nerve-wracking at first (this season), but I feel like I’ve started growing into that role as a leader on the court.

“We’ve got seven seniors, and especially with us losing that COVID year (in 2020), they’ve really stepped up as the leaders on the court. We haven’t had a lot of people who have played a ton, so the seniors have really stepped into that role of teaching the younger guys.”

Coach Shane Farrell hopes his program will continue to grow in numbers, particularly if the school district adds the sport at the middle school level.

“We’re still one of the only programs that doesn’t have a middle school team,” Farrell said. “Ashton has grown so much in one year. Imagine if he’d been here for four years. Hopefully, we’ll be getting middle school volleyball so that we can be more consistently competitive. We have amazing plays followed by what-were-you-thinking kind of plays, so we’ve just got to get more consistent.”

•Jerome is looking to gain momentum heading into the regional tournament.

The Celtics were 11-9 overall before hosting the Battle of Dublin and went 7-5 in the OCC-Cardinal.

“Our division is rock solid,” coach Phil Cagnoli said. “It’s been a war pretty much every night, which is great. We’re not mad about that. We still have a lot of goals in front of us. We love competing in the postseason.”

Key players have been middle hitter Alex Loeffler, setters Kai Van Bourgondien and Dhruva Thimmenahalli and opposite hitter Alex Guerrera.

“We still have growing to do,” Cagnoli said. “We’ve been growing all year. We’re not in a terrible spot, but we’re not as consistent as I’d like to be and they know that. Everybody understands where we need to get, but we have such flashes of the level of volleyball that we need to play and we just need to do that more often.”

Cagnoli is looking forward to the regional tournament.

“It’s nice to know what our matchups are and we can really dive into film study and try to do some scouting, but as is history with us, we always feel we’re under ranked,” Cagnoli said.

—Frank DiRenna

•Despite a disappointing record, first-year Scioto coach Zach Wilson continues to see improvement.

The Irish were 3-17 overall before playing in the Battle of Dublin. Scioto went 0-12 in the OCC-Cardinal.

The Irish earned their first home win since May 2019, beating the St. Charles B team 3-0 on May 11.

Wilson said key players have been opposite hitter Henry Hamilton and libero Sam Trushel.

“The team has really progressed from where we started,” Wilson said. “Despite our record, we’ve put up quite a fight against some very good teams. We’ve gotten a lot of production out of first-year player Harrison Mitchell, (a middle hitter) who’s picked up the game quickly. As much as we’d like to have pulled out a few more wins, we’re proud of the attitudes and level of effort brought to the gym every day.”

—Frank DiRenna

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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Volleyball: Christensen helps put Coffman on winning path