Boys Volleyball: Olentangy Liberty Patriots make state tournament encore

Olentangy Liberty boys volleyball coach David Hale is always focused on the next point. It’s about being better on the next ball than the last.

That focus was never more evident than when the Patriots came back from a two-set deficit to force a fifth set against defending state champion Cincinnati Moeller.

Liberty, which was playing in its second consecutive state tournament, ultimately fell to the Crusaders 25-17, 25-18, 19-25, 9-25, 19-17 in a quarterfinal June 4 at Pickerington Central to finish 22-4 overall. Moeller won the title the next day.

“This year’s group was never going to be satisfied with just being OK,” said Hale, who was named Coach of the Year in the East Region and OCC-Central Division. “We talked during the year, saying ‘It’s not OK to be OK.’ Every day in practice and each one of our games, regardless of who our opponent was, we just wanted to keep pushing to make ourselves better.

“It’s not OK to just go through the motions. We play each ball that’s in play and then move on to the next ball. We’re playing to be the best that we can be and I don’t care who lines up on the other side of the net.”

Liberty has been on the brink twice now. The Patriots went five sets with Cleveland St. Ignatius in last year’s quarterfinal before falling 25-22, 19-25, 27-29, 25-18, 15-13.

“I was really good friends with a lot of the seniors last year and I saw how upset they were,” senior outside hitter Noah Koknat said. “I really wanted to win it a lot for (myself), but partially for them, too.”

Liberty had a 43-set winning streak to open the season and won the OCC-Central Division at 12-0 with just one set lost.

Koknat and classmates Colin Brooks (right-side hitter), David Jenkins (right-side hitter/outside hitter) and Colby Whiteside (outside hitter) were instrumental in that success.

But looking to the next point, Hale believes their impact on the young core group expected to return — juniors Wes Davis (setter) and Jack Sullenberger (libero) and sophomores Jake Koch (middle hitter; 40 blocks), Connor Severson (setter) and Caden Whiteside (outside hitter) — will prove just as invaluable.

“For us, it’s just going to be a matter of next year’s group trying to find the same focus as what this year’s group had,” Hale said. “Every year, it’s kind of a reset. We’ll be junior-heavy and that could be a good thing. We’re experienced now, but we’re still young. It’s going to be a matter of whether those juniors rest on their laurels.”

Koknat (264 kills, 137 digs, 36 aces) was first-team all-state and Player of the Year in the East Region and OCC-Central. Jenkins (179 kills, 188 digs, 35 aces) was honorable mention all-state and first-team all-region and all-league.

Sullenberger (241 digs, 28 aces) and Colby Whiteside (50 blocks, 41 aces) were honorable mention all-region. Severson (534 assists, 38 aces) was special mention all-league and Brooks was honorable mention all-league.

“I’m telling the guys that I want them to do better than us next year,” Koknat said.

•The strides Berlin made under first-year coach Jim Cornett were impressive.

The Bears had won just nine matches entering the season, including six last year. They finished 19-8 after losing to top-seeded DeSales 27-25, 25-20, 25-22 on May 25 in a Division II, East Region semifinal at Worthington Kilbourne.

“All of the guys in the program love being together, and they are building something special,” said Cornett, whose team was seeded fourth. “It’s the culture. It’s the team atmosphere. They all want to be a part of this.”

The Bears had just four seniors, including outside hitter Mason Clark (144 kills, 40 blocks, 25 aces) and libero Mike Mannino (team-high 237 digs).

Berlin has a strong core of players expected to return. Sophomore setter Parker Van Horne (honorable mention all-region, second-team all-OCC-Cardinal) led with 704 assists and had 45 kills, 21 blocks, 48 aces and 148 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Mitch Zahner (honorable mention all-region and all-league) had team highs in blocks (51) and aces (53) along with 123 kills and 128 digs.

Freshman outside hitter Hayden Van Horne (second-team all-region, first-team all-league) led with 270 kills and added 31 aces and 193 digs. Freshman outside hitter Josh Weida (honorable mention all-region) had 203 kills, 31 aces and 134 digs.

Junior middle blocker Aditya Arora had 103 kills and 45 blocks.

“(The four freshmen and sophomore starters) all play club together, and that’s as important as anything,” Cornett said. “We have a lot of guys who live and breathe volleyball, and they are going to keep getting better and do good things.”

—Scott Hennen

sports@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekSports

BERLIN

•Record: 19-8 overall

•OCC-Cardinal standings: Thomas Worthington (11-1), Dublin Jerome (7-5), Hilliard Darby (7-5), Worthington Kilbourne (7-5), Berlin (6-6), Olentangy (4-8), Dublin Scioto (0-12) 

•Seniors lost: Mason Clark, Ryan Jeansonne, Mike Mannino and Shon Pham

•Key returnees: Aditya Arora, Hayden Van Horne, Parker Van Horne, Josh Weida and Mitch Zahner

•Postseason: Def. Patriot Prep 25-4, 25-8, 25-8; def. Olentangy 25-19, 25-21, 25-14; lost to DeSales 27-25, 25-20, 25-22 in Division II, East Region semifinal

LIBERTY

•Record: 22-4 overall 

•OCC-Central standings: Liberty (12-0), Dublin Coffman (9-3), Hilliard Davidson (8-4), Westerville North (6-6), Orange (3-9), Upper Arlington (3-9), Hilliard Bradley (1-11)

•Seniors lost: Colin Brooks, David Jenkins, Noah Koknat, Jacob Tootle and Colby Whiteside

•Key returnees: Wes Davis, Jake Koch, Connor Severson, Jack Sullenberger and Caden Whiteside

•Postseason: Def. Westerville South 25-15, 25-14, 25-13; def. Gahanna 25-9, 25-11, 25-8; def. Mount Vernon 25-27, 25-20, 25-8, 25-20; lost to Cincinnati Moeller 25-17, 25-18, 19-25, 9-25, 19-17 in Division I state quarterfinal

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Volleyball: Olentangy Liberty makes state tourney encore