Notebook: Owen Alderman caps Worthington Kilbourne boys tennis season with trip to state

Owen Alderman likes to feed off a crowd. So, when the first day of the Division I state tournament was moved indoors to the Camargo Racquet Club in Cincinnati with limited viewing for spectators, he couldn’t help but be a little disappointed.

Alderman, who was the first Worthington Kilbourne boys tennis player to reach state since Kevin Metka in 2010, fell 6-0, 6-0 in the first round May 27 to eventual champion Vignesh Gogineni of Mason.

“It was kind of disappointing,” Alderman said. “I got the worst draw I think I could have got and then it continued with rain on (May 26) and (May 27) and so I barely got to hit on the Western & Southern courts (at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason). It was just not what I was envisioning.”

Alderman’s sister, Libby, made state in 2020 as a freshman, also going 0-1.

“It was really cool,” Alderman said. “Qualifying for states as a single is super prestigious. I’m glad I could get that far. I think it’s a tougher field than it used to be. The talent is a lot more spread out.”

He went 9-2 during the regular season at first singles and finished third in the district tournament May 21 at Olentangy with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over Pickerington North’s Cole Alcala.

Alderman qualified for state by beating Olentangy Liberty’s Krish Badri 6-1, 6-1 and Olentangy Berlin’s Josh McKnight 6-1, 6-3 on May 20.

Alderman also was OCC-Capital Division Player of the Year. The first-doubles team of freshman Luka Young and sophomore Joey English and the second-doubles team of seniors Ethan Emami and Nivaas Kalyanam were second-team all-league for the Wolves, who finished 5-10 overall and 5-2 in league play.

“I think (Alderman) did well,” coach Steve Metzmaier said. “He had a really good match in the district third-fourth-place match against Alcala. It was a pretty good year (for the team). This was one of the few years where I had seven players that were definitely varsity players.”

State ended up being Alderman’s last match. He plans to attend American University in the fall.

“I really love tennis,” he said. “So, it makes it really easy to work hard at something when you love it so much.”

•Heading into the Thomas boys volleyball team’s Division I, East Region final against Dublin Jerome on May 28, coach Brian Lawless thought about what he’d say to his squad if it won its first regional title since 1995.

He also thought about what he would say if Thomas lost, and the second-seeded Cardinals came up short against the sixth-seeded Celtics, falling 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 13-25, 19-17 to finish 20-7 overall.

“You’re never fully prepared for that moment,” said Lawless, who was OCC-Cardinal Coach of the Year. “It just ends so abruptly. I had thought about that. What do I say if we win? What do I say if we lose? What kind of message is delivered?

“I told them I loved them and that I was proud of them. In the moment, that’s all you can really say. I didn’t want to harp too much on the things we could have done or things that didn’t go our way – though I could have gone into the number of serves we missed. When that last point is scored, I’m no longer coaching them in volleyball. I’m coaching them in adversity – to be there and support them.”

Thomas won both regular-season matchups against Jerome on its way to winning the OCC-Cardinal at 11-1.

Seniors Joe Kolwicz (setter), Bo O’Leary (middle hitter), Miles Howland (right side hitter), Matteo Zevallos (libero) and Elliott Scully (middle hitter) all played key roles.

“Not having their presence in the gym is going to be difficult,” Lawless said. “I think they are responsible for moving our program another step in the right direction. I just can’t say enough about those guys and what they meant to our program. I’m just so proud of the way they committed to being great this season. It’s a team that I will remember for a long time.”

Kolwicz (673 assists, 207 digs, 120 kills, 83 blocks, 55 aces) was second-team all-state, first-team all-region and OCC-Cardinal Player of the Year. O’Leary (280 kills, 96 blocks, 86 aces) was honorable mention all-state and first-team all-region and all-league, Howland (206 kills, 104 digs) was honorable mention all-region and special mention all-league and Zevallos (250 digs) was honorable mention all-league.

Juniors Danny Fennie (defensive specialist), Devin Shaner (outside hitter) and Cole Stewart (outside hitter) are the most experienced players eligible to return.

“(We’re going to be) very young,” Lawless said. “Danny will probably transition into the libero spot next year. (Shaner and Stewart) will be back for us and be big contributors. Our j.v. team went 21-3 and that group had five very talented freshmen.”

•Kilbourne boys volleyball coach Meladee Hopkins doesn’t think she’ll have trouble motivating her team in the offseason.

The Wolves, seeded third in the Division II East Region, held a two-set lead May 25 before falling to second-seeded St. Charles 15-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16, 18-16 in a semifinal.

Kilbourne finished 18-7 overall and 7-5 in the OCC-Cardinal.

“It stung for sure,” Hopkins said. “We went out and dominated them for the first two sets. We’ll definitely use it to build on in the offseason.”

Hopkins thinks she’ll see plenty of athletes from her boys team during girls team open gyms this summer.

“I know that I’ll have boys showing up,” she said. “They have the opportunity to take some time off, but some of them will chose not to do so.”

Kilbourne had just four players with varsity experience when the season started.

“If you would have told me in January that we would have had the season we had this year, I would have told them they were crazy,” Hopkins said. “(We graduated) 22 kids in two years ... and the boys stepped up. They surprised me considering how difficult our conference is.”

Junior Will Haslett (outside hitter) was first-team all-state, all-region and all-league. He led the Wolves with 296 kills and 256 digs.

Senior Will Podolan (middle hitter) was second-team all-region and junior Mark Rice (libero) and sophomore Michael Vargo (setter) were honorable mention.

Podolan was second-team all-league, Rice was special mention and Vargo was honorable mention.

Sophomore Henry Fronczak (outside hitter) had 176 kills and Podolan had 171. Vargo led with 34 aces and Fronczak and Rice had 29 each, while Podolan had 75 blocks, senior Ben Fisher (middle hitter) had 57 blocks and Rice had 275 digs.

The Wolves lose their tallest players in Fisher (6-foot-5) and Podolan (6-4).

“I’m praying to God that somebody grows over the summer,” Hopkins said. “You can’t replace height. You can’t teach it; you can’t coach it. You either have it or you don’t. I have some kids that could step into the middle spots, it’s just developing them.”

•A 4-3 loss to second-seeded Fredericktown on May 23 marked the second consecutive season the Worthington Christian baseball team lost in a Division III district semifinal.

The Warriors, who were seeded fifth, finished 18-6 overall and 9-3 in the MSL-Ohio.

“We had another really good year,” coach Tim Kraynak said. “After the last two years of ... losing both (semifinals) in one-run losses to pretty good clubs, the players that have played in this program have developed an expectation for winning and battling through adversity. The core group next year won’t be satisfied with just getting to the district semifinals.”

Worthington Christian loses just three players to graduation, including one in Ashton Fulkerson who missed the season with an injury.

Caden Leidich (1B/C), who was first-team all-district and all-league, and Grant Woodfin (OF), who was second-team all-league, were the other seniors. Leidich hit .480 with 31 runs scored and Woodfin batted .388 with 20 RBI.

Junior catcher David Murawski, who was first-team all-district and all-league, hit .513 with four home runs and 39 RBI.

Junior Connor Hendrickson went 4-4 with a 2.12 ERA and 40 strikeouts and was second-team all-league along with juniors Ethan Albert (P/OF) and Brandon Hale (3B/OF/P) and sophomore Hobie Raikes (INF/P).

Albert was 4-1 with a 2.82 ERA and batted .351, and Raikes went 4-0 and hit .368.

Freshman Hunter Doran (2B/OF/P) was honorable mention all-league.

Junior Alex Wrobbel (OF) and sophomore Sam Blank (3B) are others eligible to return.

“This core group of guys is going to be hungry,” Kraynak said. “It’s just a really good nucleus of kids and I’m optimistic that this group is going to be more resilient next year.”

–Jarrod Ulrey 

sports@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekSports

KILBOURNE BOYS TENNIS

•Record: 5-10 overall

•OCC-Capital standings: Dublin Scioto (7-0), Big Walnut (6-1), Kilbourne (5-2), Delaware (4-3), Westerville South (3-4), Westerville North (2-5), Canal Winchester (1-6), Franklin Heights (0-7)

•Seniors lost: Owen Alderman, Ethan Emami, George Fang, Nivaas Kalyanam and Nate Plant

•Key returnees: Joey English, Aja Sampath and Luka Young

KILBOURNE BOYS VOLLEYBALL

•Record: 18-7 overall 

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

•Seniors lost: Ben Fisher, Andrew Nash and Cord Podolan

•Key returnees: Ian Dawson, Henry Fronczak, Will Haslett, Conner Moghannam, Mark Rice and Michael Vargo

•Postseason: Def. Licking Heights 25-14, 25-15, 25-16; lost to St. Charles 15-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16, 18-16 in Division II, East Region semifinal

THOMAS BOYS VOLLEYBALL

•Record: 20-7 overall 

•Seniors lost: Miles Howland, Joe Kolwicz, Ben Moore, Bo O’Leary, Griffin Scoville, Elliott Scully, Tommy Sinclair, Carter Tantarelli and Mateo Zevallos

•Key returnees: Danny Fennie and Devin Shaner

•Postseason: Def. Upper Arlington 25-22, 25-16, 20-25, 25-17; def. Darby 25-22, 25-17, 25-18; lost to Jerome 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 13-25, 19-17 in Division I, East Region final

WORTHINGTON CHRISTIAN BASEBALL 

•Record: 18-6 overall

•MSL-Ohio standings: Buckeye Valley (12-0), Worthington Christian (9-3), Bexley (8-4), Columbus Academy (7-5), Grandview (4-8), Wellington (1-11), Whitehall (1-11) 

•Seniors lost: Ashton Fulkerson, Caden Leidich and Grant Woodfin 

•Key returnees: Ethan Albert, Hunter Doran, Brandon Hale, Connor Hendrickson, David Murawski and Hobie Raikes 

•Postseason: Def. Fairbanks 6-5; lost to Fredericktown 4-3 in Division III district semifinal

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Alderman caps Kilbourne boys tennis season with trip to state