Notebook: St. Charles Cardinals volleyball squad falls one win short of state

For the third consecutive season, the St. Charles volleyball team fell one win short of reaching the Division II state tournament.

The second-seeded Cardinals lost to top-seeded DeSales 25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15 in the East Region final May 28 at Westerville Central. They had defeated the Stallions twice in CCL play as they won their fifth consecutive league title at 6-0.

St. Charles beat DeSales 25-22, 23-25, 25-16, 25-16 on April 8 and 25-20, 25-18, 25-22 on April 24.

“The seniors, especially Nick Bennison and Miller Kuntz, have carried our team all year, and they did that (in the regional final),” said eighth-year coach Ned Gruber, whose team finished 19-8 overall. “We have some young guys coming up next year who can do some things, but this season’s senior class was impressive.

“(The Stallions) served really well and blocked really well. They played a great match. We had a tough time being in system on serve-receives ... and they put a lot of pressure on us.”

Bennison, an outside hitter, led with 12 kills, two blocks and eight digs, senior opposite hitter Joseph Barlage had six kills and Kuntz, a setter, had six digs. Senior outside hitter Isaac Feeny and junior outside hitter Noah Franz both had three kills, while senior libero Narit Mongkollugsana added five digs.

“Our top end is as good or better than any team in the state in my opinion. It’s maintaining that and getting into that that’s the key,” DeSales coach Andy Feltz said. “We can play bad or we can play well. We were down (18-13) in the second game here, and went on an 11-2 run. It’s about capturing that moment when we’re peaking.”

The last time the Cardinals reached the state tournament was in 2018, when they won the title.

Bennison was named Division II state and East Region Player of the Year, averaging 6.2 kills and 4.1 digs per game.

Kuntz (second-team all-state, first-team all-region) averaged 12.1 assists and 4.2 digs. Mongkollugsana (honorable mention all-region) averaged 6.2 digs and 1.2 assists.

Franz (honorable mention all-state, second-team all-region, 2.3 kills) and sophomore outside hitters Stuart Hankinson (honorable mention all-region, 3.1 kills) and Jack Koesters lead the expected returnees.

“We have some good players coming back, and our j.v team lost only four matches this year,” Gruber said.

•The St. Charles baseball team got hot midway through the season but lost to second-seeded New Albany 12-2 in five innings May 22 in a Division I district semifinal.

The 24th-seeded Cardinals had won 13 of 16 games before falling to the defending state champion Eagles to finish 15-9 overall. They also went 6-2 in the CCL to tie Watterson for their first league title since 2017.

“It was a different season from the standpoint of weather and things like that, and it was really a tale of two seasons,” said coach Ray Benjamin, who completed his 24th season. “We started 2-5 and had some injuries, and then had a 12-day break of rainouts, cold-outs and Easter break. Then we had a pair of six-game winning streaks. It was just a great year.”

Senior Scotty Beckman (OF) led the Cardinals in batting average (.378), runs (19), on-base percentage (.435) and doubles (5) and added 16 RBI.

Senior Archer Stankowski (P/DH, honorable mention all-district, first-team all-league) batted .356 with 17 RBI, 14 runs and a team-leading three triples. On the mound, he was 4-4 with a 2.84 ERA, 52 strikeouts and 22 walks in 49 1/3 innings.

Senior J.B. Meury (C, first-team all-district and all-league) batted .351 with eight RBI and nine runs, and senior Myles McKinney (OF, first-team all-league) batted .295 with 13 RBI and 18 runs.

Senior leadoff hitter Andrew Klingele (2B, second-team all-league) batted .308 with one home run, three RBI and 14 runs. Senior Nate Spires (P) was 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA, 19 strikeouts and eight walks in 22 2/3 innings.

Sophomore Charlie Griffith (OF/P, second-team all-district, first-team all-league) leads the list of expected returnees. He batted .365 with 15 RBI and 14 runs and was 4-2 with a 1.88 ERA, 51 strikeouts and 16 walks in 41 innings.

Junior pitchers Rowan Quinlan (2-1, 4.00 ERA, 14 strikeouts, no walks, 14 innings) and Drew Tobias (1-0, 4.10 ERA, 20 strikeouts, 7 walks, 13 2/3 innings) also are expected to return.

Sophomore Will Nash (SS) batted .288 with a team-leading two homers to go with 10 RBI, 12 runs and a team-high five stolen bases.

“We had a great group of seniors and a nice core group of kids coming back and other kids who have had success in the lower levels,” Benjamin said. “They were a lot of fun. They taught me a lot about the game this year. They taught me to relax and enjoy the game. It’s nice to learn something new after 25 years.”

•Despite a season filled with injuries, the seventh-seeded Bexley girls lacrosse team finished 11-6 after losing 13-9 to sixth-seeded Granville on May 21 in a Division II, Region 7 quarterfinal.

The Lions’ top returning scorer, junior midfielder Mikayla Williams, missed six games with an ankle injury. After tallying 96 goals and 28 assists last spring, Williams (first-team all-region and all-MSL-Ohio, second-team all-CIL) had 58 goals, 17 assists and 43 ground balls.

Senior midfielder Grace Heilman (first-team all-region and all-MSL-Ohio, second-team all-CIL) finished with 78 goals, 23 assists and 60 ground balls.

Junior attacker Maddy Krasnow (second-team all-region, honorable mention all-MSL-Ohio) was limited to eight games with a knee injury, and freshman defender Elliot Larky missed the season with a knee injury.

“The season was challenging because we had several impactful players suffer injuries,” second-year coach Jackie Lund said. “We had several knee injuries, which is something we’ll have to work on in the weight room during the offseason.”

Senior goalie Molly Esque (first-team all-region, all-CIL and all-MSL-Ohio) had 179 saves. Senior midfielder Emma Magee (second-team all-region, first-team all-MSL-Ohio) had 20 goals and 14 assists.

Senior defender Kara Kilbourne (honorable mention all-MSL-Ohio) and senior midfielder Sydney Tyler (honorable mention all-MSL-Ohio) also played key roles.

Junior attacker Lily Keller (honorable mention all-region) had 15 goals and four assists, and sophomore midfielder Noa Pitstick was honorable mention all-region, second-team all-MSL-Ohio and honorable mention all-CIL.

Junior Maggie Simonton and sophomore Zola Phay are attackers expected to return along with sophomores Harper Phillips, Ellie Schoedinger and Isabelle Stukey in the midfield and sophomore Maya Snyder on defense.

“We had a lot of great moments, and we had a lot of really wonderful seniors that had worked hard on their games since the third or fourth grade,” Lund said. “Not everything went our way, but that’s OK. We’re proud of what the girls accomplished even through the challenges.”

•With just three seniors, the Columbus School for Girls lacrosse team set the foundation for future success.

The 10th-seeded Unicorns finished 6-11 but had won four consecutive games before losing 21-11 to top-seeded Watterson on May 21 in a Division II, Region 7 quarterfinal.

“I think the girls did great and showed a ton of improvement,” first-year coach Kim Rocheleau said. “The intimidation factor was there in the beginning because we were so young. I think we peaked at the end of the season.”

Sophomore midfielders Sarah Alexander (second-team all-CIL and all-MSL-Ohio) and Elizabeth Burgess (honorable mention all-region, first-team all-CIL and all-MSL-Ohio) and freshman midfielder Bridget Donnelly (honorable mention all-region, second-team all-CIL, first-team all-MSL-Ohio) led the way.

Burgess scored her 100th career goal in a 16-8 victory over 11th-seeded Dayton Chaminade Julienne on May 18 in the postseason opener.

Sophomore midfielder Yori O’Neal (honorable mention all-CIL and all-MSL-Ohio) and freshmen Rose McLarty (midfielder, honorable mention all-MSL-Ohio) and Gillian Spangler (defender/midfielder, honorable mention all-MSL-Ohio) also are expected to return.

Junior Madeline Keglewitsch and sophomore Justice Johnson split time in goal.

•At first glance, the Bexley boys lacrosse team took a step back in the second season under coach Mike Bassani.

Bassani doesn’t share that point of view, however, as injuries and several close contests contributed to the Lions finishing 8-12 after going 11-6 a year ago.

“The guys were disappointed with our win-loss record, but we had (five) one-goal losses,” Bassani said. “In the big picture, we’re continuing to move forward.

“We took our first spring trip, and we played a bunch of young guys who will continue to get better.”

The Lions lose five seniors, all of whom played major roles. Midfielder Bennett Bartz (second-team all-region) led the team with 36 goals and 39 points. The defense featured Elliot Goldman (first-team all-region, 63 ground balls, 45 caused turnovers), Kaelen Matthews (21 ground balls, 22 caused turnovers), Colin Ryan (Region 7 Short-Stick Defender of the Year, 76 ground balls) and Tommy Webster.

Junior long-stick midfielder Bennett Bloebaum (first-team all-region) led in ground balls (107) and caused turnovers (77). Junior defender Max Esque (second-team all-region) had a team-high 12 assists as well as 42 ground balls and 39 caused turnovers.

Junior attackers Carter Lavelle (20 goals, 6 assists), Seth Rosenberg (22 goals, 6 assists) and Tate Stark (14 goals, 4 assists) trailed only Bartz in scoring despite all missing time because of injury. Freshman midfielder Reed Solar added 14 goals and six assists.

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BEXLEY BOYS LACROSSE

•Record: 8-12 overall

•Seniors lost: Bennett Bartz, Elliot Goldman, Kaelen Matthews, Colin Ryan and Tommy Webster

•Key returnees: Bennett Bloebaum, Max Esque, Carter Lavelle, Seth Rosenberg, Reed Solar and Tate Stark

•Postseason: Def. Big Walnut 9-8; lost to DeSales 19-3 in Division II, Region 7 quarterfinal

BEXLEY GIRLS LACROSSE

•Record: 11-6 overall

•CIL standings: Watterson (6-0), Columbus Academy (5-1), DeSales (4-2), Granville (3-3), Bexley (2-4), CSG (1-5), Hartley (0-6) 

•MSL-Ohio standings: Academy (4-0), Bexley (3-1), CSG (2-2), Wellington (1-3), Buckeye Valley (0-4)

•Seniors lost: Molly Esque, Tessa Fisher, Grace Heilman, Kara Kilbourne, Emma Magee, Sydney Tyler and Adelaid Zamensky

•Key returnees: Lily Keller, Maddy Krasnow, Zola Phay, Harper Phillips, Noa Pitstick, Ellie Schoedinger, Maggie Simonton, Maya Snyder, Isabelle Stukey and Mikayla Williams

•Postseason: Def. Big Walnut 18-12; lost to Granville 13-9 in Division II, Region 7 quarterfinal

CSG LACROSSE

•Record: 6-11 overall

•Seniors lost: Cynthia Alexander, Katherine Humphrys and Lauren Sloan

•Key returnees: Sarah Alexander, Elizabeth Burgess, Bridget Donnelly, Justice Johnson, Madeline Keglewitsch, Rose McLarty, Yori O’Neal and Gillian Spangler

•Postseason: Def. Dayton Chaminade Julienne 16-8; lost to Watterson 21-11 in Division II, Region 7 quarterfinal

ST. CHARLES BASEBALL

•Record: 15-9 overall

•CCL standings: St. Charles (6-2), Watterson (6-2), Hartley (5-3), DeSales (3-5), Ready (0-8) 

•Seniors lost: Scotty Beckman, Tate Bennett, Matthew Doukakis, Andrew Gilmartin, Zach Hampu, Noah Kistler, Andrew Klingele, Solomon Lisath, Myles McKinney, J.B. Meury, Nate Spires and Archer Stankowski

•Key returnees: Charlie Griffith, Will Nash, Rowan Quinlan and Drew Tobias

•Postseason: Def. Marysville 5-4 (9 innings); def. Newark 7-1; lost to New Albany 12-2 (5 innings) in Division I district semifinal

ST. CHARLES VOLLEYBALL

•Record: 19-8 overall

•CCL standings: St. Charles (6-0), DeSales (4-2), Watterson (2-4), Hartley (0-6)  

•Seniors lost: Wyatt Abbott, Joseph Barlage, Nick Bennison, Tommy Donnelly, Isaac Feeny, Miller Kuntz and Narit Mongkollugsana

•Key returnees: Noah Franz, Stuart Hankinson and Jack Koesters

•Postseason: Def. Hartley 25-8, 25-14, 25-20; def. Worthington Kilbourne 15-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16, 18-16; lost to DeSales 25-15, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15 in Division II East Region final

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: St. Charles volleyball squad falls one win short of state