OCC Challenge gives boys volleyball teams postseason tune-up; all-league honors revealed
Watching the first OCC Challenge since 2019, Thomas Worthington senior setter Joe Kolwicz noticed something significant while sitting in the stands May 16 at Hilliard Darby.
The boys volleyball competition in central Ohio has gotten stronger the past few years.
“We got here plenty early enough to watch everybody play,” Kolwicz said. “You get a good feel for the competition. I was here for the OCC Challenge my freshman year and I can tell you from there to now, there’s a world’s difference in the competition.”
The event, which wasn’t held the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, matches up teams based on the final league standings in three waves of best-of-three matches.
“It’s fun to play teams out-of-conference,” Darby coach Evan Bell said. “You saw really good OCC teams like New Albany go down to (Dublin) Jerome in two (sets) and Pickerington Central go down to us in three. So, it’s really cool to get (those) matchups and see who really has the best league.”
Kolwicz and Thomas fell to Olentangy Liberty 21-25, 25-20, 24-22 in the battle of the OCC’s top two teams. The marathon final set, which was win-by-two to 15, capped the night.
The Patriots also beat the Cardinals 25-19, 25-12, 25-20 on May 4 at home.
“(The OCC Challenge match) proves we’re just as good of a team as them,” Kolwicz said. “If anything, that’s a loss I can live with because it shows we’ve gotten better and we can hang with some of the best players in the state.”
All-league teams were announced in a ceremony in the main gym between the second and third waves. Kolwicz was named Player of the Year and Thomas coach Brian Lawless was named Coach of the Year in the OCC-Cardinal Division.
In the OCC-Central, Liberty’s Noah Koknat was named Player of the Year and the Patriots’ David Hale was Coach of the Year.
“I love this event,” Hale said. “I coached basketball for a long time and you vote for all-league awards and it’s a certificate or maybe a plaque for first team that you give kids at the banquet, whereas here they actually get recognized in front of their peers and in front of their parents. I think it’s a special event and I’m really glad volleyball does it.”
Pickerington Central’s Landon Tackett was Player of the Year and the Tigers’ Luke Rininger was Coach of the Year in the OCC-Ohio.
“The (second wave) was packed because everybody was starting to funnel in the (main) gym (for the ceremony),” Bell said. “It’s special for the league and special for the sport (to have it back). Not only the competitive piece, but also celebrating and acknowledging the players that earn awards. There’s a lot of kids and a lot of coaches that don’t know who’s dominating other leagues. It’s cool to finally put name to face and recognizing.”
The event also gives teams a chance to do a little scouting for the regional tournament, which begins May 20.
Liberty, Thomas, Mount Vernon and Pickerington Central are the top four seeds in the East Region in Division I and DeSales, St. Charles, Worthington Kilbourne and Olentangy Berlin are the top four in Division II. The draw was May 15.
“I think the good part about it (was) we got to see some of our weaknesses,” Rininger said. “Unfortunately, so did everybody else. That’s something we can focus on this week before (the postseason).”
mrich@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekRich
All-OCC teams
OCC-Cardinal
First Team
Joe Kolwicz, Thomas Worthington (Player of the Year)
Gavin Grover, Olentangy
Will Haslett, Worthington Kilbourne
Bo O’Leary, Thomas Worthington
Chase Ellis, Hilliard Darby
Hayden Van Horne, Olentangy Berlin
Kai Van Bourgondien, Dublin Jerome
Coach of the Year: Brian Lawless, Thomas Worthington
Second Team
Josh Hutchinson, Hilliard Darby
Parker Van Horne, Olentangy Berlin
Aidan Kolb, Hilliard Darby
Henry Guerrera, Dublin Jerome
Cord Podolan, Worthington Kilbourne
Carter Schomok, Olentangy
Sam Trushel, Dublin Scioto
Special Mention
Miles Howland, Thomas Worthington
Mason Heit, Hilliard Darby
Alex Loeffler, Dublin Jerome
Mark Rice, Worthington Kilbourne
Honorable Mention
Mateo Zevallos, Thomas Worthington
Devin Neville, Hilliard Darby
Cam Eckelberry, Dublin Jerome
Michael Vargo, Worthington Kilbourne
Mitch Zahner, Olentangy Berlin
Jack Barga, Olentangy
Henry Hamilton, Dublin Scioto
OCC-Central
First Team
Noah Koknat, Olentangy Liberty (Player of the Year)
Ashton Christensen, Dublin Coffman
David Jenkins, Olentangy Liberty
Greg Efaw, Hilliard Davidson
Ian Ford, Westerville North
Evan Schultz, Olentangy Orange
Rory Brennan, Upper Arlington
Coach of the Year: David Hale, Olentangy Liberty
Second Team
J.J. Moine, Hilliard Bradley
Freddie Grieble, Hilliard Davidson
Samuel Kim, Dublin Coffman
Jack Sullenberger, Olentangy Liberty
Colby Whiteside, Olentangy Liberty
Jaedyn Harris, Westerville North
Cameron Rau, Upper Arlington
Special Mention
Connor Severson, Olentangy Liberty
Aiden Rowe, Dublin Coffman
Honorable Mention
Colin Brooks, Olentangy Liberty
Jonathan Loynes, Dublin Coffman
Hayden Johnson, Hilliard Davidson
Beynah Barre, Westerville North
Levi Adkins, Olentangy Orange
William Poth, Upper Arlington
Will Swary, Hilliard Bradley
OCC-Ohio
First Team
Landon Tackett, Pickerington Central (Player of the Year)
Andrew Dhume, Pickerington Central
Gabe Lowden, New Albany
A’me Baccus, Gahanna Lincoln
Daniel Latham, Westerville Central
Andrew Rakocy, New Albany
Shane Wilson Pickerington North
Coach of the Year: Luke Rininger
Second Team
J.J. Vandemark, Gahanna Lincoln
Quentin Sheets, Westerville South
Gavin Billingsley, Pickerington Central
David Cauley, Delaware Hayes
Desmond Barber, Reynoldsburg
Kyle Buchwalter, Pickerington North
Adam Borer-Sutton, New Albany
Special Mention
Nathan Hungerman, Pickerington Central
Om Patel, New Albany
Honorable Mention
Jacob Rybka, Pickerington Central
Alex Noreikis, New Albany
Jordan Mason, Gahanna Lincoln
Tyler Irby, Pickerington North
Isaac Robinson, Delaware Hayes
Nicholas Pieroni, Westerville Central
Firaole Kebede, Reynoldsburg
Nathan Bielby, Westerville South
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Columbus-area boys volleyball teams compete in OCC Challenge
