After falling short of reaching the Division II state tournament last season, the St. Charles boys volleyball team earned some redemption by beating Dayton Carroll 25-14, 25-17, 25-23 in the Region 5 final May 23 at home.
The Cardinals (22-4) will play Middletown Fenwick (20-6) in a state semifinal at 4 p.m. May 29 at Wittenberg University. The winner will face a northeast Ohio team, Independence or Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, in the state final at 3 p.m. May 30 at Wittenberg.
St. Charles defeated Fenwick 27-25, 25-21, 25-20 on May 2 at home.
After losing 21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-15, 15-11 to Cincinnati McNicholas in the state final in 2024, the Cardinals fell to Mount Vernon 25-19, 25-21, 27-25 in the Region 5 final last season.
The top-seeded Cardinals dominated the regional tournament this season, sweeping all four opponents.
“I’m not surprised,” senior Jack Ishmael said of the Cardinals’ latest sweep. “We went into the game knowing if we’re playing our game, we’re going to win pretty handily. We figured the third set they were going to come out with all they had. It was a close one.”
Second-seeded Carroll had an early lead in the opening set before St. Charles grabbed control. Ishmael had a key late kill to help secure the win.
St. Charles took control early in the second set and cruised to the win behind Ishmael, Jake Wiza and Charlie Koesters.
Carroll led the third set 21-18 before the Cardinals rallied to complete the sweep. Mateo Von Bridel had two aces to ignite the comeback.
“We went into this match thinking this one would be tough,” St. Charles coach Ned Gruber said. “[Carroll is] a good team. We played them earlier in the year. … We think we’re even with everybody, and why not us? Why can’t we put it together at the right time and make it happen?”
St. Charles also defeated Carroll 25-20, 25-10, 25-23 on March 28.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: St. Charles boys volleyball wins OHSAA regional championship