St. Edward Volleyball Flying High after Another Win, Promising News

The news on the court Tuesday was good for the volleyball team. The news off the court was far better.

The Eagles cruised to another relatively easy home win in three games, this time over the Stow-Munroe Falls Bulldogs. They trailed for all of five points, maintained control from the first serve to the last, and were able to rest some of their better players and turn the action over to their second team. Fantastic, all of it, for the Eagles.

But the bigger and more important revelation arrived several hours earlier when outside hitter Owen McAndrews informed coach Neil Corrigan that he will likely be able to play for the Eagles during their quest for a state championship. 

This was unexpected. This changed everything.

“We have had it in our minds for quite a few weeks now that we wouldn’t have Owen for the playoffs,” Corrigan said. “That would have made it real tough for us.”

The Eagles anticipated that McAndrews, a junior, would miss the state tournament later this month not because of injury -- he has been on the bench since April 19 for just that reason -- but because he planned to try out again for the United States U19 national team. He played for the team last summer, one of just a dozen players selected from across the nation, and was recently selected as a member of the youth national training team. This was a foregone conclusion. The Eagles were ready to play without McAndrews. Not that they wanted to.

Then, the twist. On Tuesday afternoon, McAndrews told Corrigan that, because of his injury and recovery, he would be unable to try out for the national team -- but would be able to play for the Eagles.

“Now,” Corrigan said, “we have a legitimate shot at going for states.”

The Eagles have played deep into May during each of the last two years. In 2009, they reached the Final Four, where they lost to eventual state champion Cincinnati Moeller in five games. In 2010, they were ranked as the top team in the state after beating Cincinnati Elder at the prestigious Centerville Tournament, then lost to Elder, the eventual champion, in the quarterfinals.

Will they be able to break through during the third year of their window? If their play Tuesday night is any indication, the answer just might be yes.

The Eagles (15-5) jumped out to an early lead over the Bulldogs (11-11) in the first game, in large thanks to the serving of senior outside hitter Kevin Downs, who fired four straight aces to spark a 10-0 run. From that point, the offense ran crisply through senior setter Zack Champa, who finished with 15 assists, many of which led to thundering kills. And senior middle blocker Mike Powers was able to rest for all of the second and third games.

“We were trying to run a quicker offense than we normally do,” Champa said.

It worked. The Eagles picked up their third win in seven matches without McAndrews, a testament to a team that has been battered all season. Some players have missed matches because of illnesses, others because of minor injuries, still more because of what Corrigan referred to as family issues. 

“We expected to be better,” Champa said.

“We definitely expected to be better,” Downs said.

The good news for the Eagles is that they have three more matches to put things together during the regular season. Then the postseason. With McAndrews.

ST. EDWARD 3

STOW 0

25-13, 25-9, 25-20

St. Edward (15-5): Kevin Downs 5 kills, 5 service aces, 1 block. Patrick Fayen 4 kills, 5 blocks. Zack Champa 3 kills, 15 assists, 2 aces, 5 blocks. Jake Lorbach 3 kills, 2 blocks. Mike Powers 3 kills, 2 blocks. Joe Steve 1 kill, 5 blocks. Michael Dawson 1 kill, 3 blocks. Rick Murphy 1 kill, 1 ace. Andy Schroek 5 aces. John Barno 2 aces. Sean Robinson 1 ace. Mahn Yousef 1 block.

Stow (11-11): Tyler Hornbeck 1 kill, 4 assists, 2 aces, 1 block. Marshall Kirkendall 1 kill, 3 assists. Peter Rebuck 1 assist. Patrick Horning 1 kill, 2 assists, 1 block. Joe Haas 3 kills, 1 assist, 4 blocks. Andrew Lundstrum 1 block. Josh Lee 7 kills, 1 assist, 4 blocks. Clay Evans 4 kills, 4 aces.