Westerville This Week Article

Boys Volleyball
Warriors set tone for success in future years

Thursday, May 24, 2007

By SCOTT GERFEN
ThisWeek Contributor
By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek


At a glance

# Record: 13-11, 2-6 (fourth) in OCC-Cardinal

# Seniors lost: Andrew Lee, Scott Nufer, Geoff Peterfy and Andrew Woodward

# Key returnees: Sam Kennedy, Wesley Peterson and Ben Taylor

With the leadership of four seniors, the Westerville North High School boys volleyball team sensed this might be the season to help set the stage for the future.

Second-year coach Matt Grimm knew his team had the talent to "flip-flop" last year's 7-14 record and push deeper into the postseason. The Warriors reached a regional semifinal May 17 before the season ended with a 25-14, 25-17, 25-11 loss to top-seeded Hilliard Darby, the third-ranked team in the state. The Panthers have advanced to a state quarterfinal Saturday at Cincinnati State along with Mount Vernon.

North, which finished 13-7 overall, won a district championship May 15 with a 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 18-25, 15-7 decision over OCC-Cardinal Division-rival Hilliard Davidson, which won the first two meetings in five games.

"It was definitely back-and-forth all match," Grimm said. "The two teams were probably as even as it gets. It was just basically going to come down to who was going to put away more balls. We just got up early and rode it out."

Those five-game matches cost the Warriors a few more victories in the league, in which they finished 2-6 behind Worthington Kilbourne (8-0), Pickerington North (6-2) and Davidson (4-4) and ahead of Dublin Scioto (0-8).

North also lost twice (25-19, 25-22, 16-25, 22-25, 13-15 on March 27; 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 19-21 on April 19) to Pickerington North in five games. It lost to Davidson during the regular season 24-26, 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 14-16 on April 17 and 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 25-27, 11-15 on May 2.

"We kind of felt like they stole those two five-game matches from us," senior Scott Nufer said. "It was pretty much the story for us during the season. Going into the tournament, we were 1-4 in five-game matches. It was pretty exciting to finally win one of them."

Nufer (opposite side hitter/outside hitter) is joined in the senior class by Geoff Peterfy (outside hitter/middle blocker), Andrew Woodward (setter) and Andrew Lee (outside hitter/middle blocker). Peterfy and Woodward were honorable mention all-region and first-team all-league.

"I have to say that the first year that I got there Andrew Woodward just wanted to play," Grimm said. "He wanted to set, but he didn't have a lot of experience with it. Next year, he's going to play at Ohio Northern. He eat sleeps and drinks volleyball all the time. He's a good example of someone putting in the time and effort and watching it pay off."

Lee was second-team all-league and Nufer received honorable mention.

"It was a good season, and we can't leave too many regrets behind," Nufer said. "We were able to pull through for a winning season and win a district championship. We've got a banner in the gym and nobody can take that away from us."

Grimm, who just completed graduate school at Ohio State, isn't certain if he will return next season. But he knows whoever has the job will have to bring more numbers to the program.

Sophomore Sam Kennedy and freshmen Ben Taylor and Wesley Peterson are the expected key returnees.

"Some schools have feeder programs and that gives them kind of an edge," Grimm said. "Until we start getting more support and having a middle-school program, it's going to be hard to be an elite team. I would love to see Westerville North go in that direction."