WNHS Boys Volleyball 2007

WNHS Boys Volleyball 2007 Slideshow

2007-05-26T20:01:00.000-04:00

This is the final entry of the blog - I hope you have enjoyed it.

Here are pictures taken at a couple of games together with pictures from the end of the year picnic.

We hope the tradition and joy we experienced this year continues for years to come.

Thanks coaches, parents, and especially the mighty eight WARRIORS of the 2007 WNHS Boys Volleyball Team!

Go Warriors!!

I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I have putting it together!

Charlie Woodward
Videographer and Fellow Loud Parent in the Stands!

WNHS Boys Volleyball vs Darby- May 17

2007-05-26T19:59:00.000-04:00

The Final Game of the Year!

The boys lost in three games to powerhouse Darby.

They played well, and will always be champs in our books!

AN APOLOGY - Emily Saunders, our FANTASTIC team trainer was mistakenly not included in the list of names at the end of the video - I am sorry for the oversight.

Thanks, Emily, for your hard work and dedication to the team.

GO WARRIORS!

April Car Wash!!!

2007-05-25T08:26:00.000-04:00

Yes, they can do something besides play volleyball.

A beautiful day made for a great fund raiser!

Westerville This Week Article

2007-05-24T09:54:00.001-04:00

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."

WNHS Boys Volleyball vs Davidson - May 15

2007-05-24T06:12:00.001-04:00

The boys won a great match against Hilliard Davidson to advance to the next round in regional playoffs. They played a solid game and finally beat Davidson, after loosing to them the week before.

This video is all "at game speed" so you can see how fast the game moves. Also, I included a bit of the sound from the game at the end, to let you hear the celebration of the fans and the team.

The boys are DISTRICT CHAMPS, and a banner hangs in the gym at North to proclaim that message from now on!

Go Warriors!

May 5 at Tournament VS St. Xavier of Kentucky

2007-05-23T07:44:00.001-04:00

The boys finished third in their bracket for the tournament!

Go Warriors!!!

May 2 at Hilliard Davidson

2007-05-22T09:20:00.001-04:00

The boys played well, but lost in five to Hilliard Davidson.

Go Warriors!

May 1 at Home vs. Worthington Kilbourne

2007-05-21T07:35:00.000-04:00

The boys won the first game, then dropped the next three vs. Kilbourne.

It was a hard days' night!

GO WARRIORS!

April 26 at Home VS Dublin Scioto

2007-05-02T08:11:00.000-04:00

The Boys won in FIVE GAMES to Dublin Scioto. (the video intro is wrong - it says four games)

The Scores were
25-11
25-22
19-25
14-25
15-9

Go Warriors!

Game 5 at Pickerington North - April 19

2007-05-02T07:43:00.000-04:00

This is the final game at Pickerington North - it was requested that it be shown in its entirety, so here it is.

Please note - this is the video as it was recorded - I have a tendency to cheer for our team, so excuse my cheering. Also, please note there was a radio broadcast going on to my left, and the Pickerington JV team came and sat on my right, so I had lots of competition as well.

This was a great match, and it could have gone either way. Westerville North starts off on the right side of the gym floor, and after Pickerington North got to 8, the teams switched sides, and remained there for the remainder of the match.

Go Warriors!

April 19 at Pickerington North

2007-04-29T20:03:00.000-04:00

This had to be the most exciting, energetic, draining matches of the season.

Westerville North won the first two games, then lost the next three. The final match, which is the first team to 15, must win by 2, went to 21 to 19!

Both teams played their hearts out.

Go Warriors!

April 17 and 18

2007-04-27T17:52:00.000-04:00

April 17 - Hilliard Davidson
The Boys loose in 5 games at Home to a tough team

April 18 - Olentangy Liberty
The Boys won in 4 games at Liberty!

Go Warriors!

April 16 VS Delaware Hayes

2007-04-26T16:48:00.000-04:00

The Boys Won in Three Games!

Great Job!

Worthington Kilbourne Tournament April 13 and 14

2007-04-19T10:08:00.000-04:00

After a Friday night of pool matches against Darby, Gahanna and Walsh Jesuit, the team played well in the Silver bracket. Here are the results

Stow (W / 2-1) – 25-22, 23-25, 25-14
Walsh Jesuit (W / 2-1) – 30-28, 23-25, 25-23
St. Charles (L / 0-2) – 17-25, 19-25

Finished 2nd in Silver Bracket / 10th out of 16 teams

The video below is a bit fuzzy - hard to get good quality up so high, but check it out!

Go Warriors!

April 12 - Worthington Kilbourne

2007-04-16T21:40:00.000-04:00

The team lost its match to Worthington Kilbourne Thursday, April 12.

The scores of the match were 18-25, 14-25, 22-25

The last match was a great effort, and even though we didn't win, I was able to gather some highlights, including Coach Grimm's "new" time out method!

Go Warriors!

Westerville This Week - April 11 Article

2007-04-12T14:59:00.000-04:00

Boys Volleyball
Key stretch awaits Warriors

Thursday, April 12, 2007

By SCOTT GERFEN
ThisWeek Contributor
By Tim Norman/ThisWeek

At a glance

Below are the recent results and coming schedule for the North boys volleyball team:

*Last Tuesday -- Played Dublin Scioto

*Today -- At Worthington Kilbourne

Friday and Saturday -- At Wolf Invitational at Kilbourne. The field will consist of 16 teams.

Monday -- Home vs. Delaware

*Tuesday -- Home vs. Hilliard Davidson

Wednesday -- At Olentangy Liberty

Of note: The Warriors were 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the OCC-Cardinal before last Tuesday.

*OCC-Cardinal match

The Westerville North High School boys volleyball team has seen what lies ahead.

Beginning with last Tuesday's OCC-Cardinal Division match at Dublin Scioto, the Warriors were to play four league opponents in 10 days.

"These next two weeks are certainly do or die for us," said coach Matt Grimm, whose team before last Tuesday was 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the league. "I don't feel like there are any of these matches we can't win, but I feel like they are matches we have to win. We need to beat the teams in our conference."

North a year ago never was able to string together victories, which made it difficult to remain competitive in the OCC-Ohio Division as it finished at 2-8 behind Hilliard Darby (9-1), Gahanna (7-3), Dublin Coffman (6-4), Thomas Worthington (3-7) and Upper Arlington (3-7).

The outlook is more optimistic this season.

"We had a lot of potential last year, but we didn't get it done," senior Scott Nufer said. "This two-week stretch is pretty much the season for us and we know we can play with these teams."

The Warriors will travel to Worthington Kilbourne today for a league contest and return there Friday and Saturday for the Wolf Invitational. This year's 16 participants include defending state champion Cincinnati St. Xavier along with Cincinnati LaSalle from southwest Ohio; Massillon Jackson, Lakewood St. Edward, Stow-Munroe Falls and Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit from northeast Ohio; and Gahanna, Dublin Jerome, Delaware, Hilliard Darby, Hilliard Davidson, Pickerington North, St. Charles, Upper Arlington and Kilbourne from central Ohio.

"I think the tournament is going to give us a benchmark on where we are right now and where we need to go," Nufer said.

Friday's matches will determine in which division -- gold or silver -- a team plays Saturday.

Grimm is more concerned about today's match with the Wolves. North defeated Kilbourne in the St. Charles Invitational on March 24, but realizes this match has more meaning.

"I'm sure it's going to be a completely different game so we're going to have to come out and be ready to play," he said. "They're probably one of the best teams in the state that's able to break down a team from every angle, so I'm sure they've looked at who they can pick on."

The Warriors lost their first league match to Pickerington North 25-19, 25-23, 13-25, 22-25, 13-15 on March 27 after defeating the Panthers 25-18, 25-19 in the St. Charles tournament.

Before last Tuesday's match, North had gone 12 days without playing.

The time off helped a few players recover from nagging injuries.

Grimm has been trying to build depth this season along with his group of seniors that include Nufer, Andrew Lee, Geoff Peterfy and Andrew Woodward.

Lee has moved from middle hitter to the outside and Nufer now is anchoring the middle.

"It's been quite a transition," Nufer said. "The hitting I don't mind because there are a lot more options, but my blocking might need some work. I think the switch has made us consider what we're willing to do for the team. If we can step up in those spots, we can make good things happen."

Newspaper Clipping April 11

2007-04-12T07:41:00.000-04:00

In Westerville News and Public Opinion this week:

'Thin' North volleyball team picks it up a notch
By CHRIS GALOSKI

Westerville North sophomore Sam Kennedy is one of three captains out to lead the Warriors this season.

If taking in a Westerville North boys volleyball game isn't evidence enough last season is a mere drop in the bucket, the team's polished-up record sure is.

The Warriors were 3-2 before Tuesday's tussle at Dublin Scioto, firmly in position to discard any paper trails of last year's 7-15 docket.

"Both of our loses came against Pickerington North, which people seem to think is the best team in our division," said second-year coach Matt Grimm, his club in the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division. "I'm optimistic about this year, but we are kind of thin.

"We only have nine guys on our team, so I'm definitely hoping to keep everybody healthy. We've definitely made a lot of improvement over last year."

Three senior starters played club ball in the offseason, setting an example for their teammates: Geoff Peterfy (outside hitter/middle blocker), Andrew Woodward (setter) and Andrew Lee (OH/MB).

"Since they're leaders on the team, that's helped make them realize how hard we have to work to be good and it's rubbing off on the rest of the team," Grimm said.

A revamped, renewed North crew has already taken down Worthington Kilbourne, Dublin Coffman and Thomas Worthington this season and lost a classic, five-game prizefight to Pickerington North when the two last played March 27.

"We're hoping to flipflop our record from 7-15 to 15-7, that's kind of our goal," Grimm said. "I definitely think we're a lot more competitive with the people we have and the experience we have coming back."

Among the veterans back are senior Scott Nufer (middle/OH) and sophomore Sam Kennedy (opposite hitter). Nufer, Peterfy and Kennedy, despite the distinction in grade levels, are captains.

"I think it's good because Nufer and Peterfy, they always give their all in practice," Grimm said. "I think people look up to them. Depending on how hard those two are playing, that's kind of how everybody steps up their own game to their level.

"Having a sophomore is good, too. Our team is so extreme, from seniors to freshmen, it's good to establish another leader. Sam is one of those kids who never complains, he just wants to get better."

Freshmen Ben Taylor (outside/libero), Niraj Shah (libero) and Wesley Peterson (middle) should also see court time.

This season North finds itself grouped in the OCC Cardinal with Hilliard Davidson, Kilbourne, Pickerington North and Scioto. The prevailing opinion is that the league is not only the toughest in the area, but all five teams could legitimately knock each other off.

"It's really hard to say which is the top team," Grimm said. "Everybody has a lot of people returning and a lot of experience. I feel like our core, our starters are really strong.

"I think obviously, we're not a deep team, so keeping them healthy will definitely tell us how far we're going to go this year. I think we have the tools to stay with anybody."

The Warriors play at Kilbourne Thursday and in Kilbourne's Wolf Tournament Friday and Saturday, before hosting Delaware Hayes Monday and Davidson Tuesday.

Newspaper Clipping March 29

2007-04-12T07:32:00.000-04:00

From the WESTERVILLE THIS WEEK newspaper on 3/29/07

Boys Volleyball
WARRIORS TO DEPEND ON SENIOR LEADERSHIP

By SCOTT GERFEN
ThisWeek Contributor

Westerville North High School boys volleyball coach Matt Grimm endured the pains that can come with being a first-year coach last season.

The Warriors had little experience and a number of first-year players, which translated to a 7-14 overall finish after a 25-16, 25-22, 25-14 loss to Delaware in the first round of the East Region tournament. Along with that, by the end of the season North was lucky to have enough players to fill the starting lineup.

But Grimm is excited about this season as the Warriors return a solid nucleus of senior leadership.

"Our goal this year is to flip flop our record," said Grimm, whose team will play Dublin Scioto on April 10. "The team seems on board with that. We don't have a lot of depth, and with that keeping people healthy is going to be a premium. We just want to be a fundamentally sound team."

Those seniors include Andrew Lee (outside hitter/middle blocker), Scott Nufer (opposite side hitter/outside hitter), Geoff Peterfy (outside hitter/middle blocker) and Andrew Woodard (setter).

Peterfy was honorable mention all-region and second-team all-OCC-Ohio last year as he played in every game and led the team in kills (159), digs (118) and blocks (41).

"He's the strongest we have back," Grimm said.

"He's played volleyball all four years. The kid is just an athletic freak, if you will. He plays through pain and goes after every ball that he can. His work ethic is something a lot of the kids look to and he's a big part of how far we're going to go this year."

The offense will go through Woodward, who led the team in assists (754) and finished with 19 blocks and 17 block assists.

"He's kind of like the quarterback of the volleyball team," Grimm said.

"Last year was his first full year. One of the most important things for our team is making sure our hitters get comfortable with the setter."

Nufer finished with 35 assists and 49 kills, and Lee is likely the most-improved player from last season, Grimm said.

"We're a very good serving team," Grimm said.

"That's something that's going to help a lot because we're going to be able to run a number of offensive sets. Our ball control and being able to dictate the pace of the game will be among our strengths this year."

The Warriors also expect more consistency.

They finished 2-8 in the OCC-Ohio behind Hilliard Darby (9-1), Gahanna (7-3), Dublin Coffman (6-4), Thomas Worthington (3-7) and Upper Arlington (3-7).

North now is in the OCC-Cardinal with Hilliard Davidson, Pickerington North, Worthington Kilbourne and Scioto.

"I know a lot of teams that we competed against last year were senior-driven and that made it tough," Grimm said.

"I think this year we'll be right there night in and night out. I know we're right on track with everybody else."

April 10 - Dublin Scioto

2007-04-12T07:20:00.000-04:00

The boys played well!

A three-game sweep!

St Charles Tournament March 23

2007-04-10T07:52:00.001-04:00

Team Picture

2007-03-25T17:10:00.000-04:00

Front Row: Niraj Shah, Andrew Woodward, Emily Saunders, Andrew Lee, David Sigal
Second Row: Geoff Peterfy, Wesley Peterson, Scott Nufer, Ben Taylor, Sam Kennedy

Good Tournament!

2007-03-24T21:45:00.000-04:00

The team played in its first tournament this weekend. After qualifying in the Silver Bracket, they played three matches today, winning two of them, and playing extremely well.

The loss came to the hands of Pickerington North, and the two victories were against Worthington Kilbourne and Dublin Coffman.

Congratulations to the team and the coaches!

A team picture will soon be posted!

Meet the Team and Opening Scrimmage

2007-03-23T00:05:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Westerville North Boys' Volleyball Weblog.

Check out the video to see the team at a scrimmage on March 17, and meet the team!