Masters of the comeback: Moeller boys volleyball wins third straight state title
CINCINNATI — The term “dynasty,” as applied to sports, is relative. One definition is “a team that has exhibited excellence over a considerable period of time.”
Note, “considerable” is not defined, and there is no mention of championships.
Still, it would be hard to argue that the volleyball program at Moeller High School is anything but a dynasty. The Crusaders won their third consecutive Ohio state championship last month, defeating Powell Olentangy Liberty 19-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-13 at Wittenberg university. Moeller had eliminated Hudson 15-20, 25-20, 25-16 and 25-20 in the semifinals. Overall, Moeller won 23 of 27 matches.
This state title held a little more significance than the previous two – this was the first officially-sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. The previous two were under the banner of the Ohio High School Boys Volleyball Association.
2007 Moeller graduate Lee Meyer has been head coach for all three title runs. The 34-year-old College Hill resident took over the program in 2019, and promptly had his first season cancelled because of the pandemic. In the three seasons since, Moeller has been the only Division I school in the state to win its final match. The Crusaders are 69-13 in those three seasons.
The latest championship followed a script that Moeller played to much of the season – a script that, in fact, almost cost it the state title. Liberty won the first two sets of the final, and led 16-8 and 20-13 in the fourth set.
“By this point I was out of timeouts and I had to trust that the guys we had on the court would fight until the final whistle,” Meyer said. “Somehow, we outscored Olentangy Liberty 12-3 to win that set 25-23. By the time our team started the fifth and final set, I was confident our guys were going to battle through to the end.”
And when the final point hit the floor, “A huge part of me was in disbelief, while simultaneously being extremely proud of this 2023 varsity team. Throughout the year, our team struggled to get off to a good start and establish a good composure on the court.”
Five starters had returned from the 2022 champion squad, including senior captains Benjamin Hagerty, Brody Threm and Jack Dollard. “Each of these guys did a wonderful job of supporting their team and fighting through challenges,” Meyer said.
Behind them, non-captain leaders included Will Patterson, Ben Marcum and Tyler Geselbracht. “Patterson was a great physical leader, always challenging his teammates, Marcum lead through his position as a setter and established an offensive system that was very difficult to defend against. Lastly, Tyler Geselbracht is a gamer (who) always found a way to push through and compete,” Meyer said.
Naturally, as two-time defending state champion, Moeller entered the season with high expectations – though Meyer said his goals were secondary to those of his players.
“My goal as a coach is to support the goals and expectations of my players,” he said. “Gus Vogel, one of my assistant coaches said it best – ‘The secret is believing in your players and building them up for success.’”
Meyer and his staff accomplish that on and off the court. There are three teams (freshman, junior varsity and varsity), but one program.
“We like to express everything as the Moeller volleyball program. We intentionally do a lot of things together with the freshmen team, junior varsity team and varsity team. We build each other up and try to give them the personality skills, leadership skills and volleyball skills to grow as individuals,” Meyer said.
That includes numerous off-the-court activities. Seasons begin with a “Boot Camp” – a team-building exercise for everyone in the program. All players practice together during the first two weeks of preseason.
Moeller also hosts a grade school tournament at the start of the season and a junior varsity tournament at the end of the season. Under Meyer, they have added a Teacher Appreciation Night, an Alumni Night and an Alumni golf outing.
“We dedicate a Saturday of our season to community service. We are also the only sport that has a full-time chaplain for our program and we have weekly chapels and discussions that integrate our schools Catholic faith. We have other longstanding traditions like our CancerFree KIDS fundraiser and our Grade School Night,” Meyer said.
“We do all of these things not because they are easy, but rather because our season wouldn’t be considered complete without them. It’s a lot of work but we feel blessed to be able to balance all of these different efforts to provide the best experience for all involved in our volleyball program.”
They also take time to celebrate. The state championship was won May 28; the recognition continued long after. The team continued its tradition of eating cheese coneys on the bus ride back from Wittenberg, then enjoyed a team meal at Bishop’s Quarter in Loveland – owned by Moeller alumnus Mark Wiehe, whose son, Nate, was on the 2021 team.
“We will have a handful of other celebrations at various graduation parties. We plan on getting recognized at an upcoming Reds baseball game. Bill Cunningham will host us on his 700 WLW radio show. We will have a ring presentation ceremony later this year at a Moeller football or basketball game,” Meyer said in early June.
Meyer has put his brand on the program – a brand polished as a player at Moeller, then for four seasons at Ball State University, where the team was consistently ranked in the top 15 in the nation, a season of professional volleyball in Costa Rica (his team won the national championship), three seasons as a Moeller assistant, a year-and-a-half on the staff at Mount St. Joseph university, then, after earning a master’s of architecture from the University of Cincinnati, two seasons as a coach with the Cincinnati Attack program.
“When I played at Moeller, the impact of each of my coaches had a long-term positive effect on how I decided to live my life out in college and beyond. I am a better person as a direct correlation for the experiences and challenges I faced in my high school seasons,” Meyer said.
“My coaches – Rob Sarasua, Joe Burke, Dan Meyer and Greg Ulland – all taught me things about life through the game of volleyball. They mentored me and made me a better version of myself. I came to coaching at Moeller to have the same opportunity. I can only hope that the athletes I have coached will look back on their experiences and say the same thing about me.”
Three rosters of state champions would likely confirm that.
Moeller volleyball rosters
Varsity
Seniors – Jack Dollard, Benjamin Hagerty, Will Patterson, Sebastian Rahe, Brody Threm, Keegan Todd (student coach).
Juniors – Nathan Balda, Eli Ernst, Tyler Geselbracht, Ben Marcum, Luke Oliver, Dom Schutte, Colin Yox, A.J. Rumley (student coach).
Sophomores – Eric Blomer, Daniel Mack, William Sauer.
Freshmen – Tyler Wong.
Coaches – Lee Meyer (head coach), J.J. Beckelhimer, Marshal Luning, Dan Meyer, Gus Vogel, Alex Vohland.
Junior varsity
Sophomores – Matthew Kleiner, Sean Smith, Patrick Laufersweiler, Josh Molina, Danny McAneny, Rowan Todd, Kaleb Vanden Eynden, Luca Nebadze, William Bimonte, Maddux Wehrum, Zach Frith.
Freshmen – Carson Nahrup, Connor Smith, Nick Dollard, Logan Thompson.
Coaches – Jason Renneker (head coach), Bill Eckhoff, Jared Engelhart, Zach Priest.
Freshman
Elvis Arvay, Zach Evans, Drew Ewers, Ben Fiehrer, Keegan Hantak, Johnny Heskath, Sam Martin, Gavin McDonald, Thomas Metzger, Parker Milby, Adam Quehl, Alexander Sherman, Jacob Staples, Leo Tierney, Kyle Whitely.
Coaches – Casey Pieper (head coach), Jacob Schaffer.
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