SALEM – Up 24-21 in the third set at West Salem High School, it looked as if undefeated No. 2 Central Catholic (21-0) boys volleyball was about to take control of its OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 6A/5A state semifinal match with No. 3 Summit (14-4).
Instead, the Storm came storming back and won the final five points to take the set 26-24 and take a 2-1 match lead.
A disaster like that can break a team in this sport, but the Rams aren’t undefeated for no reason.
Central Catholic breezed through the fourth set and took it 25-21, setting up the fifth and decisive frame to 15.
And the Rams left no doubt in the final set, jumping out early and keeping that lead this time with a 15-7 win and a 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 15-7) match win.
They advance to the 6A/5A final at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 30 against No. 1 South Salem at West Salem High. Summit will play No. 4 Silverton at 12:45 p.m. Saturday for third place.
“We definitely had a lot of energy coming out of the fourth set and we knew we wanted to take that fifth set and take that W,” Central Catholic senior Luke Fazio said. “We worked really well as a team today and we weren’t really relying on one player for siding out. Our setters distributed the ball well and we executed as a team.”
Fazio stepped up at the net, putting down 20 kills on the night as well as a couple blocks.
The senior got the Rams rolling in the first set, even if they did eventually drop the frame. All night though, Fazio was able to power through the Summit block and created a wall for the Storm to try and swing around.
Fellow Rams senior Dwight Nguyen is often the first target for opposing defenses to focus on, and with that block going Nguyen’s way it left an opportunity for Fazio to step to the plate.
“Dwight’s a really great guy on and off the court, he jumps so high every time he jumps, I’m in awe,” Fazio said. “Dwight wasn’t at his 100 tonight, which is totally fine, we support him through it and he was doing his best in that moment. I went up to my setter and said, ‘I’m right here on the outside, I’m ready, I’m gonna go up and score those points.’”
Nguyen appeared to hurt his leg in the first frame going for a ball close to the wall with two matches going on at once at West Salem.
He didn’t leave the match though and slowly came back into himself, exploding in the third set to help the Rams take the initial lead. He finished with 22 kills to lead the Rams.
Summit countered with a triple threat at the net in Gavin White, Beckett White and Ryker Loos. The trio was moving the ball around and putting pressure on the Rams throughout the night.
Down 24-21 in the third, Beckett White had three consecutive kills from the outside to put the Storm ahead 25-24, and then Gavin White had an ace to close out the 26-24 third-set win.
The message was a simple one for the Rams, who won the unsanctioned 6A state title last year.
“We have four pretty important seniors on the team, this is our third year playing together,” Fazio said. “We all really trust each other and support each other throughout any game. We knew that we wanted to go back-to-back for our seniors and really create history in OSAA and Oregon.”
The fourth set was controlled almost entirely by the Rams who were up by as much as six with a 20-14 lead. Consistently Nguyen and Fazio were able to slam the ball to the floor while another senior in Henry Ruginis had a big block and kill in the frame.
In the fifth, Nguyen had a block and kill early while senior Taj Dhruva chipped in a kill to make it 5-1 quickly.
Another slam from Nguyen and Dhruva made it 10-5 and the Rams could smell the victory. Summit wouldn't be any closer as Fazio put home three of the final four points for the Rams to win it 15-7.
In the final, it’ll be No. 1 South Salem, a team the Rams beat back on April 11 2-0 in a tournament final hosted by the Saxons. South Salem played that final after going three sets with Summit in the semifinals.
The Rams are knocking on the door of history though and hope the lessons learned from April pay off in May.
“We’ve been on this stage before like last year, we know what it’s like to have the pressure on us,” Fazio said. “We just gotta go out there, play as a team, play for our seniors, play for everybody and take the W.”
No. 1 South Salem def. No. 4 Silverton 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 26-28, 26-24, 15-9)
It was a similar story on the other side of the court where Silverton (20-4) took set one, South Salem (21-1) tied it at one, then the Foxes used a big comeback in the third to win it and go up 2-1.
In the fourth though, Silverton had match point up 24-23, but the Saxons were able to survive and win the next two points to take the fourth 26-24.
In the fifth, South Salem created some separation up 11-6, but the Foxes rallied again to make it 11-9 South Salem.
However, the Saxons closed the door this time, winning the next four points to take the match and advance to the final
Senior Logan Scott led the way per usual with 26 kills, meanwhile junior Tim Ganchenko had 20 kills. Senior Connor Wolfgram handed out 54 assists while Scott led the defense as well with 11 digs and four solo blocks.
The Saxons will try to get revenge on Central Catholic at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 30 at West Salem High School for the 6A/5A state title. Silverton will play No. 3 Summit at 12:45 p.m. for third place.
4A/3A/2A/1A
It’s never easy playing a team a third time in the state playoffs, but someone had to win in the 4A/3A/2A/1A state semifinals between Special District 1 foes No. 7 Central Christian (15-6) and No. 3 Estacada (16-6).
The two sides split matches during the regular season and split the first two sets inside West Salem High School.
However, in the third, the Tigers were able to start slowing down the Estacada duo of senior Ethan Myers and sophomore Cody Feil, taking the third and fourth set to close out the 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23) victory.
“It all happened so fast,” Central Christian junior Gavin Sharp said. “I think what really pulled us together – we go to five sets a lot – we just really pulled this together as a team. Kudos to Ben (Teixeira) our setter, he’s doing so good and kudos to our back row who got that ball (on the final point). It all starts with back row.”
Sharp looked sharp from the beginning for the Tigers as he had a couple kills in the opening few points of the match.
Throughout the night, when the Tigers needed a point most, it seemed as if Sharp was there to either put the ball down offensively or come up with a big block at the net.
He finished the night with a team-high 16 kills and also contributed three blocks. Sophomore Rawley Tritto had nine kills and senior Jacob Contreras chipped in five kills. Senior Jase Johnson was a little bit everywhere as well digging out balls or getting sets for him late in the match.
The back row came up big as the Estacada attackers were slowly put away as the match progressed.
“I feel like for me personally, (Estacada) read me pretty well so I had to be really intentional on not hitting as hard as I can and just placing the ball,” Sharp said.
Estacada was able to take the second set and gain the momentum back, but the Tigers were ready for whatever the Rangers might have had in store.
“Just play our game, that’s what our coach tells us, remember who we’re playing for, which is God,” Sharp said of the message after dropping the second set. “Just put it all on the court. We made it this far, we’re a 1A school and this was our goal and we got here.”
Myers finished with 17 kills for the Rangers while Feil chipped in 14 kills.
The win sends Central Christian, a 1A school, into the final of a classification that goes all the way up to 4A.
“It’s the first time in our school’s history that we’ve gone this far in a state tournament, for all our sports,” Sharp said. “It’s really such a blessing. What’s most important to us is to show these schools we’re not just a 1A school, we’re a good team with good players and good competition.”
In the final will be another league opponent in No. 1 Portland Adventist, who beat the Tigers in both matches 3-1. The match is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 30 at West Salem High School. Estacada will take on No. 4 Westside Christian at 7:15 p.m. for third place.
In order for Central Christian to get over the Cougars hump, it’ll require a clean game with no free points given to PAA.
“We’ll just have to play our A-game,” Sharp said. “We’ll have to minimize our mistakes because they’re a great team. … We’ll have to play smart, that’s how we’ll win that game.”
No. 1 Portland Adventist def. No. 4 Westside Christian 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-16)
After losing to No. 4 Westside Christian (19-5) earlier this year 3-2, No. 1 Portland Adventist (14-2) left no doubt on Friday at West Salem with the sweep of the Eagles.
PAA started out a little shaky in each set, falling behind early in each one. However, the Cougars came back quickly each time behind the powerful attacking of senior Oliver Thompson and a well-trained squad of mostly juniors around him.
The atmosphere was different from the regular season settings, but the Cougars rose to the challenge to pull out the win and advance to the final.
“The gym was actually difficult to play in, the wall on one side, it was difficult to hear each other,” PAA head coach Joe Kim said. “But our guys just kept playing. So proud of them all. They were able to rely on their training and delivered the win.”
It’ll be another rematch in the title game, this one against a league foe who the Cougars beat twice already in No. 7 Central Christian.
There’s no overlooking opponents with this Cougars squad though, and they’ll be ready for another raucous environment at 9:30 p.m. Saturday inside West Salem High.
“We are looking forward to tomorrow’s championship match against Central Christian,” Kim said. “We were able to play them twice during our season, and I’m sure they will bring their best game. It should be a good one!”
austinw@osaa.org
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