SPRINGFIELD — Boys volleyball has only been a sanctioned sport by the Ohio High School Athletic Association since 2023.
But Mount Vernon High School has already made a statewide impression.
The Yellow Jackets finished as Division II state runner-up on Saturday after falling to Cincinnati McNicholas 25-11, 25-4 and 25-17 at Wittenberg’s Pam Evans Smith Arena.
The loss snapped a 10-match winning streak and left coach Chad Sivewright’s squad with a 17-11 record. The Rockets conclude a spectacular season with a 27-1 record.
It took the best team in Ohio to turn back Mount Vernon, which hadn’t lost a match since a straight-set defeat at the hands of Lakota East on April 26.
Before Saturday, the Yellow Jackets had won 12 of their last 13 outings. In fact, MV had claimed 15 of their last 16 sets over the past five contests.
But McNicholas, which has now won back-to-back state titles, was an entirely different beast. The Rockets have reached all three state tournaments.
McNicholas senior Gavin Gerhard led in scoring with 13 kills. Seniors Ethan Gundrum had 18 assists and Ben Jones had four service aces.
For Mount Vernon, Zach Black and Hunter Thompson recorded 9 and 7 kills, respectively. Senior Isiah Campbell had 19 assists. Black chipped in 7 digs, while Evan Kimitau added 6.
A Cinderella season
Unfortunately, the glass slipper did not fit, and the Mount Vernon boys’ Cinderella volleyball season ended at the hands of Cincinnati McNicholas in the state finals.
While disappointed, head coach Chad Sivewright looked at a season where his team was the first in the history of Mount Vernon High School to compete for a state championship in any sport.
“How can you be upset?” the coach said.
Looking at some of his players as they embraced one another and fought back tears.
“It’s super emotional,” Sivewright said. “It’s (going to be) hard not to be together as much but it’s hard to be upset because it has been such a great year.”
MV lost to the very best.
In the first set, the Rockets came from behind to outscore the Jackets 25-21 in a game that saw 14 lead changes.
The second set was a different story with McNicholas taking the Jackets out 25-4.
The third set, the Jackets were able to stay with the defending champs most of the set, finally succumbing to the relentless offense, 25-17.
Sivewright had no misconceptions about his team’s opponent.
“We felt that we had a pretty good gameplan coming in. We knew it was going to take everything we were going to have to match them point for point,” he said. “We knew there were not going to be any easy points.”
Sivewright felt that his team started out strong.
“The first set, we were in it and it felt really good,” the coach said. “Looking back on it, we just got tripped up a bit in the second set and I should have made some adjustments a little bit quicker.”
The Yellow Jacket mentor was well aware that playing catch-up with a team like McNicholas is never good.
“In the second set, it was just digging ourselves out of a hole, and that is a really good team, and with competition like that, you cannot make mistake,” he said.
The third set gave the Jackets a glimmer of hope,
“All the credit goes to them (McNicholas) but in the third set I felt like the guys got back into it mentally and they started getting after it again,” Sivewright said. “I believe they left it all on the court and that is all we could ask for, so it is good.”
Sivewright said he was proud of his squad.
“Just seeing the community getting behind the guys was great,” Sivewright said. “The last time I was here we had a police escort and there is something special about that, too.
“Being a part of a community like Mount Vernon and seeing everyone come out there, that will never get old.”