Chillicothe Sweeps Patriot In Historic OHSAA Boys Volleyball Tourney Match

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Boys high school volleyball advocates have been trying for decades to get the Ohio High School Athletic Association to recognize the sport as a sanctioned event for postseason play. That long wait came to an end Wednesday night as boys volleyball tournament play got underway under the umbrella of the OHSAA.

The Chillicothe Cavaliers can say they played a major role for southern Ohio in breaking this longtime barrier and reaped the reward with a three set sweep over Columbus Patriot Prep (25-5, 25-7, 25-7) in the opening match of Division 2/Region 5 action.

The Cavs dominated the match from the outset and was never in jeopardy of the outcome.

Sophomore Mercer Cutright dominated net play with a match leading 12 kills, despite being subbed out early in the match to spread the playing time around since the match was not in doubt. Daniel Rourke added 6 kills, while Elijah Hardiesty, Landen Cox and An Nguyen each had 3 kills. Hardiesty also had 5 serving aces- as did Justin Rubia, to go along with Rubia’s match-high 19 digs. Lucas Sprague distributed 16 assists on offense with 10 coming from Aaron Ballentine.

Chillicothe will advance to play Saint Charles, in Columbus on May 13th at 6pm. The Cavs fell to Saint Charles in regular season play.

Watch our Litter Media post-match interviews below: