The McNicholas Rockets will make their first appearance in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Boys Volleyball State Tournament in 2023, and this year they reached the state finals for the first time since finishing as runner-up in the Ohio High School Boys Volleyball Association Finals in 2008. They didn't have to wait another year to step up to the state championship.
The Rockets defeated Columbus St. Charles in the OHSAA boys volleyball Division II state championship after a five-set comeback 21-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-15, 15-11.
After quickly falling behind with a slow start that head coach Julie Mulvey said had plagued her team all season, the Rockets retook the initiative to take it to the fifth set and win the state championship.
“We took a timeout and said, 'Guys, why do we have to start like this?' And they turned it around,” she said.
The Rockets led by 17 points in the middle three sets, won by nine, lost by two and then won again by 10. The fifth set began with St. Charles High School senior and Division II Player of the Year Mladen Tagge charging to the net to put McNicholas ahead, but the Rockets held Tagge to just two kills and three errors in the final set.
“At the end of the day, we just make them make plays,” McNicholas High School senior Bryce Dillard said. “We have to get it over the net. Make them make mistakes and limit our own. Put the ball up their court, play defense and see what happens.”
In the end, McNicholas High School won the state championship, marking the third state championship for a Greater Catholic League coed team in the past three seasons, joining Fenwick High School in 2021 and Badin High School in 2022.
“I've been here a long time,” said Mulvey, the head coach in his 15th year. “We've had years where we weren't even .500. We've had years where we've been to the Final Four, but this is definitely the pinnacle of it all. It's awesome.”
Ethan Gundrum and Gavin Gerhardt lead the Rockets
McNicholas High School senior Ethan Gundrum played his usual dual role as setter and opposite hitter. Gundrum recorded 16 kills and just five errors on 35 attempts, while adding 17 assists and a team-high 11 digs.
“I always took a deep breath before I played and just played as aggressively as I could,” Gundrum said. “And it worked. Nothing more than that. I just played aggressively every point.”
His partner on the other side, Gavin Gerhardt, led the Rockets with 18 kills in the state final and was one of three Rockets with two service aces, along with Dillard and Carson Tierney. Setter Ben Jones led the way with three aces and 20 assists and assisted on three blocks. Dillard had four stops at the net and one solo stop.
Bryce Dillard's senior farewell party
The powerhouse Rockets, who graduated just two seniors last season, will lose just one after the 2024 season. Middle blocker Bryce Dillard, a three-year varsity player, will be the only senior to depart.
In his final outing with the Rockets, Dillard recorded more than 150 kills, including the winning point in the finals.
“That's what I wanted,” Dillard said about being awarded championship points. “I said, 'At least make it special.' It means a lot that they wanted to give me the points. We worked hard all year and everyone deserved them. It just happened to be me.”
“I'm really grateful to the whole team for making it possible and getting me to that point in the game.”
