The rivalry between CHS and Cathedral is great in every competitive event. This statement holds true for men’s volleyball, especially after the Greyhounds suffered a loss to Cathedral in the Semistate game in 2009.

According to Branden Clemens, right-side attacker and sophomore, “To beat Cathedral, we are going to have to block well, serve receive and have ball control.”

The Greyhounds have made it to the State tournament every year since 2004. In both the 2007 and 2009 seasons, CHS played in the Semistate game, losing to Cathedral both times. In fact, Cathedral has won the State Championship three out of the last five years.

However, the Greyhounds are optimistic, having won the first two games of their season, including a 3-1 win over the defending state champions, the Center Grove Trojans.

According to Head Coach Jon Harmon, who is in his third season at this school, the Greyhounds only graduated two seniors last season and are already showing a lot of progress this season. “We are seeing a lot of leadership in Jacob Scherb, and David Lohss is huge contribution to both our offense and our defense,” he said.

 Clemens agreed and said the team’s two seniors are leading the team, in addition to players with previous varsity experience. He said, “(Graduating only two people) is good because we still have the core of our varsity, and we only had to get two new people.”

Harmon said another strength of this year’s team is its size. “They have a lot of height,” he said. “It’s good for blocking and their offense.” Harmon also said the team has many strong servers.

According to Harmon, although the team is strong in many areas, they are still a very young team. “They are still trying to gain experience,” he said. “Also, the team is not very deep. We don’t have a ton of players.”

The Greyhounds’ next match will take place on March 31 at CHS against Hamilton Southeastern (HSE). According to Harmon, the night of the HSE match will be Beach Party Night, consisting of music, contests and prizes.

 Clemens said, “We’ll do good (against HSE). We have to be confident, but not over confident. We have to play good serve receive.”

The Greyhounds are not scheduled to play Cathedral until the end of April. “I am hoping for a State Title this year,” said Clemens. “If we push hard and give 110% effort during practice, I think we can do it.” By Alex Mackall <[email protected]>