Columbus St. Francis DeSales captured its first Division II state high school boys volleyball championship in Andy Feltz's final game as coach.
The Stallions defeated Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 21-25, 27-25, 25-17, 25-22 on Sunday, May 28 at Wittenberg University in Springfield.
Feltz has coached the DeSales boys volleyball team for 15 years and the girls for four. Earlier this year, he announced that he was stepping away from coaching at the end of the recently completed season.
Under Feltz, DeSales had finished as the runner-up in 2015 but had never won the title until Sunday. The Stallions finished the 2023 season with a 20-4 overall record.
In the championship match, DeSales dropped the first set before rallying to win the next three against St. Vincent-St. Mary, which had lost to DeSales in a regular-season match on April 1.
The Stallions were led by setter Cameron Hoying with 40 assists, outside hitter Evan Althouse with 25 kills and eight digs, outside hitter Camren White with 11 kills and six digs, and middle blocker Zane Patterson with seven kills.
To reach the final, DeSales defeated Independence 25-17, 25-14, 25-6 on Saturday in a semifinal.