The Ryle Raiders volleyball team made the most of the next player up mentality while Kiana Dinn could not play nursing an injury.
But the University of Pittsburgh commit returned last Thursday against Great Crossing and every bit of her helped the Raiders (7-8) fend off the Cooper Jaguars, 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-13, 25-12) to earn the top seed in the 33rd District Tournament. Dinn had 23 assists and 12 kills, tallying her 1000th career assist in the victory in a game that saw both teams wear uniforms supporting the United States Army.
“I’m happy I can be there for my teammates,” Dinn said. “I just love going out and playing with my team. It was really hard stepping away from the game and giving my body rest and all that because I really wanted to be out there having fun. Whenever we’re out on the court, we always hype each other up and we’re all really supportive. I just really wanted to finish off my high school career strong.”
Ryle had 50 assists, 54 kills, 95 digs, 15 blocks and five aces in the win. Alexis Woolf had 25 digs and two aces in the win. Lucy Trapp and Morgan Heater had 12 and 10 kills respectively with Heater adding five blocks and 21 assists. Karsyn Griffin added two aces.
“They were very scrappy, kept the ball alive, served strong,” Ryle head coach Tasha Lovins said of Cooper. “They did a good job.”
Cooper (6-8) saw Sadie Smith record 16 assists, 13 digs and three aces with Addy Warth recording 21 digs. Audrey Schilling had 11 kills and 22 digs with Carly Schroder adding six kills and five digs.
Ryle plays at Henry Clay (7-12) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Cooper travels to Conner (13-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Volleyball
Notre Dame 3, St. Ursula 2 (18-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-22, 16-14)
The Pandas moved to 3-0 against Girls Greater Catholic League teams rallying for the road win. Notre Dame has won the last three matches against St. Ursula.
“It was a tough situation because we lost the first two sets,” said Jenna Leistner, Notre Dame co-coach. “What I loved seeing from the girls was their grit, their determination, their competitiveness. They did not want to lose. Every single person on the team did every single thing they could to come back and win in five sets.”
Notre Dame had 65 kills, 60 assists, 85 digs, 16 blocks and eight aces in the win over the Bulldogs (9-3). Ava Tilden had 16 kills, 15 digs and two aces for the Pandas (14-1). Riley McCloskey led Notre Dame with 18 kills with Audrey Dyas contributing 11 kills and four blocks. Grace Portwood had 10 kills. Lauren Ott had 50 assists and 18 digs with Julia Grace contributing 23 digs and three aces. Portwood and Ella Goetz had four blocks each.
“We were super hyped about (the match),” Tilden said. “This win felt very good. They beat some of the other Ohio teams so it gives us a lot of confidence going into playing those teams in the future.”
Notre Dame travels to Conner (13-2) on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.
Conner 3, Holy Cross 1 (25-10, 19-25, 25-19, 25-19)
The Cougars ventured to Covington and came away with the 9th Region win.
Conner (13-2) had 45 kills, 16 blocks, 43 assists, 54 digs and seven aces in the win. Anna Hamilton and Maddie Leiprecht started the attack with 17 and 10 digs respectively. Leiprecht added a team-high three aces. Setters Jordan Ransdell and Aubrey Depenbrock had 18 and 14 assists respectively to go with seven digs each.
“Our blockers did a great job up there,” Hamilton said. “We read outside the blocker and they did a good job getting touches as well so that definitely helped.”
Carly Nehus and Peyton Walker had 15 and 13 kills respectively with McKenzie Deatherage and Lilly Hamburg recording six and five respectively. Walker and Annika Berwanger recorded six blocks each.
Holy Cross (16-4) had 40 kills, nine blocks, 36 assists, 48 digs and 10 aces in the loss. Julia Hunt led the way with 30 kills, four aces and five blocks with Lucy Lenihan tallying 23 assists and nine digs. Olivia Gangwish led Holy Cross with 10 digs.
“We tried to key off Julia and make others beat us,” said Douglas Rabe, Conner head coach. “You don’t shut down Julia. It was tough with Julia blocking at the net. But our outsides, especially McKenzie Deatherage and Carly Nehus, had good games.”
Conner plays host to Notre Dame (14-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Highlands 3, Dixie Heights 0 (25-13, 26-24, 25-20)
Highlands evened its record at 8-8 with the home 9th Region win.
Highlands had 26 kills, 42 digs, 24 assists, nine blocks and six aces in the win. Hayden Gessner and Annie Ellison started things with 11 and 10 digs respectively. Ellison added two aces. Ava Muzumdar had three aces and 14 assists with Ella Cox adding 10 assists.
“I think that our team really pushed through the game,” Gessner said. “We had a few moments where we were unable to focus. But we got right back into it and leaned on each other to push through moments like that.”
Rachel Ossege had 11 kills and four blocks with Sydney Schomaker recording five kills and Lyla Bottom three blocks.
Dixie Heights (8-9) saw Maggie Best record 15 kills and 14 digs with Christen Tarter adding 19 digs. Setter Riley Byrne returned from injury seeing limited action.
“That was the game plan that we would be able to slow (Best) down a little bit,” said Jim DeLong, Highlands head coach. “She’s too good a player to stop.”
Highlands plays host to Dayton (6-12) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Dixie Heights plays at Scott (10-8) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Calvary Christian 2, Dayton 1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-23)
The Cougars downed the Devils in a non-region home match.
Calvary (11-6) had 39 kills, 35 assists, eight aces, 62 digs and five blocks in the win. Team captain Savannah Ryan had 32 assists and six digs.
“I think the funnest thing is the atmosphere,” Ryan said. “It’s really positive and we play for a greater purpose than just ourselves. We’re playing to glorify the Lord first and foremost. I’ve created lifetime bonds on this team.”
Libero Isabella Mulling had 23 digs and Anna Hickey had 12 to go with 12 kills. Reagan Brummett had 11 kills and two blocks with Megan Arthur recording three blocks.
“We came out in the third set where we knew we had to put some points together and really play our game a little bit more than the second set,” said Becky Stelzer, Calvary head coach. “The girls did that and got a lead. Some of the mistakes didn’t hurt as bad as the second set because we were going back and forth
Dayton (6-12) had 23 kills, 22 assists, 76 digs and three aces. Haylee Reynolds had 16 assists and 10 digs with McKenzie Sullivan recording 22 digs and three aces. Ella Boyers led the Devils with seven kills and Kierston Reynolds added 10 digs.
Dayton plays at Highlands (8-8) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in district action. Calvary plays again Thursday against the Cincinnati (Ohio) Trailblazers Home School team at 7 p.m.
Campbell County 2, Williamstown 0 (25-13, 25-19)
The Camels evened their record at 7-7 with the sound road win.
Campbell County had 25 kills, 11 aces, 25 assists and 18 digs in the win. Ella Thorwarth had nine digs and three aces. Hope Hamilton had seven kills and six assists. Ava Crowl had 11 assists and three digs. Lola Haun had four aces and two digs. Emma Manser had nine kills with Faith Whitford adding four.
Campbell County takes on Great Crossing (12-0) in the Cake Classic at Highlands on Friday at 8 p.m.
Bishop Brossart 2, Boone County 0 (25-13, 25-19)
The Mustangs took care of the host Rebels in non-region action.
Bishop Brossart had six aces, 19 kills, one solo block, 18 assists and 35 digs. Kate Neltner led the Mustangs (14-3) with seven kills. Maddie Kremer had a team-high 13 digs and Aubrey Rebholz led the Mustangs with 13 assists.
The Mustangs play host to Harrison County (9-4) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Boone County (5-12) plays host to Newport Central Catholic (6-12) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Newport Central Catholic 3, Bellevue 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-9)
The Thoroughbreds moved to 3-0 in 36th District seed play with a sound victory on the road.
NewCath (6-12) had 18 aces, 33 kills, 29 assists and 22 digs overall. Kori Reckers had six aces, five kills, 17 assists and five digs to lead the way. Paytin Reckers led the Thoroughbreds with seven digs and Vivi Fassler had seven assists. Lucy Simons had six kills with Fassler and Paytin Reckers serving three aces each.
NewCath travels to Boone County (5-12) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Bellevue (6-7) plays at Heritage Academy (0-9) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Grant County 3, Walton-Verona 0 (26-24, 25-23, 25-21)
The Bearcats lost the 32nd District game at home.
Walton-Verona (12-8) had 33 kills, four blocks, 27 assists, 52 digs and five aces in the loss. Bella O’Brien had 15 digs, two aces and seven kills with Amber Hall recording 24 assists. Winter Vandiver had 12 kills with Macie Godwin digging up 12 balls.
Walton-Verona travels to Gallatin County (3-12) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores
St. Henry 3, Scott 0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-10)
Simon Kenton 3, Beechwood 0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-22)
Villa Madonna 2, Heritage Academy 0 (25-11, 25-19)
Newport 2, Holmes 0 (25-13, 25-15)
Girls Soccer
Assumption 1, Notre Dame 0
The Pandas dropped a tough one to the Rockets to open the Lexington Catholic Cup.
Notre Dame outshot Assumption, 15-7. But the Rockets scored a close one in the first half for the game’s only goal. Hannah Renaker made six saves for the Pandas (11-2-1).
Notre Dame plays again in the LexCath Cup on Thursday at 6 p.m. against Highlands (9-2-1). The Bluebirds are playing in place of Paul Laurence Dunbar that day.
Villa Madonna 8, Dayton 0
The Vikings recorded a second straight shutout in the win.
Macy Gumm had three goals and an assist to lead the Vikings (7-4-1). Lucy Vick and Emma Tupman had one goal and one assist each. Catherine Gibbs, Megan Mahaney and Emma Gibbs scored one goal each with Ava Lynne Schwartz tallying two assists with Nora Walsh and Madeline McGuire recording one each. McGuire also made one save at goalkeeper.
Villa Madonna plays host to Calvary Christian (2-4-1) on Friday at 5 p.m. Dayton (4-6-1) plays host to Holmes (4-5) on Monday at 6 p.m.
Boys Soccer
Dixie Heights 2, Beechwood 0
The Colonels downed the visiting Tigers in 9th Region action.
Donovan Lameier and Ezequiel Bautista scored the goals for the Colonels (6-5-1) and Justin Nordloh had two assists.
Dixie Heights plays host to Covington Catholic (6-5-3) on Thursday at 8 p.m. Beechwood (4-7) travels to Scott (5-7) on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Ryle 5, Simon Kenton 1
The Raiders won their 10th in a row downing the Pioneers on the road.
Brice Denigan led the Raiders (10-2) with two goals and an assist with Diego Hoenderkamp scored one goal and tallied two assists. Josh Line added one goal and one assist. Anes Smajlovic had one goal and Owen Schierberg one assist. Landon Barth had three saves at goalkeeper and Jack Nieman had one.
Erick Herrera had the goal for Simon Kenton (8-6-1) and Andrew Petty the assist. Goalkeeper Miles Mullen had four saves.
Ryle plays at Conner (7-3-1) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Simon Kenton plays host to Pendleton County (2-9-1) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Boys Soccer Scores
Grant County 7, Holmes 0
Conner 4, Holy Cross 2
St. Henry 5, Aiken (Ohio) 0
Boone County 5, Villa Madonna 0