The Highlands Bluebirds girls soccer team came into the season as an overwhelming favorite to eight-peat in the 36th District and proved it with an 8-0 shutout of the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds at Morscher Field. Highlands has won 15 straight against NewCath dating back to 2015.
Highlands (16-2-3) saw Claire Cavacini score three goals with Kate Jamie scoring twice and assisting another. Laney Smith also scored twice and sister Franny Smith had four assists. Ariana Arms added an assist with goalkeepers Natalie Hinegardner and Aubree Colston making one save each.
Both teams advance to the 9th Region Tournament. Highlands will face Conner or a runner-up from the 34th or 35th District at Tower Park in the 9th Region Quarterfinals. NewCath (3-19-1) will play at Cooper or the 34th or 35th District champion. The drawing is Friday.
Girls Soccer
34th District Semifinals at St. Henry
Dixie Heights 9, Ludlow 0
The top-seeded Colonels handled the Panthers to go back to the championship Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Hope Tignor scored her first three career varsity goals for the Colonels (12-8). Makenna Long and Karolyn Lighthall scored two goals each with Hadley Greene and Kate Riedmiller scoring one goal each.
Ludlow finished the season 9-8-2. The Panthers graduate nine seniors.
St. Henry 5, Villa Madonna 0
The second-seeded Crusaders moved back to the championship game for the second straight year with the shutout.
Avery Pleiman led St. Henry (10-10) with two goals. Annalee Ernst, Ally Torres and Aubrey Logan had one goal each.
Villa Madonna finished the season 10-10-1 and graduates just two seniors in Emma Gibbs and Anna Riordan.
Volleyball
Newport Central Catholic 3, Campbell County 1 (25-14, 15-25, 25-18, 25-20)
Newport Central Catholic continued its winning ways, downing rival Campbell County for its fourth straight win and sixth in the last seven games.
NewCath (14-18) had 76 digs, 44 kills, 42 assists, seven aces and three blocks in the win. Kori Reckers again led the Thoroughbreds with 16 kills, 14 assists and 22 digs.
“We were more in system so we were able to split up our offense to where we were catching their block in bad timing,” said Angie Reckers, NewCath head coach. “It wasn’t closed. They didn’t finish on a few blocks. So when they had those blocking errors against us, it gave our hitters more confidence to keep doing what we’re doing.”
But she had plenty of help. Reese McCloskey pounded out 10 kills to go with two blocks with Lucy Simons recording eight kills and three aces. Elena Henderson and Katelyn Brannen had four each.
“We’ve really worked on catching (opponents) off guard in practice, being scrappy and communicating,” McCloskey said. “You have to shake off mistakes and get the next ball. Don’t get down on yourself because if you get down on yourself, you’re going to keep making mistakes. (Coach Reckers) is really good at bringing us up and our teammates are good at bringing us up if we’re down.”
Defensively, Jordyn Reckers had 14 digs with Simons and Elise Fowler digging up 11 balls each. Paytin Reckers added eight digs and Vivi Fassler had 12 assists and four digs.
Campbell County (13-12) had 36 kills, 28 assists, 50 digs, five blocks and three aces. Emma Manser led Campbell County with 17 kills and Lexi Scharold had 13 kills and three solo blocks. Hope Hamilton had 16 assists with Ava Crowl recording 10 assists and two aces. Ella Thorwarth had 18 digs and A lon McIntyre dug up 11 balls.
Campbell County plays its third home game in three days against Bishop Brossart (19-10) at 8 p.m. The Camels will take the district tournament’s top seed with a win.
NewCath does not play again until Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. against Villa Madonna (17-6) on the hill.
Scott 3, Walton-Verona 0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-17)
The Eagles won their third straight with a home win over the Bearcats.
Scott (18-13) had nine aces, 27 kills, 26 assists, 20 blocks and 16 digs in the win. Morgan Justice and Brooke Balsley had five blocks each and Payton Grigsby had four to go with three aces. Ryann Grigsby had 24 assists to go with two aces with Milyn Minor and Balsley tallying seven and six kills respectively. Broolyn Helm and Justice had five kills each with Elise Manhardt and Helm recording six digs each. Manhardt added three aces.
Walton-Verona (15-16) recorded 14 kills, 55 digs, 13 assists and six aces. Macie Godwin and Bella O’Brien had 15 and 10 digs respectively with Amber Hall tallying 11 assists, eight digs and three aces. O’Brien and Chloe McIntosh had four kills each.
Scott plays host to Harrison County (24-7) on Thursday at 7 p.m. Walton-Verona plays host to Simon Kenton (24-6) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores
Highlands 3, Villa Madonna 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-10)
Ludlow 2, Augusta 1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-10)
Pendleton County 2, Holmes 0 (25-6, 25-17)
