Head coach Amy Marx said she told the Simon Kenton Pioneers volleyball players the host Scott Eagles would throw everything they had at them trying to win on the home floor and they did not disappoint pushing it to five sets.
But the Pioneers (26-7) found a way to leave there with a 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10) win. Simon Kenton had 46 kills, 11 blocks, 81 digs, 44 assists and eight aces. Sophie Spanier had nine digs, two kills and one ace with Tori Chasteen digging up 25 balls.
“We struggled a little bit at times in different rotations. But that’s because I’m making them do some different things that we’re going to need in the postseason against higher-level teams,” Marx said. “We started doing that (Tuesday) against St. Henry, which we put up better scores against them than we did against Notre Dame and our hitting efficiency was better so I know it is going to work. But when you do that, you might take a step back with some other things before you move forward. They did a good job of adjusting and figuring it out. If one person wasn’t doing it, the next person picked them up.”
That let Sadie Rehkamp set up the hitters with 37 assists. Jenna Kitchens led Simon Kenton with 13 kills to go with 11 digs and two aces. Alisha Hawkins had 12 kills, seven digs, three blocks and two aces with Keira Hans recording 12 kills, five blocks, two aces and four digs.
“We just worked one point at a time. Everyone did her job and we were in our spots ready to be scrappy and get every ball,” Kitchens said. “Every single point, we’re always talking about what we can do better for the next point.”
Scott (20-15) had eight aces, 47 kills, eight blocks, 44 assists, 12 blocks and 53 digs in the loss. Milyn Minor had a team-high 22 kills to go with four solo blocks, two aces and seven digs and Brooklyn Helm had 12 kills, two blocks and 12 digs. Brooke Balsley added five kills Elise Manhardt had 24 digs and Ryann Grigsby had team-highs of 42 assists and three aces. Payton Grigsby had two blocks and six digs with Morgan Justice adding five kills and two assisted blocks.
Simon Kenton takes on Willamstown (9-16) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the 32nd District semifinals at Walton-Verona. Scott travels to Bishop Brossart (21-11) the same day at 7:30 p.m. in the 37th District semifinals.
Villa Madonna 3, Dixie Heights 2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 11-25, 15-13)
The Vikings ended an 11-game losing streak against the Colonels with a thrilling road win to take the second seed in the 34th District Tournament next week back at Dixie Heights.
Villa Madonna (19-7) has gone 3-3 in its last six games. But the Vikings learned a lot in the latest loss Monday in a five-set loss at Newport Central Catholic.
“It was very disheartening. I didn’t sleep a whole lot last time because so many things go through your mind when you lose a tough game,” said Sandi Kitchen, Villa Madonna head coach. “It’s kind of like losing a double-overtime basketball game by one. Coming back Tuesday, I was worried about the stamina of the girls, if they were going to be able to compete like (Monday). But I was very proud of the fact that they didn’t get down. I told the girls we wanted to win this in regulation and they did it.”
The Vikings had 32 kills, 32 assists, 56 digs, seven aces and seven blocks in the win. Libero Madeline Mitchell had 20 digs and Catherine Gifford recorded 10 to go with 14 assists and five kills. Gifford made the 500th assist of her career in the win.
“We got our energy up and played like we could,” Gifford said. “We left everything out there. It was really exciting throughout the whole game. We just try to support each other and make sure we don’t get down on ourselves.”
Maya Kondik had 12 kills and four blocks with seventh grader Ellie Breitling recording 10 kills and three blocks. Rebecca Raziano led the Vikings with 18 assists and Joci Demler had a team-high three aces.
Maggie Best led Dixie Heights (9-14) with 25 kills and 20 digs with Christen Tarter digging up 25 balls. Hannah Wilson had 12 digs and seven aces with Celia Wallace recording nine kills and six aces. Riley Byrne and Maddie Kelly had 21 and 18 assists respectively.
Dixie Heights takes on Bishop Brossart (21-11) on Thursday at 7 p.m. Villa Madonna next plays the Colonels in the 34th District Tournament, which starts Monday.
Newport Central Catholic 3, Grant County 0 (33-31, 25-19, 25-22)
Newport Central Catholic honored seniors Kori Reckers, Emma Cleves and Lucy Simons before taking out the visiting Braves to win its sixth in a row and eighth out of the last nine games to conclude the regular season. NewCath had 12 aces, 46 kills, 43 assists, 87 digs and three assisted blocks in the win.
Reckers had 11 kills, 17 assists, 10 digs and eight aces to lead the Thoroughbreds (16-18) and Simons had eight digs and six kills. Jordyn Reckers had 21 digs and five assists with Paytin Reckers contributing 13 digs and three aces. Madison Wolf smashed 10 kills to go with 10 digs and Reese McCloskey pounded down eight kills. Vivi Fassler once again helped set up the Thoroughbred offense with 14 assists.
NewCath goes into the 36th District Tournament as the second seed, which takes place on the Hill starting Monday.
Other Volleyball Scores
Dayton 2, Gallatin County 0 (25-11, 25-14)
Cincinnati Seton (Ohio) 3, Ryle 0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16)
Bishop Brossart 3, Augusta 0 (25-18, 25-9, 25-6)
Ludlow 2, Heritage Academy 0 (25-13, 25-20)