Playing volleyball in Northern Kentucky has its advantages.
Yes, the competition is stiff and you have to bring your best nearly every night, but when it comes to state tournaments, it helps with facing what you see in the northern most part of the state night in, night out.
Beechwood’s volleyball team can attest to that. They became the latest to win the All “A” Classic state volleyball tournament, a first for them in program history. The Tigers did it without losing a set over the weekend in the state tournament. They ran through pool play with three wins and then grabbed three more wins in bracket play to claim the title.
They had one out of 12 sets where the opponent reached 20 points, a 25-23 set win over state ranked Holy Cross out of Louisville. Other than that, it was a breeze for Beechwood, who improved to 16-1 on the season with a big district matchup against Notre Dame Academy on Wednesday looming.
Macy Armstrong was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, Maggie Dawson, Skylr Estep and Rachel Lewandowski making the All-Tournament team. It was just Beechwood’s second ever trip to the All “A” state tournament, also doing so in 2015 where they made it to the championship and finished runner-up.
In the 17 years the All “A” has been tracking the state volleyball championship, Northern Kentucky schools have won 11 titles in that time. St. Henry has eight, Holy Cross has two and now Beechwood with one.
In the Tigers 16-1 start, they’ve dropped just three sets, two to St. Henry in a three-set loss, and one to Calhoun (Georgia) in both of those matches played at the Showdown at the Sunsphere in a tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee.
They’ve won 11 straight games and have Lloyd Memorial on Tuesday before the district showdown with the Pandas on Wednesday. They haven’t beat Notre Dame this century and have won a set just three times in 36 matches since 2001.
The time could be now, they’ve built this roster up, the majority of the players (now upperclassmen) receiving significant playing time and gathering experience since their freshman year. They’ve jumped up to No. 15 in the statewide Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. The Pandas will be their toughest challenge yet, having taken down Mercy and Sacred Heart this month and entering with a 11-3 record and a matchup with Dixie Heights pending on Tuesday. Notre Dame’s only three losses are to out of state opponents, two of them at the Nike Tournament of Champions Southeast in Florida and the other to Ursuline Academy out of Ohio.
Wednesday’s matchup is set for a 7 p.m. start in Fort Mitchell.