In northern Kentucky, where nearly every night feels like a top-25 matchup, No. 13 Ryle once again proved it’s built for the chaos.
Despite trailing in the second set and falling behind 9-1 in the third on the road against No. 25 Highlands, the Lady Raiders rallied to sweep the Bluebirds, 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-23), Wednesday in Fort Thomas.
“We know the Ninth Region has to be one of the strongest regions,” Ryle head coach Tasha Tanner-Lovins said. “If you look at the top 25, how many come out of this region? It’s always a good battle whoever we play, whether it’s in the Ninth Region or Northern Kentucky overall. We’ve had a lot of conversations about being undefeated in Northern Kentucky, and we want to keep that rolling.”
Ryle entered at 10-5, unbeaten in region play, and riding a three-game winning streak. Challenges, however, are nothing new for the Union squad.
“This has been the story of our year,” Tanner-Lovins said. “We’ve been down a lot, but we try to take it a point at a time and not freak out. No matter who scores, it’s just one point. If it’s a big block or a big kill, it’s still just one point, so we try to stay calm and keep adding them together.”
The Lady Raiders rolled through the opening set, 25-14, but Highlands, backed by a lively crowd, found momentum in the next two. The Bluebirds led much of the second before Ryle finally pulled ahead at 14-13. In the third, Highlands stormed out to a 9-1 advantage, only for Ryle to claw back and grab its first lead at 22-21 before closing it out.
“We try to go out and have some fire,” Ryle setter Morgan Heater said. “I tell this team all the time, let’s want to win instead of just trying not to lose. Let’s get it over with, because we know we can. This team is young and we’ve had some injuries, but I tell them to fight no matter what — tired or not.”
Heater and freshman Layna Wilkinson powered the comeback, finishing with 10 and 11 kills, respectively. Bridget Burns added on five.
Highlands entered with plenty of success of its own, sitting at 14-2 overall and 9-2 against Ninth Region opponents. But against Northern Kentucky’s top-tier programs, the Bluebirds are still chasing a breakthrough.
“I feel like we were prepared and fired up, but for the last several years, we’ve lost to the Ryles, Beechwoods, Coopers, Simon Kentons, and we’re trying to change that,” Highlands head coach James DeLong said. “We did some silly things we don’t usually do — how we attacked, how we sent balls over. We panicked a little bit and allowed them to get back into the match.”
After the Bluebirds surrendered their leads in the final two sets, they were outscored a combined 14-11.
It marked just the second time this season Highlands has been swept, the other coming against Notre Dame. For Ryle, it was the second straight sweep and their fourth consecutive victory.
The Bluebirds’ (14-3) schedule doesn’t get any easier. They’ll remain in Fort Thomas for their sixth straight home match, hosting No. 9 Beechwood on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Ryle (11-5) will also face another state power, traveling to take on No. 5 St. Henry next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
More photos below, provided by Charles Bolton:
