Beechwood’s volleyball wake-up call came last Thursday.
The Tigers eliminated Newport Central Catholic, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-15), in Monday’s Ninth Region quarterfinals at Dayton High School, and they’ll play Conner in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Senior setter Skylr Estep talked about losing 3-0 to four-time defending region champion Notre Dame in the 35th District final at Holmes.
“It was definitely a wake-up,” Estep said. “It definitely showed us we need to show effort 100% of the time. We can’t slack off even for one point, like every point matters.”
For Beechwood coach Matt Long, returning to volleyball basics was the theme in practice.
“We’ve just been locking into doing the little things in practice, right?” Long said. “I keep telling them we’ve gotta work hard in practice.
Long said a couple things were exposed against the Pandas.
“(Notre Dame) played a pretty flawless match, and then we didn’t control the ball as much as we should have,” Long said. “We couldn’t get our outsides (hitters) going, we didn’t get our middles (middle blockers) going, and we didn’t pass too well.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
NewCath (21-13) coach Angie Reckers said Monday’s plan was to serve aggressively.
“I think some of our hitters were just a little bit nervous there in the beginning,” Reckers said. “But, you know, they got their heads back on their shoulders and remained intense and aggressive.”
For a few minutes of the first set, it worked – NewCath led, 6-4 on Kolbey Kohrs’ kill. Then, it didn’t – Beechwood (33-3) outscored the Thoroughbreds, 21-4.
Estep, who had 33 assists for the game, served four aces in a 6-0 stretch, and Isabel O’Brien added two of her 13 kills.
Beechwood opened the second set with a 9-2 run in part because of Macy Armstrong’s kill and block. NewCath closed to 10-6 on Kohrs’ ace, but O’Brien’s three kills and one each from Charlotte Conway and Rachel Lewandowski helped the Tigers to a 24-12 lead.
Lewandowski’s kill, Estep’s ace and O’Brien’s kill propelled Beechwood to a 14-7 third-set advantage.
Conner 3, Dixie Heights 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-19)
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
Cougar junior outside hitter Charlotte Patton called her team “energetic.”
“Energetic and hyped that we won,” Patton said.
Conner is 12-3 over its last 15 games, but Cougars coach Douglas Rabe called Monday’s win “ugly.”
“We just still kept pushing through, pushing through, pushing through,” Rabe said. “… I mean, I feel like we’re really peaking and playing extremely well right now, and I do think we’re going to give Beechwood everything they can handle.
Dixie Heights (10-24) stayed with Conner early in the first two sets – the Cougars led 8-7 in the first after an Elizabeth Krohmer ace, and the Colonels took a 4-2 lead in the second after Bailey McQuinlin’s kill through Conner’s block.
“I think just going from such a tough (33rd District final) matchup between Ryle (Conner won, 3-2), we didn’t expect (Dixie) to be as good as they came out and played,” Patton said.
But Conner (24-12) – or more specifically Patton and Shylyn Koerber – answered.
A first-set example: Conner led by just 11-9 in the first set when a Patton and Lilly Kamm block started a 14-4 run, which included Patton’s two aces.
“It felt like our serve receive was not as crisp as it has been over the last couple games,” Rabe said.
The Cougars had more than Patton and Koerber in the second set. While leading the second set by only 13-12, Olivia Borneman’s two kills and Addy Back’s three aces were part of a 12-3 streak. Not that Patton didn’t contribute – three kills and a tip over Dixie’s block.
Dixie (10-24) pulled to within 24-19 in the third set.
“You know what? I think that sometimes it becomes a mental game, but I think we pushed through it, especially in that third set,” Dixie coach Niah Drayton said. “… And then we can’t translate it to our physical.”
Conner has not beaten Beechwood since 2023, including two straight-set setbacks this season.
“We played them twice, and I think we have a lot of potential to take it to five and win it,” Koerber said. “I think whoever has the most energy is gonna win that game.”
In Tuesday’s first-round matchups, Notre Dame takes on 36th District runner-up Highlands at 6 p.m., and 34th District winner St. Henry meets 33rd runner-up Ryle at 8 p.m.