In a battle of two of the most prominent volleyball programs in the state, it was Assumption coming out on top of Notre Dame for their 23rd state title in program history.
The Rockets took the match in four sets, 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-11, 25-20) to upend the Pandas and dethrone them as state champs.
Notre Dame was looking for their first back-to-back titles since 1982-84, but were unable to pull off the feat.
“We had a game plan going into it and I felt like we made some really good adjustments,” Pandas co-head coach Leslie Litmer said. “But I just felt that they did a really good job of keeping the ball off the floor. Even when they were sending free balls over, we weren’t scoring at that point. So just kudos to their defense. I thought they did an awesome job there.”
It was a young Pandas team making their way back to Winchester at George Rogers Clark High School, with just one senior after graduating five last year. But a program like Notre Dame is never a rebuild, rather a reload as they finished the season 33-6.
They went through a competitive 9th Region unblemished, finishing 15-0 in region play. They took their talents to Chicago to play some nationally ranked teams and Louisville at the LVIT to play the top teams in the state.
“These are high school girls that go in and do this 365 and it’s very emotionally taxing and physically taxing,” Litmer said. “We’re just really proud of the community that we have in our program. We talked about being able to celebrate the memories and tonight is not what we wanted, but there were so many smiles and laughs and happy times along the way.”
Saturday night just wasn’t their night. Assumption kept them on their heels with 52 kills, tournament MVP Charlotte Moriarty racking up 18 of them. The Pandas were also on the wrong end of a few Rockets’ serves that hit the net and dropped on their side. A couple of double hit violations also took their toll.
“We had a hard time getting established with some momentum throughout the match. I felt like it was just a couple calls here and there that I felt it was just kind of wearing on our girls a little bit,” Litmer said.
Assumption took momentum in the first set by building a 17-11 lead thanks to a 7-3 run. Notre Dame could inch no closer than three from there.
The Rockets looked like they were on their way to a 2-0 lead after jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the second set, but the Pandas battled all the way back to take a 17-16 lead after an Ava Tilden kill. Five ties followed and at 24-all, Tilden collected two kills to even the match at a set apiece.
“We were able to string a few there that were important there at the very end,” Litmer said. “So I was happy that we could do that and try and earn some momentum to go into the third set and extend the match a little bit.”
Assumption dominated the third set thanks to seven Panda errors and two service errors.
Notre Dame regrouped to take a 12-10 lead in the fourth set, but a 5-0 Rockets run was the final straw. They jumped out as much as 20-15 before Ella Goetz willed her team back to 21-19 after two kills and a block.
A Moriarty kill followed by a Riley McCloskey block made it 22-20, but the double hit violations whistled numerous times throughout the match hurt Notre Dame once again.
Emma Barnett’s ace that hit the top of the net and dropped straight down on the Pandas side made it 24-20, Chloe Smith’s kill giving Assumption their first state title since 2019.
“It’s special, needless to say. Kind of got hung on 22 there,” Rockets coach Ron Kordes said. “Every year we’ve talked about it and fell short somewhere. These girls have been talking about it all year and I’m so proud of them for pulling it off.”
Kordes has been doing this for a while, remembering the first time he played Notre Dame on the state tournament stage.
“You know, 35 years ago I started with this school and my very first year they kicked our ass. It’s been a rivalry for 35 years,” Kordes said.
The Pandas will be expected to be back in this spot again next season with Ava Erpenbeck the lone departure to graduation.
“It’s very exciting. As sad as it is, we’re cherishing the feeling right now. Not always looking towards the future. And that’s even in the season and you think of this moment, but there’s a lot that it takes to get here. So for us right now, it’s just living in this moment, remembering how this feels, reflecting on it accordingly,” Litmer said. “We’ll let the girls grow, have their own time off mentally, physically and emotionally and then we’ll approach next season when that comes around.”
Erpenbeck, Ava Tilden and Julia Grace were named to the All-Tournament team.
Assumption finishes their season 36-5 and while they’re also a program that doesn’t rebuild, do lose seven seniors from this year’s team.