We gave you the 50 greatest sports icons from NKY last summer. Since we had so much fun with that, we’re bringing you another list of the 50 greatest things this summer…The 50 greatest prep sports teams from NKY.
Each day for the next 50 days, we’ll release one of the area’s 50 greatest prep sports teams. It starts June 22 and runs into August. This is not a ranking 1-50, it’s just a collection of the 50 best sports teams ever assembled.
We’ll preface this by saying you may or may not agree with all 50 and that’s fine. Sports editor Evan Dennison assembled a panel of dedicated and longly-tenured NKY sports fans to weigh in and give their takes on who should be on the list. I trust those people because of their history and knowledge of the game in NKY. We compiled numerous lists and identified the most certain candidates for inclusion.
Some of the traits we sought in these teams were state championships (almost certainly a requirement), dominance, and standout players and coaches. We may have cheated a little by lumping some dominant teams together that achieved numerous consecutive state titles, but that gives a few more teams an opportunity to be recognized.
I hope you enjoy this, as sports are slow in the summer. This list serves as a way to remember the past a little and keep you entertained daily as it continues.
Another note, while we respect and give coverage to golf, tennis, wrestling, bowling, track and field and cross country, we consider those individual sports, so any teams from those sports will not make the list.
Here we go!
1980 VILLA MADONNA VOLLEYBALL
With just 158 girls enrolled in the school, the Villa Madonna “Blue Lightning” were one of the smallest programs in Kentucky, but they quickly became one of the most unforgettable. Under coach Carla Austin, Villa Madonna surged through the season with a 39-2 record and captured the overall state championship in just the second year of Kentucky’s volleyball tournament.
The run felt even more impressive because there weren’t and aren’t classifications. Small schools lined up against the largest programs in the state and Villa Madonna met the challenge head-on. Night after night, they held their own against bigger schools, building momentum toward a championship match that ended in a statement performance: a 15-4, 15-1 victory over Our Lady of Providence.
Even in a near-perfect season, there were reminders of just how high the level of competition was. One of Villa Madonna’s only two losses came against Mother of Mercy, an Ohio powerhouse that went on to win the Class AAA state title.
What made the team endure beyond the title was the talent woven throughout the roster. Fredda Simpson, Lori Erpenbeck, Lisa Warman and Stephanie Scheper all played central roles in the championship run and eventually moved on to Division I volleyball, spreading from Kentucky to Florida State and Tennessee. Simpson would later gain national attention for her role in A League of Their Own, but in 1980 she was part of a team that turned a small Northern Kentucky school into a state champion.
Villa Madonna proved that size didn’t set the ceiling, execution did.
Here’s the rundown of the 50 greatest NKY prep sports teams day by day:
Day 1: 1998 Highlands Football
Day 2: 1963 Holmes Baseball
Day 3: 2019 Covington Catholic football
Day 4: 2021 Notre Dame Academy Girls Soccer
Day 5: 1960 Highlands Football
