The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds boys soccer team ventured to Alexandria and stayed undefeated with a 1-0 win over the Campbell County Camels.
NewCath (4-0) recorded its third shutout this season, outshooting Campbell County, 10-1 on goal. Senior goalkeeper Mason McCloskey made one save for the clean sheet for the Thoroughbreds and Campbell County (1-1-1) senior goalkeeper Brycen Faulkner made nine.
“That’s an every day thing. We put that ahead of anything else,” said Brayden Leger, NewCath defender. “Anything we do at practice is defense, A to Z, top to bottom.”
Junior Vinny Petroze scored the game’s lone goal for his third of the season with less than five minutes to go. That ties him for the team-high with Brady Diedenhofer.
“We’re very, very pleased with the performance,” said Ben Williams, NewCath head coach. “We knew it was going to be a tough game with their experience level. It’s an emotional game playing against a rival in Campbell County.”
Both teams play again Thursday. NewCath plays host to Cooper (1-1-1) at 6:15 p.m. and Campbell County travels to Dixie Heights (0-2-0) for an 8 p.m. game.
Boys Soccer
Highlands 2, Conner 1
The Bluebirds (3-0) stayed undefeated with their third win at Tower Park in as many tries in defeating the Cougars (0-2-1).
Harrison Gamble scored in the first half and the Bluebirds scored on an own goal in the second half. Gamble tied Chad Gesenhues with a team-high five goals this season.
“We’re dealing with a team that hasn’t been in that environment losing 16 seniors (from 2022),” said Suli Kayed, Highlands head coach. “That was a message at the end. ‘This is a great test for you guys. They’re going to come in here and punch you in the throat. How do you react?’ This is the type of environment you’re going to face anytime you face a good opponent.”
Both teams play again Thursday. Highlands plays host to Holy Cross (1-1-1) at 7:45 p.m. and Conner travels to Simon Kenton (1-2-1) for an 8 p.m. battle.
Cooper 6, Scott 0
The Jaguars (1-1-1) earned their first win in convincing fashion on the road.
Maddox Pemberton and Tristen Birkley had two goals and one assist each to lead Cooper. Jackson McDonald and Landon Hughes added one goal and one assist each. Liam Haswell added two assists.
Cooper travels to NewCath (4-0) on Thursday for a 6:15 p.m. game. Scott plays host to Conner (0-2-1) on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Other Boys Soccer Scores
Ryle 4, Beechwood 1
Bishop Brossart 4, St. Henry 0
Grant County 2, Holy Cross 1
Oldham County 4, Simon Kenton 2
Boone County 7, Pendleton County 1
Sayre 7, Holmes 1
Calvary Christian 2, Villa Madonna 1
Volleyball
Dixie Heights 3, Newport Central Catholic 0
The first game started off point for point. But once Dixie Heights found its spots against the young NewCath back row, the Colonels took control winning in three by 25-21, 25-18, 25-16.
“We spend so much time on serving and passing so I always tell them if we can serve better and pass better than the other team, then we have a good chance of winning,” said Julie Kelly, Dixie head coach. “So that’s what we kept saying during timeouts and between games.”
The Colonels served 14 aces to nine for NewCath. Dixie Heights senior Celia Wallace led the way with five aces to go with four kills. Wallace recorded three straight aces in the first game to help the Colonels pull away.
Overall, Dixie Heights unofficially had 19 kills, 30 digs, one block, 14 aces and 19 assists. Seniors Maggie Best tallied eight kills and seven digs while Christen Tarter recorded 19 digs to with four aces.
“The first pass is definitely the most important touch in the play,” Tarter said. “I feel like we did a good job keeping the other team out of system. We used that to our advantage.”
Setter Riley Byrne set up the Dixie hitters well with 19 assists to go with seven digs and two aces. Six Colonels had kills, including Madison Offner with three.
“I feel like we’re more comfortable with each other now,” Byrne said. “We’re just getting in the flow. We always try to better the ball and when we’re in system, we have a better chance of winning the point.”
The Thoroughbreds did have bright spots despite the struggles with 17 kills, 28 digs, one block, nine aces and 12 assists unofficially. Kori Reckers had 10 assists, three aces, three kills and two digs. Paytin Reckers recorded 11 digs to lead the Thoroughbreds with Elena Henderson tallying a team-high seven kills.
“They were in their heads a little bit and some of them played nervous,” said Angie Reckers, NewCath head coach. “It being the first game of the season, they just put a lot of pressure on themselves because they want a successful season so bad. As a unit, they cracked under pressure and we didn’t have one player that had a run to spark that consistency in the scoring opportunities. We had a lot of unforced errors all the way around.”
NewCath plays host to Holy Cross at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Dixie Heights travels to Cooper on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Conner 3, Bishop Brossart 0
The Cougars ventured to Alexandria and won in three straight (25-20, 25-9, 25-21).
Conner had 35 kills, 28 assists, 19 blocks, 41 digs and four aces. Anna Hamilton led the way with 12 digs to start the offensive rhythm. Aubrey Depenbrock and Mackenzie Sandeen recorded 12 and nine assists each.
Senior Peyton Walker had eight kills and five blocks with senior Lilly Hamburg tallying seven kills and three blocks. Carly Nehus added seven kills.
“They picked up a number of Peyton and Lilly’s hits and came right back at us,” Conner head coach Douglas Rabe said. “You could tell they’re lacking in experience with the tight games, while we’re still kind of playing loose. I won’t say they got nervous. But they got tight toward the end when it was 21-20. I thought they were still in it. But we ran it off. They came back that third game. It was point for point.”
Rabe said the serving played a huge role in the win keeping Brossart out of rhythm, especially keeping the ball away from Brossart libero Maddie Kremer in that second game. Maddie Leiprecht had two aces to lead the Cougars.
“I go back there and take a breath so I don’t feel super rushed,” Leiprecht said. “I feel when I’m super rushed, I just go and don’t focus on my form. I feel when someone gets an ace, we’re super hyped and it just brings the whole mood of the game up from our side.”
Brossart plays host to Lloyd Memorial on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Conner plays host to Boone County on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Simon Kenton 3, Cooper 0
The Pioneers started the season with an impressive 25-11, 25-18, 25-20 win at Cooper.
Sophie Spanier led Simon Kenton with 10 digs and three aces. That led to consistency on offense as the Pioneers had four hitters with nine kills.
“They’ve been working hard since we started,” said Amy Marx, Simon Kenton head coach. “I’ve been tracking our stats since the preseason. We’ve been working on our hitting. The bottom line is you have to put the ball down and they have been putting the ball down.”
Tori Chasteen led the way with 11 kills. Keira Hans and Jenna Kitchens had 10 each with Alisha Hawkins putting down nine.
“I really think our defense was putting up good balls that the setters really could set anybody,” Hawkins said. “It was just a matter of defense and the serve receive. We passed well and when we pass well, good things happen.”
Simon Kenton plays host to Notre Dame at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Cooper plays host to Dixie Heights at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Walton-Verona 2, Carroll County 0
The host Bearcats (1-1) earned their first win with Katelyn Sallee as head coach.
Walton-Verona had 14 assists, 14 kills, 31 digs and 14 aces. Amber Hall had all 14 assists with Chloe McIntosh recording a team-high five kills. Macie Godwin had a team-high 10 digs and Isabella O’Brien led the way with seven aces.
Walton-Verona plays at Owen County (0-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Beechwood 3, Campbell County 1
The Tigers started off Matt Long’s second stint as head coach with a 25-22, 21-25, 25-12, 25-21 win.
Beechwood had 39 kills, 14 blocks, 38 assists, 76 digs and 17 aces. Skylr Estep led Beechwood with 34 assists, 20 digs and four aces. Maggie Dawson had 18 digs and two aces with Isabel O’Brien contributing 11 kills, 13 digs and five aces. Kendale Lair had 12 digs and 10 kills with Isabel Baaker putting down 10 kills.
Beechwood plays host to Notre Dame on Thursday at 7 p.m. Cambpell County travels to Bourbon County on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores
Notre Dame 3, Boone County 0 (25-5, 25-8, 25-6)
St. Henry 2, Villa Madonna 0 (25-11, 25-13)
Ludlow Classic Scores
Ludlow 2, Heritage Academy 0 (25-11, 25-6)
Ludlow 2, Newport 1 (17-25, 25-11, 15-10)
Calvary Christian 2, Bellevue 0 (25-7, 25-14)
Calvary Christian 2, Covington Latin 0 (25-6, 25-5)
Bracken County 2, Heritage Academy 1 (24-26, 25-16, 15-12)
Bracken County 2, Newport 0 (25-13, 25-12)
Lloyd Memorial 2, Bellevue 0 (25-17, 25-22)
Lloyd Memorial 2, Covington Latin 0 (25-9, 25-8)