In boys soccer action, the Dixie Heights Colonels remain undefeated at 5-0 after taking down the Bishop Brossart Mustangs (1-2-2) at Rice Mountjoy Stadium.
Bishop Brossart gave Dixie Heights its toughest challenge to date scoring the first two goals of the year against the Colonels, but Dixie rallied for a 3-2 victory.
The Colonels shut out their first four opponents. They’ve now outscored the competition 22-2.
Seniors Bennett Gerak and Ryder Kennedy each had one goal and one assist for Dixie. Senior Noah Koenig had the other Dixie goal and freshman Donovan Lameier added an assist. Senior goalkeeper Braden Blackburn had four saves.
Junior Tyler Smith and sophomore Alex Runge had the Mustang goals with senior Logan Rauen and freshman Samuel Chirumbolo having the assists. Bishop Brossart played two goalkeepers. Senior Logan Rauen and junior Michael Cooney had four saves each.
Dixie Heights plays at Cooper (2-0-2) on Thursday at 8 p.m. Bishop Brossart travels to Montgomery County (3-3) on the same day for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Covington Catholic 2, Highlands 1
In front of an electrifying atmosphere at Tower Park, the Colonels (3-2) left with the victory over the host Bluebirds (2-3).
“Usually we play them later in the season,” said Jeremy Robertson, CovCath Head Coach. “The atmosphere is something special. I thought the guys played with composure. We put some pressure on them and got a goal early on. We settled in from there. We were able to play to feet. We’re learning each other. This is a brand new team. Highlands is a good team. The 9th Region tournament is going to be amazing.”
Senior goalkeeper Connor Mathis had five saves and sophomore Auggie Eilerman had four for the Colonels.
Junior Aiden Leach scored the only goal in the first half giving CovCath a 1-0 halftime lead. That is Leach’s second goal of the season.
Highlands had a shot go off the crossbar just more than three minutes into the second half. But with 25:18 left in the game, CovCath senior Joe Planicka dribbled to the right side and put one in for the game-winning goal. Planicka leads the Colonels with four goals this year.
“Our forwards got the ball up top and they saw me out wide, put a good through ball,” Planicka said. “I got a good touch forward and then I went down as fast as I could and shot it. It hit the post and went in.”
But Highlands did not give up. With 4:56, senior forward Colin Pieper scored on a penalty kick to make the final score. Pieper has a team-high six goals and one assist on the season.
Pieper has 36 goals and 15 assists in his four years for Highlands. The Colonels knew they had to limit his touches, the touches of junior midfielder Chad Gesenhues among others.
“They’re two solid players,” said Grey Jordan, CovCath senior defender of Pieper and Gesenhues. “We knew they’d both be kind of central so we just had to load up the back and just try to contain them. The PK was unlucky. But there’s nothing you can do about that. I think we did a good job of containing Colin in the first half at least.”
Highlands Head Coach Brandon Ponchak said he’d like to see the Bluebirds earn play ahead or even down the stretch as opposed to from behind. In the two recent games that turned into 2-1 losses, Highlands has been in that tough position. The Bluebirds gave up two goals in the first two minutes in the home loss to Conner.
“You can’t say enough about the guys’ efforts, the opportunities they created and the soccer that they played,” Ponchak said. “They moved the ball very well, working with each other and working off each other. It was excellent. the guys never stopped. It could have been a 4-3 game for either side. Credit to Covington Catholic in the formation, personnel and game plan (the Colonels) threw out there. It really disrupted a lot of what we had to our goal.”
CovCath plays at North Oldham (2-1-2) on Thursday at 8 p.m. Highlands travels to Ryle (1-2-1) for a 7:45 p.m. game.
Other Boys Soccer Scores:
Campbell County 2, St. Henry 0
Conner 10, Holmes 0
Covington Latin 5, Gallatin County 4
Grant County 2, Walton-Verona 1 (Double overtime)
Holy Cross 4, Villa Madonna 0
Scott 8, Calvary Christian 0
Simon Kenton 6, Boone County 3
Volleyball
Louisville Assumption 3, St. Henry 2
The defending state champion Crusaders (3-1) took the first two games in the rugged environment against the deep, 22-time state champion Rockets (4-0), 25-18, 25-17.
But they came up a few points short. Assumption came back to win the next two games 25-19, 25-13. St. Henry led early in the fifth game but Assumption pulled off the 16-14 win.
The Rockets consistently subbed in and out while the Crusaders used a seven-player rotation.
“We’ve got talent. We’ve just got to fine-tune some blocking and personnel issues,” said Maureen Kaiser, St. Henry head coach. “But we definitely walked out proud. We competed well with the team that was ranked pre-season number one. We have some work to do no doubt. Volleyball is a game of mental abilities and physical capabilities.”
Junior defensive specialist Elizabeth Tabeling, who just committed to Ball State University, had 28 digs to lead the Crusaders. Junior setter Audrey Leonhard had 39 assists with junior setter/outside hitter Macy Lentz recording 21 assists and 12 kills. Junior outside and middle hitter Alivia Skidmore had 22 kills and junior middle hitter Anna Guard had 13 kills.
Assumption may be down senior 6-foot-4-inch outside hitter Sydney Helmers, a University of Texas commit, who left the team weeks ago. But the Rockets still displayed the usual balance with Emma Barnett, Bailey Blair and Alexis Strong recording 16, 13 and 11 kills respectively and setter Whitney Woodrow recording 56 assists and 14 digs.
Tabeling said Assumption’s 6-5 middle blocker Gabrielle Gerry, a University of South Carolina commit, made a huge difference. Gerry had five kills. But Tabeling said she and her teammates learned more about each other and will keep doing so.
“We were able to control (Gerry) the first two sets. She pretty much took over the last three games,” Tabeling said. “We had no answer for her. She was hitting around the block. But we showed we could play with the big schools. Props to Assumption for pulling out the win.”
St. Henry returns home on Wednesday against Beechwood (2-1). Game time is 6:30 p.m.
Highlands 3, Bishop Brossart 0
The Bluebirds left Alexandria with the win over the county rival by 25-22, 25-14, 25-21 scores.
But the Lady ‘Stangs made them earn it. Both teams are 2-1 on the season. The Bluebirds have won the last 12 meetings between the two teams.
Highlands spread things out with the two-setter offense. The Bluebirds had 31 kills, nine blocks, 26 assists, 62 digs and five aces. Junior defensive specialist Brynn Draper led Highlands with 18 digs with senior setter Kenzi Vennefron recording 14 digs and 14 assists and senior outside hitter Bailey Houston digging up 11 balls to go with a team-high seven kills.
“I think just really coming together as a team and working in practice has shown on the court,” Vennefron said. “The conditioning is definitely tough. But it builds us up for tough games like these where we need that endurance.”
Senior 6-foot-2-inch opposite hitter Carly Cramer made a difference at the net with three blocks and five kills. Sophomore Ella Cox had 12 assists.
“I challenged the girls that when we lose a few points, we have to stay together as a team,” said Michelle Woods, Highlands Head Coach. “I think that’s exactly what they did. We’ve been focusing on putting in our serves and them being aggressive. Communicating and doing the little things right definitely helped us pull out the first and third sets then take away the second set pretty easy.”
A number of Highlands players are stepping into roles well. Junior outside hitter Annemarie Sempier and sophomore outside hitter Sydney Shomaker had six kills each. Junior outside hitter Rachel Ossege had five kills and freshman defensive specialist Hayden Gessner had a team-high two aces to go with seven digs.
“It’s about figuring out the plays and getting to know our teammates,” Sempier said. “We have to work as a team to execute at the varsity level. You have to learn to work around taller opponents and find their weaknesses.”
Bishop Brossart had 24 kills, seven blocks, 23 assists, 66 digs and five aces. The Lady ‘Stangs had success when they were able to set up 6-foot-3 inch middle blocker Corrine Blackburn. Blackburn finished with 13 kills including five straight in the third game to put Bishop Brossart up 10-5 before Highlands came back. Blackburn also had two blocks.
“I give it to Carly (Cramer). This is her first game back,” Woods said. “This is her first game back. She’s only practiced with us two or three times. We’ve had to shuffle some players because of illnesses. (Cramer) definitely stepped up to pull off a big block against (Blackburn).”
Blackburn had a .243 hitting percentage which is calculated by kills minus errors divided by attempts. Brossart finished with 26 errors out of 125 attempts for a negative .101 hitting percentage.
Junior libero Maddie Kremer had 18 digs with senior setter Savannah Seiter racking up 14 to go with 19 assists. Sophomore outside hitter Kate Neltner had 12 digs and four aces with junior middle blocker Payton Parker blocking three balls.
“We definitely need to keep going with our momentum,” said Bree Velasquez, Brossart Head Coach. “We have some great opportunities with great plays. We’re definitely still timid when it comes to (opponents) bringing it back to us and not being able to keep that intensity up. We’re still working on trying to mix it, trying different sets, trying to run a faster offense. That’s something we’ve been working on the last few weeks so we can get our players moving a bit and throw off (opposing) defenses. I foresee us capitalizing on that in weeks to come. We’re a young team so we’re still putting the pieces together. Highlands did a good job limiting the errors.”
Bishop Brossart takes on host Bracken County (1-7) at 5:30 p.m. to open the 10th Region All “A” Classic. Highlands travels to Scott (8-0) on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game.
Ryle 3, Campbell County 0
The Lady Raiders (2-1) ventured to Alexandria and won 25-19, 25-21, 25-23 in straight sets over the Camels (1-1).
Campbell County may have had the size advantage with two junior 6-0 middle blockers in Emma Manser and Lexi Scharold. But Ryle got into a better rhythm. Junior Kiana Dinn led Ryle with 12 kills with senior setter/defensive specialist Maddie Clark recording 16 assists.
“I think our serving was really strong so we really got them out of rhythm,” said Tasha Lovins, Ryle Head Coach. “Our hustle plays let us get the ball over the net, let them make their errors. I think that’s going to be the key to our season. We’re not the tallest team. But definitely give a lot of hustle and a lot of heart.”
Lovins credited junior all-around Alexis Woolf for digging up 11 balls. That let the Ryle set the ball to the hitters.
“We’ve been working on first contact in practice and trying to get the ball up,” Woolf said. “I thought we gave 110 percent all the time going for the ball on defense. We definitely had some (big) plays. (Sophomore) Becca Kramer had one where she one-handed one over the net. (Campbell County) also kept us on our toes because they also had a few.”
Scharold lad a team-high seven kills and a .200 hitting efficiency and Manser led Campbell County with five blocks. Sophomore Lucy Trapp had 10 digs with junior Ella Thorwarth recording 16 serve receives on 17 attempts and sophomore A lon McIntyre making seven serve receives on as many attempts.
Ryle travels to Conner (3-0) for a crucial 33rd District game on Thursday at 7 p.m. Campbell County travels to Holy Cross (1-1) for a 7 p.m. game.
Cooper 3, Holy Cross 1
The Lady Jaguars ventured to Covington and left with 25-23, 21-25, 25-15, 25-17 scores in the 9th Region win.
Senior libero Chloe Fortner had 12 digs and four aces for Cooper with junior setter Sadie Smith recording 31 assists, six aces and 10 digs. Sophomore Audrey Schilling had four kills, 10 digs and four aces. Senior Rylie Depue had 10 kills and two blocks and senior Holland Morris had 11 kills and four blocks.
Cooper knew it was in for a battle against the 6-foot-2-inch middle hitter Julia Hunt, who finished with 25 kills, three blocks and five aces. Senior setter Maya Hunt had 38 assists, three aces and two kills and senior outside hitter Rylee Hood had 10 kills and 13 digs.
“Julia is a phenomenal athlete,” said Michelle Isaac, Cooper Head Coach. “You’ve got to try to contain her a little bit and take advantage of some runs when she’s not in the front row. It was a good game. It was a lot of runs back and forth. We work in the offseason on if somebody’s down, you have to pick each other up. We came together. I was very pleased with that win.”
Holy Cross plays at Holmes (3-4) on Wednesday in 35th District action at 7 p.m. Cooper plays Collins (1-1) in the Thoroughbred Smash at Lexington Lafayette on Friday at 7 p.m.
Beechwood 3, Dixie Heights 1
The Tigers (2-1) won the road 9th Region game against the Colonels (0-3).
Seniors Maia Long and Maggie Best led Dixie Heights with 21 and 10 kills. Freshman setter Riley Byrne had 26 assists with junior libero Christen Tarter recording 18 digs.
Beechwood travels to St. Henry (3-1) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and Dixie Heights travels to Ludlow (4-2) to open 34th District play at 7 p.m.
Scott 3, Holmes 0
The host Eagles stayed undefeated with a 25-10, 25-12, 25-8 win in straight sets over the Lady Bulldogs (3-4).
Senior setter Audrey Griffin had 18 assists to lead the Eagles. Sophomore Elise Manhardt led Scott with 10 aces and senior Makaylah Mitchell had a team-high eight kills.
Scott plays host to Highlands (2-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores:
Notre Dame 3 (20-25, 24-26, 25-14, 25-13, 15-9), Frederick Douglass 2
Villa Madonna 2 (25-6, 28-26), Dayton 0
Conner 3 (25-16, 25-12, 25-15), Lloyd Memorial 0
Ludlow 2 (25-17, 28-26), Calvary Christian 0
