Almost one month following the 3-2 loss at Cooper, Conner Head Coach Douglas Rabe quickly pointed out the Cougars (21-11 overall) played host to the 33rd District Tournament.
They lost the first game to the arch-rival Cooper Jaguars (23-8) in the postseason on Tuesday, 25-16. But Conner won the next three by 25-21, 25-22, 25-21 to advance to the 9th Region Tournament for the first time since 2005.
The Cougars will take on the Ryle Raiders (21-15) for the district championship on Wednesday at 6 p.m. back at Conner. Top-seeded Ryle took care of Boone County (10-25) in three by 25-5, 25-11, 25-6 to make it back to the district title game.
“The girls came in very loose and very anxious to play,” said Douglas Rabe, Conner head coach. “If anything, I thought even on the first game that we had lost they were struggling to control the adrenaline more than anything else. One point at a time, regardless of what the score is, even if we lose a set or two, just keep playing until there’s one point we have to win.”
Conner has won five straight. The Cougars have been led by junior defensive specialist Anna Hamilton and junior power hitters Peyton Walker and Lilly Hamburg all season. Conner has just two seniors in defensive specialist Ryan Stewart and setter Briana Stone.
“All I can say is we were hungry for this one,” Walker said. “We were practicing hard to beat them and we finally did. It was relieving. I couldn’t be more proud of my team for how hard we’ve worked.”
Five seniors played their final game for Cooper, which is missing out on the 9th Region Tournament for the first time since 2010 in the rugged 33rd District. Senior hitter Holland Morris had 23 kills and four blocks and senior libero Chloe Fortner concluded her fantastic career with 30 digs and four aces. The other three seniors are hitters Rylie Depue, Ally Johnson and defensive specialist Ryle Kuehn.
Cooper returns four-year starting setter Sadie Smith, a junior, and sophomore setter/outside hitter Audrey Schilling among others next year. Smith had 35 assists with Schilling recording 16 digs and five kills.
Cooper opened as a school in 2008. Since losing the first meeting in 2008, Cooper has won all but four of the 25 meetings between the two in program history including 11 in a row at one point. The two teams have split the last four meetings. Last year, Conner won the regular season meeting in five before Cooper won the 33rd District semifinal game in five.
Other Volleyball Tournament Scores
34th District Semifinals at Villa Madonna
St. Henry 3 (25-8, 25-13, 25-6), Ludlow 0
Dixie Heights 3 (25-18, 15-25, 25-19, 25-16), Villa Madonna 1
35th District Semifinals at Holmes
Notre Dame 3 (25-2, 25-4, 25-2), Holmes 0
Holy Cross 3 (25-15, 25-20, 25-18), Beechwood 0
36th District Semifinals at Newport
Newport Central Catholic 3 (25-10, 25-13, 25-8), Dayton 0
Highlands 3 (25-11, 25-12, 25-17), Newport 0
