Four of the six area district volleyball tournament semifinal games saw third seeds with the chance to avenge regular season losses against the second seeds on their home floors.
But only the Dixie Heights Colonels successfully defended their home floor, knocking off the Villa Madonna Vikings, 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-23) to advance to the 34th District championship game Wednesday.
They’ll take on top-seeded St. Henry, who knocked off Lloyd Memorial, 3-0 (25-6, 25-5, 25-8).
Dixie Heights head coach Julie Kelly said Vikings junior Maya Kondik presents a challenge at the net. Kondik had 16 kills and six blocks in the Oct. 11 meeting between the two at Villa Madonna that the Vikings won 3-2 (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 11-25, 15-13).
“We did a really good job of controlling our errors this time, kept the ball inbounds and let Villa Madonna make the mistakes,” Kelly said. “Last time we played Villa Madonna, we made a lot of unforced errors – missed serves, hitting errors. It was a team effort. Our defense was amazing.”
Dixie Heights (11-14) saw Christen Tarter record 15 digs and setter Maddie Kelly had 35 assists. Maggie Best had 23 kills and nine digs with Celia Wallace contributing eight kills and six aces.
“All of our hitters make me look good,” Maddie Kelly said. “Placing the ball was really important. My coach always tells me to make the easy set. We switched it up a lot.”
St. Henry (28-8) and Dixie Heights will face off for the district championship for the eighth straight season. St. Henry has won every meeting but twice during the 2020 season that saw the Colonels win the first district championship in school history, dating back to 2002.
32nd District Semifinals at Walton-Verona
Simon Kenton 3, Williamstown 0 (25-6, 25-6, 25-15)
The Pioneers moved on to the district championship with a sound win.
Simon Kenton (27-7) had 40 kills, 12 aces, 20 digs and one solo block. Ce Ce Scalf had nine assists, four digs and three aces with Tori Chasteen contributing four digs and four aces and Kaitlyn Hawkins recording five digs and two aces.
Sadie Rehkamp had 23 assists and Sarah Meyer had six. Alisha Hawkins had 13 kills and Keira Hans had 12 with Sophie Spanier recording five. Jenna Kitchens had four kills and four digs for the Pioneers and Madeline Johnson contributed three kills.
Grant County 3, Walton-Verona 0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-15)
The Bearcats more than doubled their win total from 8-22 to 17-18 this year, but Walton-Verona still could not make it back to the 8th Region Tournament for the first time since 2020, losing the second meeting at home to the Braves.
Grant County (17-11) takes on Simon Kenton for the second straight year for the district championship on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Walton-Verona had 26 kills, 51 digs, 24 assists, nine aces and seven blocks in the loss. Macie Godwin had 11 digs and four aces with Amber Hall tallying 20 assists and three aces. Annie Allen had a team-high 16 digs with Winter Vandiver recording a team-high eight kills.
Walton-Verona graduates three seniors from this year’s team that completed its first season under head coach Katelyn Sallee.
33rd District Semifinals at Boone County
Ryle 3, Boone County 0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-11)
The Raiders handily beat the Rebels for the 23rd time in a row.
Ryle (23-12) had 43 kills, 36 assists, 54 digs and eight aces in the win. Lucy Trapp led the Raiders with 10 kills and three aces. Kiana Dinn had 30 assists with Alexis Woolf digging up 11 balls and Olivia Karlosky tallying three aces.
Boone County finished the season 9-24. The Rebels graduate five seniors from the team.
Conner 3, Cooper 0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-9)
The Cougars made it back to the 9th Region Tournament for the second straight year handling the Jaguars. They take on Ryle for the district championship Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Conner (27-7) had 44 kills, 40 assists, 70 digs, nine blocks and seven aces in the win. Anna Hamilton led the Cougars with 19 digs and three aces with Aubrey Depenbrock recording 20 assists and 16 digs. Jordan Ransdell added 12 assists.
Peyton Walker led Conner at the net with 14 kills and two blocks with Lilly Hamburg smacking down 11 kills to go with one solo and two assisted blocks. Carly Nehus and McKenzie Deatherage added 10 and nine kills, respectively. Annika Berwanger assisted two blocks and Bailey Morris had eight digs.
Cooper finished the season 14-19. The Jaguars graduate two seniors.
36th District Semifinals at Newport Central Catholic
Newport Central Catholic 3, Bellevue 0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-13)
The second-seeded Thoroughbreds defended the Hill with a solid victory.
NewCath (17-18) had 32 kills, 28 assists, 24 aces, 49 digs and four blocks in the win. Kori Reckers had seven kills, 15 assists and 12 digs in the win. Jordyn Reckers added 10 digs and Paytin Reckers had eight digs and six aces. Vivi Fassler served 13 aces to go with nine assists and Reese McCloskey pounded down seven kills.
Bellevue finished 10-17. The Tigers graduate two seniors.
Highlands 3, Dayton 0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-8)
The Bluebirds will take on the Thoroughbreds for the district championship for the 12th time in the 12 years the district has been aligned this way on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Highlands (19-15) has won six straight district championships and 13 of the previous 14 meetings against NewCath. The last NewCath district championship came in 2016.
Dayton finished 15-19. The Devils graduate three seniors.