With five teams ranked in the top 25 of the state, the 9th Region volleyball tourmament was going to be nothing short of competitive. The action got underway on Sunday at St. Henry High School with all four quarterfinal games taking place.
Here’s how they went down:
St. Henry def. Beechwood, 3-1 (25-16, 25-15, 11-25, 25-21)
Whatever district champion drew Beechwood knew they were going to have their work cut out for them.
In the only match of the day that went longer than three sets, it was St. Henry outlasting the pesky Tigers. Jumping out to a two-set lead, St. Henry had all the momentum before Beechwood took it away with a convincing third set victory.
Trailing 9-3 to open the fourth set, St. Henry stayed composed, rallied and used the fierce competitiveness of Corrine Blackburn at the net to take home the set and the victory.
“I just have that mentality after losing that third set, everything in that fourth set is mine,” Blackburn said. “I’m going to do my job as well as I can and my temmates did a great job. Every ball was ours, every set is ours and every kill is ours. It kind of flipped the switch in our mentality.”
Blackburn had a stretch where she looked possessed and determined to not let them game get a winner take all fifth set. Trailing 19-16, the senior had a stretch of play where five of the next six points came from her kills to give St. Henry a 22-19 edge where they evenutally took the match 25-21.
“We’ve struggled a little bit the past few weeks, that’s no secret,” Crusaders coach Maureen Kaiser said. “For us to come out on fire the way we did, Beechwood is scrappy, well coached and disciplined. For us to come out the first two makes me proud.”
More photos from Beechwood-St. Henry below, provided by Charles Bolton:
Madi Demler helped control things early for the Crusaders. She had seven kills in the first set, met with a high hitting percentage as they ended the set on a 12-3 run.
“Our energy really helped us get off to a good start,” Demler said. “We just have to continue to play with high energy and keep the momentum on our side.”
Errors in the second set caught up to Beechwood. They tallied nine of them to go with two service errors as the Crusaders never felt threatened after opening up a 15-8 lead.
Beechwood came to in the third set as they were determined to not let their season end in straight sets. Isabel O’Brien helped spark the Tigers as she collected three kills and two blocks in the third set.
“She was hitting the ball from the front row, back row,” Tigers coach Matt Long said. “They were trying to not serve to her and she played amazing for us tonight. It was a team effort and we played well, but Isabel stood out tonight.”
For a Tigers team without a senior on the roster, the future is bright and they continued to show it as they started the fourth set with a surge. They held leads of 9-3, 11-7, 16-12 and 18-15 before St. Henry put the finishing touches on the match.
“We really started playing some really good volleyball down the stretch,” Long said. “We’re a great team that plays together, with grit and never gives up. I couldn’t have asked for more tonight with the way they fought. We’re excited about next season already with seeing how close we were and having that taste in our mouth.”
The Tigers season ends at 25-9 and earned respect not only in northern Kentucky, but across the state as they finished out the season ranked No. 18 in the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Associtaiton final regular season poll.
St. Henry (32-5) moves on to face Ryle in Tuesday’s second semifinal at 7:30 p.m.
Highlands def. Cooper, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20)
Highlands defeated Cooper in the first matchup of the day in straight sets to advance to their first 9th Region semifinal in five years.
“I didn’t know exactly how long it had actually been but with this only being my second year with the program, I’m glad to help end that streak.” Highlands head coach James Delong said.
As seen throughout the match, the Bluebirds were able to contain the Jaguars push as they extended an early 14-12 set lead to an 18-12 cushion. Cooper senior Audrey Schilling helped the Jaguars with a kill and an ace before Highlands four straight kills helped them claim the set 25-18.
“Our heart and ability to fight through the sets today was something we didn’t have the ability to do early on in the season,” Delong said. “We were down early in each of these sets but we were able to take the punches and rally back.
Cooper’s defense came through early in the second set as key blocks helped set up an early lead. Highlands senior Sydney Schomaker found her groove and recorded three straight kills to flip the score to a Bluebirds 15-11 lead which further led to a 25-21 second set win.
The Bluebirds had seven players with recorded kills in the set and combined for a set total of 18 while the Jaguars had seven and mainly relied on their defensive playmaking abilities. The final set of the match was executed similarly despite the Jaguars giving it their all till the final point.
A kill by Highlands junior Liz Perkins sealed the win for the Bluebirds and marked their third straight-set win in a row. For Cooper, Saturday’s loss doesn’t negate the adversity the Jaguars have fought to get to make it to the regional tournament.
More photos from Highlands-Cooper below, provided by Charles Bolton:
“We absolutely never quit and never gave up,” Cooper head coach Michelle Isaac said. “Overcoming as much adversity as we did this season, our seniors got us back into the 9th Region tournament. Their grit this season has arguably made them the greatest team I’ve been able to coach, and I’ve had many years of coaching.”
Fighting through a number of injuries and knocks through the year, the Jaguars finished 13-19 on the season and will graduate seven seniors.
“Our seniors would’ve ran through a brick wall if I’d asked them too,” Isaac said. “That kind of mentality has stuck with our younger players and I hope we can build off that next season.”
Checking one win off their box, Highlands will have their hands full on Tuesday night as they’ll take on the No. 1 team in the state, the Notre Dame Pandas.
“I know it’ll be a monumental task for us to take on such a talented team in the Pandas,” Delong said. “Not having played them (Notre Dame) this season, we’ll have to try and give them everything we’ve got.”
The Pandas, who have won the last two 9th Region tournaments, will face the Bluebirds at St.Henry Tuesday evening in the first of two semifinal matchups.
Notre Dame def. Villa Madonna, 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20)
If Notre Dame’s Ava Tilden wasn’t smashing one of her 15 kills Sunday, fellow Panda Lizzy Larkins was serving one of her 40 assists.
The result was the same. Notre Dame eliminated Villa Madonna, 3-0 (25-10, 25-9, 25-10) in the quarterfinals of the Ninth Region volleyball tournament at St. Henry’s Maureen Kaiser Court at Holbrook Hall.
The Pandas meet Highlands in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Notre Dame is first in the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association rankings, and Highlands is 24th.
Sunday was an anniversary, too – it’s been three years since Notre Dame (29-3) lost to a Ninth Region team. (The Pandas are 40-0; St. Henry beat the Pandas, 3-1, for the championship on Oct. 28, 2021.)
“That’s not a stat I’m aware of,” Notre Dame co-coach Leslie Litmer said. “I think we’re very proud of the excellence that has been established with this program over the years.”
It also helped Notre Dame to have a professional player – 2016 alumna Morgan Hentz – to impart some wisdom in a Zoom call a few weeks ago. Hentz helped Stanford win three NCAA titles (2016, 2018 and 2019), and she was a national team alternate. (She is a libero for the Atlanta Vibe of the Pro Volleyball Federations and plays with Athletes Unlimited.)
Hentz’s advice has become a motto for this year’s Pandas: Be Where Your Feet Are.
“We kind of wanted to hear from somebody who has been in high-pressure situations,” Litmer said.
Villa Madonna (22-8) coach Sandi Kitchen’s goal was for the Vikings to stay with the Pandas, and did for a little while. Maya Kondik and Mary Chadwick each earned a point on their serves, and the Vikings led, 5-2.
More photos from Notre Dame-Villa Madonna below, provided by Charles Bolton:
“We wanted to compete,” Kitchen said. “We’ve got a team that was good defensively, offensively as long as we can get our passes to our setter, and then we can run things.”
Tilden was impressed.
“Villa definitely came out strong, stronger than we all expected,” Tilden said.
From there, it was all Pandas, all afternoon.
Before you could say bump, set and swing 10 times fast, Notre Dame unfurled a 13-0 run.
Same story in the second set; an Audrey Dyas kill capped a 13-5 run. The Pandas opened the third set with a 14-1 streak that became a 20-4 advantage.
“(Notre Dame) kept us pretty much out of system,” Kitchen said. “But I feel like our girls competed.”
Maya Kondik’s block led to a 6-1 run.
Sunday was also the end of a Kondik vs. Kondik run. Villa senior and older sister Maya Kondik had five kills, an ace and two blocks, while Notre Dame sophomore and younger sister Teagan Kondik had eight kills.
“It’s fun, I like it,” Maya said. “We’ve trained together.”
There were no sibling summits on Sunday; Maya said she would “probably” be a Notre Dame fan the rest of the season.
“Most of the time (Teagan’s) blocking me,” Maya said. “I always try my best to hit around her.”
Teagan, meanwhile, agreed Sunday was fun.
“It adds an extra element to the game, it makes it more exciting,” she said. “A win feels a little bit better beating my sister.”
Ryle def. Newport Central Catholic, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-11)
Ryle’s depth and size on their front line proved to be too much for a Newport Central Catholic team that gave the Raiders everything they could handle in the first set.
The Thoroughbreds (15-21) were able to come up with dig after dig in the first set as they had things all square at 19.
“It’s exactly what we had worked on and were executing,” Thoroughbreds coach Angie Reckers said. “We executed in system passing and I feel like we all clicked and were doing our jobs. Just struggled to stay consistent and we’ve struggled with that all season.”
A Layna Wilkinson kill followed by back-to-back kills from Karsyn Griffin helped Ryle eventually pull away to open up 1-0.
“I feel like it just took us a minute to get started, to really get into the game,” Griffin said.
Using a ton of energy defensively to keep points alive, Ryle eventually started to wear NewCath down. The Thoroughbreds hung tough early in the second set as they trailed 8-7, but Wilkinson took the set over with three kills and three blocks to help Ryle pull ahead 15-8.
“We keep reminding her that even though she’s only an eighth grader that she’s a lot taller than everyone and she’s really blossoming now,” Ryle coach Tasha Tanner-Lovins said. “She’s coming on and gaining the confidence to get it done.”
More photos from Ryle-Newport Central Catholic below, provided by Charles Bolton:
Ryle tallied 10 kills and six blocks in the second set to pull away and make it a 2-0 advantage.
The Raiders (24-8) then jumped out to a 9-1 advantage in the third set as Ashley Towner racked up four kills, Griffin also with four during the impressive opening third set stretch.
NewCath would get no closer than seven points the rest of the set as their season comes to a close. Elena Henderson and Katelyn Brannen led the Thoroughbreds with four kills each, Madison Wolf and Jaylee Brannen with three each.
Ryle faces St. Henry in a top 10 showdown in Tuesday’s semifinals at 7:30 p.m. St. Henry is ranked No. 4 in the state, Ryle at No. 9.
“That’s part of our region and only one of us gets to go on,” Tanner-Lovins said. “It’s going to be a battle no matter what and we can’t start off slow.”
