It was a tale of experience versus aspiration on Thursday night in Union, experience winning out.
Ryle (3-1) swept Conner (2-3) in straight sets, 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 26-24), in a 33rd District volleyball matchup where every point mattered and each set came down to the wire. The Raiders, with their poise in critical moments, outlasted the Cougars by just eight total points across the match.
“I kind of like pressure,” Ryle coach Tasha Tanner-Lovins said. “I don’t like the gray hair that the pressure gives me, but the pressure situations are what you’ve got to overcome.”
And overcome they did.
In the opening set, Conner held a 23-21 edge before Ryle rattled off the final four points to steal momentum. The second set saw the Raiders build a commanding 21-13 lead, only for Conner to storm back within one at 22-21. Once again, Ryle closed the door with three straight points. The Cougars nearly forced extra play in the third, rallying from a 22-17 deficit to tie things at 24, but the Raiders finished strong with the last two points to secure the sweep.
The win highlighted Ryle’s knack for composure late in sets — a skill honed and earning them a preseason top 10 ranking in the state.
The Raiders finished with 29 kills, led by Layna Wilkinson and Bridget Burns with seven each.
“We just do a really good job picking each other back up and we can overcome certain things,” Wilkinson said.
Ashley Towner and Morgan Gehring chipped in four kills apiece, while Morgan Heater paced the serving game with three of Ryle’s 10 aces.
“Playing our district teams are always fun,” Heater said. “We play with some of them across the net with the same club.”
The win gets them to 2-0 in district play and sets them up well for the district tournament, but the sights still remain on taking down Notre Dame Academy and St. Henry to win a region title.
“It’s finally turned to where we do have the confidence we’re not going in defeated already,” Tanner-Lovins said. “We have the confidence that we can beat [Notre Dame and St. Henry], we have the talent to beat them, and we’re ready to go for it.”
For Conner, Thursday was another step in the development of a young group with only two seniors in the rotation. Despite the sweep, the Cougars showed resilience with multiple rallies to push Ryle to the brink.
“Our girls, every single game it seems like we keep on gaining that experience,” Conner head coach Douglas Rabe said. “This is only our fifth match of the season, and it does seem like every game we get better and better and learning from each other.”
Conner tallied 24 kills, with Charlotte Patton leading the attack with 10. Annika Berwanger added five, and Shylyn Koerber chipped in four. The Cougars finished with six aces, two apiece from Addy Back and Alexis Kampsen.
Ryle is next up at North Oldham on Saturday in a two-fer, facing North Oldham at 10 a.m. and West Jessamine at noon. Conner will look to build on the flashes of growth when they travel to Highlands on Tuesday.
More photos from Thursday’s match provided by Charles Bolton below:
