Beechwood entered Wednesday night’s matchup in Fort Mitchell with all the momentum — winners of 12 straight matches and coming off the program’s first All “A” state championship over the weekend.
Notre Dame Academy, however, showed why it remains the standard in Northern Kentucky volleyball.
Despite being ranked No. 4 in the state and losing four key players from last year’s roster, the Pandas haven’t dropped a match to an in-state opponent this season. Their résumé already includes wins over No. 2 Mercy and No. 3 Sacred Heart, but much of the attention had shifted toward Beechwood’s hot streak. Notre Dame made sure to grab it back with a convincing 3-0 sweep (25-12, 25-22, 25-22).
“It definitely felt personal, a cross-town rivalry and stuff we’ve heard online,” Pandas senior Audrey Dyas said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement. They are a great team and played great, I just thought we played better.”
The opening set is where the Pandas set the tone. After a tight start at 8-6, Notre Dame ripped off a 13-3 run to pull away and cruise to a 25-12 win.
“I think we came out ready to go, really fired up,” Pandas co-coach Hannah Colvin said. “We knew Beechwood wasn’t going to be a team that was just going to roll over and give it to us. So even after that first set, we tried to let them know we love the energy, but we have to stay calm and collected, because this game is far from over.”
Beechwood adjusted in the second, using finesse to counter the Pandas’ size at the net and building a 13-8 lead.
“We played fundamentally better volleyball in the second and third sets,” Tigers coach Matt Long said. “What we switched up more than anything from the first set is we started passing a little bit better. I feel like when we’re in a system, we’re a great team.”
Notre Dame answered immediately with five straight points, and after six ties and four lead changes, closed on a 5-2 run to take the set 25-22.
The Tigers once again pushed back in the third, leading 16-11 before Notre Dame surged behind the serve of Audrey Dyas, who fueled an 8-0 run that flipped the lead to 19-16.
“I was ready to take on the challenge with serving,” Dyas said. “I serve in club, so I was ready to come in here and kind of show them what teams thought that I didn’t have. It (serving) has definitely improved my game a lot.”
Dyas would end the match with five aces to go with her 10 kills.
Beechwood briefly regained control at 22-21, but the Pandas rattled off the final four points to complete the sweep.
“We feel like we have kind of been an underdog this season,” Colvin said. “People don’t really think that we’re going to be great because we lost a ton of seniors, but this team is really showing up and proving everyone wrong.”
After Dyas led the way in kills and aces, Grace Portwood added seven kills, Makayla Roose and Leah Bowman with five kills and Teagan Kondik with four. Ellie Osterkamp led with 15 assists, Lizzy Larkins adding 14. Dara Jackson had 17 digs, Portwood next up with 10. Larkins and Jackson had three aces each.
Notre Dame improved to 13-3 and will get a chance to settle in after a busy stretch, with a pair of rare home matches next week against Campbell County and North Oldham following a trip to Holy Cross on Tuesday.
“That sounds amazing,” Dyas said. “We’ve got two more home games, so this honestly felt like a luxury playing here and they made us feel at home. It’s loud in here, so it’s good.”
Beechwood, still in the middle of a grueling stretch of 10 matches in eight days, returns to action Thursday at Simon Kenton.
“We learned a lot tonight,” Long said. “We learned about what we need to do in order to give them a little bit more of a game. They’re just super solid across the net and we need to be better up on the net.”
Isabel O’Brien led Beechwood with 13 kills, Macy Armstrong and Teegan Becker with six. Skylr Estep had 23 assists, Maggie Dawson with 10 digs.
Another meeting between these two in the 35th District Tournament seems likely, but Wednesday night was a clear reminder that Notre Dame remains a force — thee force in the 9th Region until someone can upend them.
