The 35th District will be well represented Thursday night when the 9th Region volleyball championship takes place.
Beechwood and Notre Dame will square off for the title, marking the third meeting between the teams this season and setting up a rubber match with a regional championship on the line.
Here’s how they got there:
Notre Dame def. St. Henry, 3-0 (27-25, 25-14, 25-17)
St. Henry had set point in the opening frame, but Notre Dame rallied to take the set and controlled the match from there, winning in straight sets.
The Pandas’ front line proved overpowering. They played a nearly flawless second set and capitalized on Crusader errors in the third to avenge a regular-season loss.
“This season has been full of adversity for us, and I think this is the part where we get to shine,” Pandas co-head coach Hannah Colvin said. “We get to take what we learned all throughout the season and implement that into postseason.”
PHOTOS: Notre Dame vs. St. Henry — Slideshow by Charles Bolton
Teagan Kondik recorded 11 of her match-high 19 kills in the opening set and added three of Notre Dame’s seven aces.
Trailing 25-24, the Pandas got a kill from Makayla Roose before Kondik delivered back-to-back kills to give Notre Dame a 1-0 lead.
Everything clicked for Notre Dame in the second set. Trailing 12-11, the Pandas rattled off eight consecutive points behind three Kondik aces, a Kondik kill, a Roose kill and block, and two kills from Emma Redlinger.
The run put Notre Dame ahead 19-12, and the Pandas never looked back, closing out a 25-14 win with a 14-2 run. Notre Dame committed no attack errors and just one service error in the set.
“When volleyball is a game of errors, that’s just luck,” Colvin said. “I think a little bit of luck, but playing clean.”
St. Henry kept the third set close at 16-15, but Notre Dame closed strong again, scoring nine of the final 11 points to secure its spot in Thursday’s championship.
The Pandas finished with three blocks among their final five points, including two from Redlinger and one from Ellie Breitling. Kondik delivered the final kill to seal the victory.
“Losing to St. Henry in regular season, we were kind of fired up looking for our revenge,” Kondik said. “In region, anything can happen. You want to come off strong. We’ve done a lot of that in practice, starting off strong, first five points, stuff like that.”
Ellie Osterkamp paced the offense with 33 assists. Kondik led the defense with 18 digs, followed by Kaia Tilden with 16 and Dara Jackson with 11.
Violet Main led St. Henry with 10 of their 39 kills. Molly Blackburn followed with nine kills and Stella Flick added eight kills and three blocks. The Crusaders will most likely be the preseason region favorite headed into 2027. They lose just two seniors and return pretty much all of the rotation.
Beechwood def. Conner, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
Beechwood is headed to its first regional championship match since 2003.
Tigers senior Isabel O’Brien, named the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association’s 9th Region Player of the Year earlier this week, showed why Wednesday night, finishing with 16 kills and three aces. When Beechwood needed a momentum shift, O’Brien was often the one to deliver.
“Not only is she a great player, front row, back row, great defender, great attacker, but she brings the intangible of just a great person, and she’s a great leader,” Beechwood coach Matt Long said. “She’s taken this team on her back and just shown that if you believe, you can do anything.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
The Tigers had a key stretch in each set to help secure the sweep.
In the opener, Beechwood used a 5-0 run to turn a 16-15 lead into a comfortable advantage. Rachel Lewandowski matched O’Brien’s production at the net in the set, recording four kills and an ace.
The Tigers led 11-8 in the second before the serving of Skylr Estep and O’Brien sparked a 9-3 run. Estep and O’Brien each recorded two aces during the stretch.
“We were really trying to target some of their weaker passers in serve-receive,” O’Brien said. “We’ve been really working on being aggressive with our serves in practice, and yeah, maybe that means a few more errors, but you know, if we can keep them on their toes, keep them moving, keep them out of system, that’s our ultimate goal.”
Conner’s Charlotte Patton found her rhythm offensively in the third set, recording five kills. Her final kill cut Beechwood’s lead to 22-19, but O’Brien answered with a kill before a Conner error moved the Tigers within a point of victory.
Eighth grader Payce Adams finished the match with a kill to send Beechwood to the regional final.
Conner finished with 25 kills and 15 errors. Shylyn Koerber led the Cougars with 10 kills, followed by Patton with seven and Olivia Borneman with six.
Beechwood recorded 39 kills and 10 aces. O’Brien led the Tigers with 16 kills, while Macy Armstrong added eight and Lewandowski had six. O’Brien and Estep each finished with three aces.
The Tigers will face Notre Dame on Thursday, with the teams having split their first two meetings this season. Beechwood won a five-set match Oct. 10 before Notre Dame returned the favor in last week’s 35th District championship.
Long also coached Beechwood in its last regional championship appearance in 2003.
“We’re just going into tomorrow, trying to do the things that we’ve been doing all year,” Long said. “Not worrying about the big points that Notre Dame’s going to get because they’re going to get big points. So we’re focusing on our serve, making sure it’s aggressive and as precise in our serve-receive. Also, we’re just getting the ball up in the air for Sky to shoot and stuff balls to our attackers. We’re just going back to basics. First touches will hopefully win us the match.”
PANDAS 3, CRUSADERS 0 (27-25, 25-14, 25-17)
Game Stats
Kills: St. Henry 39, Notre Dame 39
Aces: St. Henry 3, Notre Dame 7
Errors: St. Henry 15, Notre Dame 5
Service Errors: St. Henry 4, Notre Dame 4
Blocks: St. Henry 5, Notre Dame 9
Records: St. Henry 24-10, Notre Dame
TIGERS 3, COUGARS 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
Game Stats
Kills: Beechwood 39, Conner 25
Aces: Beechwood 10, Conner 4
Service Errors: Beechwood 8, Conner 3
Errors: Beechwood 14, Conner 15
Blocks: Beechwood 3, Conner 3
Records: Beechwood 35-4, Conner 26-13
