It's not often that a local high school is featured on national television. When it does occur, it's usually in basketball or football.
This weekend, girls volleyball gets the spotlight as Mount Notre Dame's girls go for digs in the desert.
Prior to defending their 2020 Ohio Division I state volleyball championship, MND's Cougars will be getting in a little side work in the sun. They are one of four teams to be featured in the Geico Girls Volleyball Invitational in Chandler, Arizona.
The formal invite came to new coach Michael Crofton back in May, but the girls had to keep a lid on it until everything was finalized. The Cougars fly out Thursday morning and will return Sunday.
By 8 p.m. EST, the 10-time state champion MND Cougars will be playing the top-ranked team in the country, Marymount of California, on ESPN+. Crofton has already helped prep the analysts on MND's illustrious volleyball history.
"It's a great opportunity for us, for the community, for the kids, for the school," Crofton said.
Marymount has won eight California state titles. Their top players include senior outside hitter Elia Rubin (Stanford commit), senior right-side hitter Kerry Keefe (Duke commit) and senior setter Kelly Belardi (Stanford commit).
"They're the No. 1 team in the country right now. They're undefeated," Crofton said. "I think the kids will be excited to play them. They've got a great track record and a very big history. They have a lot of leaders going to high-level college programs. They're going to be a big challenge for us."
The other teams involved are Assumption out of Louisville and Hamilton (Arizona) High School, the host. Those two play after MND Friday and the winners and losers will square off Saturday night. Should MND make the title game, it's scheduled for 10:30 p.m. EST on ESPNU. If they're in the consolation, that will be at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN+.
MND's top player is Florida-bound Carly Hendrickson, while Maggie Butkovich is committed to Kennesaw State in Georgia. They just finished a 13-7 regular season, with four of those losses coming to out-of-town teams, including two to Cleveland St. Joseph's whom they beat last November in the state semifinals.
Based on last year's coronavirus pandemic issues, they weren't sure the Arizona trip would ever take place. Now that the flight is booked, they're ready to elevate their game.
"I'm excited we drew the No. 1 team in the country right now," Hendrickson said. "They're pretty legit, so I think it will be a lot of fun to play them. It'll be good competition for sure."
Many of the girls have not been to Arizona, though some club players took part in Junior Nationals over the summer in Las Vegas. Sophomore libero Kenzie Cogan hasn't been to Arizona but was part of last year's state title squad. With teammate Ava Wolfer injured, she finished third in the GGCL with 299 digs.
"This is an amazing opportunity for us," Cogan said. "It's so cool to be able to come to MND and put the jersey on. A ton of our families, administrators, our managers are coming. It's going to be really cool to have everyone there to support us."
Louisville Assumption has won 22 state titles in 30 years and has athletes committed to Texas, South Carolina and Fordham. Host Hamilton won the Arizona 6A state title last year and has girls committed to Southern Cal and Alabama.
Though MND's stay will be brief, a contingent of powder blue will make the trip west for the event. ESPN, who paid for the visiting team's travel, will put on a banquet for all squads Thursday night with prominent speakers focusing on women in sports and networking.
There will be some time for tourism, but the focus will be on the event. With other area Ohio teams still having games left on their schedule, the Arizona event could be a good primer for another MND postseason run.
"You worry about injuries anytime you play, but that can happen in practice or anytime," Crofton said. "Many teams still have six, seven or eight matches left. We have two. We get the entire following week off before the tournament starts."
Said Hendrickson, "I think seeing the strength of teams out there is only going to help us. Win or lose, we're going to see something we don't have a chance to see here in Ohio. Size-wise, these teams are going to be bigger and stronger. Finding ways to beat teams that are bigger than us will only help us for sure in the tournament."
MND finished in a three-way tie in the GGCL this fall with Ursuline and St. Ursula. The Cougars swept Ursuline (where Crofton formerly was an assistant) and split with St. Ursula. In six of their seven losses, first-team all-state hitter Hendrickson didn't play while nursing injuries. She still finished as the GGCL kill leader despite playing in 40 fewer overall games than last season.
And, for the record, MND has won Ohio state championships before when not winning the GGCL, including their last two in 2020 and 2015.
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