UNION, Ky – In classic effort befitting a classic match, three St. Henry players were on the floor as their season ended Wednesday night.
A frantic scramble to save the ball by the Crusaders resulted in the ball flying over the net to the Notre Dame side, but out of bounds for the final point of the match in their epic Ninth Region semifinal.
Notre Dame defeated St. Henry three sets to one in the first semifinal at Ryle, 24-26, 25-23, 25-16, 36-34. The Pandas, 29-5 overall, face Ryle (23-16) in Thursday night’s championship match at 6 p.m. St. Henry finishes 25-8.
The matchup of the last two Kentucky state champions lasted roughly two hours. The final set went well beyond its original number of points, which went the Pandas’ way as the Pandas eliminated the reigning state champions and will have a chance to win their second one in three seasons.
“I’m so happy for these girls for the way they battled,” said NDA head coach Leslie Litmer. “I’m proud of our girls for really being able to pull it out in a high-pressure situation. We have a lot of young players, a lot of sophomores who were out here. For a lot of them, it was their first regional tournament.”
Notre Dame had seven match points in the final set before the Pandas finished their eighth chance. St. Henry had four set points to extend the match to a deciding fifth set.
The set went so long that NDA ran out of its number of allowed substitutions and for one stretch had its normal back-row and front-row lineups switched.
Peyton Mast, one of NDA’s seniors, said she had never experienced anything like that very long set.
“I have in club but not during high school with this big of a crowd,” she said. “Crazy environment. At that point, you just tune out everything around you. You can’t really think about it. You just have to keep on moving, keep going.”
A kill by sophomore Riley McCloskey gave NDA its first match point at 25-24, but two Panda errors gave St. Henry a set point at 26-25, which freshman Audrey Dyas saved with a kill.
NDA’s second match point was foiled by senior Josie Schroder on a kill, then junior Anna Guard gave St. Henry a set point at 28-27.
A kill by NDA senior Sydney Nolan, one of her 26 on the night, saved that point. A bad pass by St. Henry gave NDA a 29-28 lead, but a service error by the Pandas tied it at 29.
Guard stopped NDA’s fourth and fifth match points with kills, then she hit an ace to give St. Henry its third set point at 32-31. But Ella Goetz foiled it with a tough kill.
Alivia Skidmore and Macy Lentz delivered kills to save match points six and seven for the Crusaders. Another service error by the Crusaders put NDA up 35-34.
On the final point, each team blocked a kill attempt at the net that went back into their defense, but the Crusaders couldn’t get the ball back over the net on their second possession.
“Every time we play St. Henry, they’re such a great team that it’s always tough,” Litmer said. “You just roll the dice and you make adjustments. That’s part of the nature of this sport. They just do a really nice job of working to your weaknesses. We tried to make some adjustments to our defense and blocking, and that helped us get into a groove at the end.”
In the first set, kills by Guard and Macy Lentz gave St. Henry a 24-21 lead. NDA tied it at 24 on Crusaders miscues, then kills by Guard and senior Samantha Lewis and delivered the first to the Crusaders.
In set two, the teams went back and forth after being tied at 18. Tied at 23, Nolan, a North Carolina commit, delivered unstoppable kills for the decisive points, and the match was tied at 1-1.
NDA quickly led 8-2 in the third set. Nolan had two kills. Dyas had one and Lauren Ott had an ace. Dy scored the Pandas’ 24th point on a block after McCloskey kept the ball alive by reaching a fist over the scorer’s table. Then Mast ended the set with a kill for a 25-16 Pandas win. Mast had 16 kills and two blocks.
In set four, St. Henry led 13-8 after two kills and a block by 12 during a 5-1 run. NDA scored four straight on kills by Tilden and Sydney Nolan, and an ace by Kayla Hostetler.
Tilden delivered kills with NDA down 22-21 and 23-22 to set up the Pandas for the frantic finish.
Tilden finished with nine kills, three blocks and three digs. McCloskey had seven kills
Libero Kamden Schrand, a Louisville commit, led the back line with 33 digs. Hostetler had 16 and Julia Grace 11.
Setters Lauren Ott and Lizzy Larkins had eight apiece. Ott posted 31 assists and Larkins 21. Both of them are getting their first regional tournament experience and have enjoyed setting up older teammates, who in turn enjoy helping their younger teammates learn.
“Our girls are really good at taking care of each other,” Litmer said. “Our seniors are able to step in and tell them, ‘I’ll take care of you if you get me the ball.’ Especially Peyton and Sydney do a nice job of that. That has allowed our setters to just take a breath and do what they do.”
St. Henry head coach Maureen Kaiser was proud of her team.
“We gave it all we had,” she said. “Notre Dame’s a great team and I’m proud of how we played. We’re doubly competitive. I have a lot of talented players and they love each other like sisters. They play for each other. The better team won today.”
Ryle 3, Holy Cross 0
The Raiders advanced to the regional final for the second time in three years with a 25-20, 25-23, 27-25 win over the Indians, who finished 30-9, currently the most wins in the Ninth Region.
“We just stayed calm, played our game, kept our intensity high and our energy high,” said Ryle junior Kiana Dinn. “When we’re having fun playing together, it really takes care of itself.”
Ryle won the first set 25-20.
In set two, Holy Cross led 21-19. 9 and 13 capped a 4-0 Raiders run with block, and Ryle led 23-21. A dink kill by Kiana Dinn put Ryle up 24-22. After a kill by Nejai Lewis pulled the Indians within one at 24-23, Dinn ended the set with a booming kill that sent the ball bouncing into the upper deck in the Ryle gymnasium.
In set three, Holy Cross led 18-13 after two straight kills by Julia Hunt and an ace by senior Natalie Bessler.
Five different players posted a kill for Ryle, capped by a kill by freshman Morgan Heater that gave Ryle a 22-21 lead. Hunt hit a kill to give HC a a23-22 lead. Dinn hit two straight kills to put Ryle up 24-23.
Like the first semifinal, the final set went to extra points, but not nearly as long. Hunt staved off two match points with kills, but with the scored tied at 25, Holy Cross committed errors on two consecutive points and Ryle won the match.
Hunt, who recently committed to play for the University of Washington, was a challenge for the Raiders along with sister Maya Hunt, a senior who hits and sets and is playing for Marshall University next year.
“Julia is phenomenal,” said Ryle head coach Tasha Lovins. “So is Maya They’re sisters. They’re going to connect. We know Julia can hit over the top of us, hit it around us. You just have to take it one point at a time, try to slow her down. Try to get them out of system so it’s not so easy. If they get the kill, go get the next ball. You can’t be upset after she gets a kill.”
Ryle senior Maddie Clark collected her 500th career dig during the match and had 18 assists. Dinn posted 18 kills and 12 assists Heather had six kills. Alexis Woolf posted nine digs and Olivia Karlosky nine aces.
“I have to give the credit to my teammates,” Dinn said. “They really stepped up the intensity, They did a great job calling the shots. My setter did a great job pushing the ball from different angle and really gave me a nice set.”
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