Sunday, October 24, 1999
ND, Campbell Co. win regional volleyball titles
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer contributor
Northern Kentucky's top two volleyball teams treated Saturday's regional tournament like a brief stopover on the way to a more pressing engagement.
Notre Dame, ranked No.2 in the state, needed about 45 minutes to beat St. Henry 15-6, 15-2 for the Fifth Region title on the Pandas' floor, while fourth-ranked Campbell County didn't take much longer to defeat Simon Kenton 15-7, 15-4 in the Sixth Region tournament at Campbell County.
All four qualified for the state tournament that begins Friday at Ryle High School and Gray Middle School in Union.
Notre Dame coach Kim Gunning said her team has tried all season to find its own identity — senior setter Kenna Milner and junior outside hitter Michelle Davis are the only starters back from last season's state runner-up team.
“I just think the team came in motivated,” Gunning said. “I'm pretty secure in what we feel is working going into the state tournament.”
Campbell County (38-2) is in the opposite situation — all six starters from the 1998 semifinalists were back — but coach Dena Ravenscraft said there were some improvements she noticed during the tournament.
“Blocking has picked up, (the) intensity level has improved,” Ravenscraft said. “We had to make a commitment to being more mentally prepared, and they've done that.”
Simon Kenton (26-12) and St. Henry (21-14) took the long route to Union. The unranked Pioneers upset No.11 Newport Central Catholic 15-10, 10-15, 16-14 in the Sixth Region losers bracket finals, while the No.14 Crusaders eliminated No.13 Boone County 13-15, 15-7, 15-10 in the Fifth Region.
To Simon Kenton senior setter Katie Day, going to state should silence critics who said her team has no business still playing.
“We lost six players and four starters,” Day said. “I've played five years, and every year I've gone to state. I didn't want it to end this year.”
And Day made sure it didn't end against NewCath.
In beating the Thoroughbreds for the first time in three meetings, Day had 13 assists, eight blocks and eight service aces.
But Simon Kenton had no answer for Campbell County. Senior Dawn Sparks had 11 kills, senior Charmian Craig had 10 and junior Leah Ballinger had 27 assists.
St. Henry is likewise young — three sophomores. One of them, 6-foot-1 outside hitter Caitlin Ruh, had 10 kills and three blocks against Boone County, and junior setter Lisa Boh had 12 assists.
“We always make it interesting,” St. Henry coach Maureen Kaiser said. “We had a close match (in Thursday's losers bracket semifinals) against Beechwood.”
St. Henry hasn't beaten Notre Dame in 18 years, and the Pandas (32-7) quickly ended any upset hopes by taking an 11-2 lead in each game. Milner had 12 assists, and Davis had seven kills.
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