9th Region Championship - St Henry vs Notre Dame Academy Predictions/Updates

[vbtalk]

This one has the potential to be an all time classic. NDA leads the season series 2-0. However, St Henry wasn’t at full strength in either of those matches. Skidmore looks to be as healthy as she’s been all season. Transfer Corrine Blackburn wasn’t eligible yet for either of those first two matches. St Henry is playing their best volleyball of the season right now. 
NDA is loaded in every rotation. Most teams have at least 1 or more rotations where they can “get stuck”, and can quickly lose 3-4 points and a ton of momentum when that happens. NDA doesn’t have that. They certainly have stronger rotations, but their “bad” rotations are not even close to “bad”.
My prediction is St Henry comes out on fire and NDA needs a set or two to get settled in. This looks like a 5 setter. If that happens will the senior leadership of St Henry be the difference or will NDA prove to be too deep and a bit more battle tested after having played the harder schedule? Only thing I know for sure is this should be a heck of a lot of fun! 

[Runcible Owl]

Livestream!

Mark Whery & Co. @859Radio, as they have for the entire tourney, will be covering the championship match at Cooper.

🔗 meridix.com/event/239028 

[Runcible Owl]

I'm looking forward to your updates @vbtalk. Great to have volleyball savvy BGP member on this match. Thanks!

[Runcible Owl]

Barn burner in Union. 

NDA wins the first ~ 27-25

[Runcible Owl]

paNDAs rolling in the second ~ 21-11, Cru serving. 

Momentum > St. H, 5-0 run ~ 21-16. 

Time out NDA, leading 24-22. 

Notre Dame wins the second ~ 25-23.

[Runcible Owl]

Third set: Time out St. Henry. 

NDA leads 16-12. 

Kill by Erpenbeck. 

20-15 Notre Dame.

[Runcible Owl]

paNDAs win the third set 25-17. 

Match ~ Notre Dame 3 St. Henry 0

[Shake N]

Is there another program in the 9th who can challenge either of these 2 in the next 3-5 years?

[Runcible Owl]

10 hours ago, Shake N said:

Is there another program in the 9th who can challenge either of these 2 in the next 3-5 years?

I haven't looked past next year, which I think is firmly in Notre Dame's hands. Short answer - no.

What do you think @vbtalk?

[vbtalk]

3 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

I haven't looked past next year, which I think is firmly in Notre Dame's hands. Short answer - no.

What do you think @vbtalk?

If any team will close the gap it’ll be Ryle. Cooper isn’t getting the vball players anymore, they’re all going to Ryle now. TT is an excellent coach so that’s not surprising. My dark horse is Beechwood. Matt Long is as good as they get and Beechwood has the potential to get some serious talent. If Highlands gets a few studs, Jim Delong will have the Birds in the mix. But he’s not magic, he can’t do it without the talent.
NDA winning the Region and State in 2024 is about as inevitable as we’ve seen in a long time. St Henry loses almost every stat leader, and NDA is losing no stat leaders. So next year, nobody is challenging NDA. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. Dyas, Portwood, and Larkins will be Seniors in 25 and you have to like their leadership and experience. But I don’t know many of the younger players aside from those three and Kondik.