Just in case there are some of you ot there that haven't heard about it yet, the KHSAA had the volleyball draw this past Friday and was it ever a shocker. :scared::scared::scared::scared:

 

 

The 2011 state tournament will mark the first time in KHSAA history that there will be a public school playing for the state title...mark it down that I said it first on here...well it is easy to make that call when you see the bracket.

 

My guess is that Assumption will defeat either North Oldham or Oldham County in the championship game.

 

The bottom half of the bracket is LOADED with the Lexington-area region and BOTH Louisville regions in the upper half of the bottom bracket. Also, both NKY regions will be in the lower section of the bottom bracket. The regions in the upper bracket gotta be licking their chops at the possibility of being the first public school to ever play in the state volleyball finals.

 

 

http://www.khsaa.org/volleyball/2011/statebracket2011.pdf

Look down the topic list and you will see we already beat this horse to death. Thrilled a public school team is top bracket champ? The 5th place team from the bottom bracket can beat the top bracket champ. And, as you see from another topic thread, Assumption won the Durango Classic HS tourney in Las Vegas - Assumption can easily claim now that they are the best HS Volleyball team in the country - and for years to come, since there is no shortage of talent feeding from KIVA into Assumption. Like I said, a rule change (#of club players from same club on same HS team) is the only thing that will stop this dynasty.

A rule change will not even stop the dynasty. Kids in Louisville start playing club ball earlier than any part of the state. They have more facilities, more coaches and a larger population to draw from than any other part of the state.

Kids in Louisville start playing club ball earlier than any part of the state.

You can start playing club ball in NKY in 3rd grade. I doubt Louisville clubs start any earlier. Nothing stopping anyone anywhere in the state from starting a club.

 

They have more facilities, more coaches

There's 4 clubs in NKY alone. Plenty of facilities. Not sure that's the reason.

 

A larger population to draw from than any other part of the state.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. That absolutely makes a huge difference.

 

I stand by my rule change statement - it would force all 3 schools down there to shuffle players - they'd still be trading club players for club players, but it might make the playing field a little bit more level. Assumption wouldn't win every year, just every 3rd year. As for the rest of the state outside of Louisville - especially you public schools - hope for classes in Volleyball like in football. It's your only realistic shot.

I have seen flyers at the Louisville facilities for kids starting in kindergarten. There are kids on travel teams in Louisville that can jump serve by the time they are playing 10U, 11U, 12U. They are elite programs that have been in existence for years. They enforce the fundamentals at the young ages in their training programs, non-travel teams and travel programs. Again, I am not saying NKY cannot eventually do this, but they run it year round, by very established programs and coaches (KIVA, MAVA, UNION).

 

The facilities in Louisville are geared primarily toward volleyball. The facilites in NKY share with soccer and basketball. It makes a difference when facility time is given to other sports. I am not saying it cannot happen in NKY, but it is different approach.

 

Not every girl from Assumption plays for KIVA, although many do. They have players from other schools too. I still think the biggest factor here is population. Cincinnati is very close to NKY and has a larger population and a level of volleyball comparable to Louisville.