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Well it would be hard to know what other sports have what tournaments....at least for me. I know it is the best volleyball tournament in the state. Ron Kordes of Assumption does a great job of fairly seeding the teams (as evidenced by the teams from every first pool holding seed, which is pretty common each year) and he brings in the best teams that want to play. Unfortunately, the KHSAA state tournament is still a blind draw. We will know on Friday which regions play which...it is scary and sad to think that Mercy, Assumption and NDA could all face each other on one side of the bracket when they are clearly above everyone else in the state and two teams that can't hold a candle to any of them end up in the state finals. Just seems really unfair to not have the best play the best in the finals.

Lawnboy, I have no doubts that you will soon be as enlightened about the great sport of volleyball and the happenings in NKY as you are about fast pitch. By next year we will expect the play by play of the Breds volleyball just like you provide for softball. No worries! Welcome to the volleyball boards.

KyYank....I guess I took the above about big disappointmentunless a state title is won too literally.

Everyone in Park Hills has moved on. Here's hoping for the same for all the Bluegrass Preppers out there. The volleyball players and staff at NDA work as hard if not harder than any team in the state. Trust me, no one wants to win more than them. However, Mercy and Assumption are the same way....hardworking kids, great staff, great club seasons. It is anyone's year...NDA has a chance but (as posted on another thread) to say anything less than a state championship is a disappointing season, just shows the poster's ignorance to volleyball in the state of KY, namely Louisville.

Alexa Nichols, a 6-1 rising senior MB from Ryle HS (KY) and NKYVC 17-1 Tsunami has verbally committed to Division I Belmont University located in Nashville, TN. Great Job for this hard workin kid! So proud of her!

Great season yes!!! But, Please get to know Assumption volleyball of the past 18-20 years...they have had some spectacular single seasons -finishing undefeated and consensus #1 IN THE COUNTRY more than once in that span. Not sure how much Greenwood competes against other states but Assumption volleyball travels the country beating teams from every division and most volleyball hotbed type states (CA, TX, OH, IN, IL, etc) Truly a dynasty.

Not exactly sure of how softball does it, but in the sport I coach, the Region All Tourney team (which is what you saw after the game) is chosen strictly by the school's coach and staff. So, for example, NDA's coaching staff chose Haylee to be the MVP and the other two NDA girls to be all tourney. (The winning team gets 2 on the team and the MVP, runner up gets two on the team, and so on down to the teams that lost first round, get to put one girl on). So if the pitcher from Conner was left out, it is because her own coach did not name her to the team. It would have nothing to do with other teams' coaches not voting for her like the thread about the Coach's Association team that some notable players got left off of. A softball person can correct me if this is wrong and not how it is done in your sport.

The Sisters of NDA make an education affordable to every single girl who desires it. They will make up "jobs", if they have to, to ensure that a young woman can go to school there. Yes, there are many with money but sometimes that can cause their own set of problems. Let's let ALL the NDA coaches and athletes from fall to winter to spring, along with the awesome leadership of AD, Kim Gunning, have a moment to relish their undeniable success on the court, track, field and in the pool. Any Panda out there can hold her head high tonight. It's been a great year!

Simon Kenton. 8th Grade catcher.

We alll certainly know that KHSAA won't allow a simple "transfer" unless the player hasn't played varsity. Kennedy would be an exception because she is only an 8th grader. Any other player would have to either sit a year or fall under one of KHSAA exceptions. This type of stuff always comes up this time of year. Kids and PARENTS frustrated with their team's performance run their mouths but rarely come true. Yes, Haylee appealed to KHSAA and won but her reasons were legitimate and she had evidence to back it up. If this thread is about anyone but Kennedy, I'd say I'll believe it when I see it.

Record against the field....so if Holy Cross is 0-9 they are the 8th seed, NDA is #1 seed (but they did not play Conner due to rain out from what I understand)...HC gets an exemption since they just faced NDA in districts and gets to play the #2 seed while NDA would face #7 overall. Teams with tied records vs the fields.... the team that won head to head would get the higher seed. Team A and Team B are both 3-4 against the field so they are tied for 5th overall seed but Team A beat Team B during regular season so Team A gets 5th seed and Team B becomes 6th seed. If the teams that are tied didn't play during regular season...those teams only get seeded in a blind draw at that point. Team whose name chosen first gets 5th seed (in my above scenario) and other team gets 6th seed.

When will this idea of a blind draw, for all sports, not just softball, become a thing of the past? Not only is it not fair to a team like NDA who has earned a true #1 seed in the region but have to play the toughest District Runner Up in Boone but it is also not fair to a team like Boone who came out 'runner up' in the toughest District.

Region 9 Champions 2000 Simon Kenton 2001 and 2002 Boone 2003 and 2004 Dixie 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Ryle 2009 Conner 2010, 2011, 2012 Ryle The Billy Matteoli/Kirsten Allen years at Ryle were 2005-08...Certainly, most on here remember Kirsten...she still holds the state record for most wins. I can remember she would pitch every single game...pretty much threw her arm off. Seems she got to Oklahoma and didn't do much, injuries, etc. Oliverio came to Ryle in 2009 if memory serves me correctly. During her short tenure she was able to maintain Ryle's dominance but one has to wonder if their early exit from post season play this season was just a glimpse at what was coming.

I "run with" coaching circles more than parent circles I guess. So my viewpoint may be a bit different than yours based on that.

The problem I have with this article is that I believe it is not really realistic for today's athletes. Parents aren't driving their child home and berating their performance. Quite to the contrary, they are telling their child how awesome they are and how terrible their teammates are (if they lost) or how horrible their coach is (if they didn't get to play as much as parent thought they should). I think there probably are some parents who critique their child's play but not the majority. This behavior is what irritates today's athletes and in 20 years we will see an article from some study that says the athletes that excelled at their sport or loved their sport the most were the ones whose parents came, watched, got them an ice cream after and didn't yell about the coach, playing time, teammates or the team. What parents forget is that when they criticize a coach/team they are splitting the player's loyalty. That is the main problem with youth sports today.

What a game! Congrats to Holmes. Could have gone either way. Good luck at Rupp!

Felt like I was there. Once in a lifetime...great job!

Hate to see this, regardless of the reason. He is a great coach and even better person and role model. Good luck to him.

What a great game! Got the blood pumping...I thought both teams gave it their all. Good luck going to the Region!

NDA Pandas Volleyball Home Page

Yes, Meredith has verbally committed to play at XU.

Mercy graduated 3 players (who did not even play much and had little impact on the outcome of any matches...they will be loaded next year) Assumption graduated 3 players (more impact players for sure but Assumption always reloads). NDA graduated 3 players (2 of which were impact players) So to assume that NDA is a shoo in for a State Title is absurd. They will, and should, dominate in Northern Kentucky but unless the parents start to buy in on Coach Lanham and her staff, it will be, again, an uphill climb. The players need to have great off seasons and come in ready to do the work necessary to make a state title a reality. To lay this at the feet of Coach Lanham and not take into account all of the pieces of the puzzle...again absurd. She can only control what she does and what the players do in her time with them. The parents control the rest. Hoping for the best for the Pandas!