NKYVB

She is an amazing defensive player. Throws herself at every ball and scraps for everything. I know if I was her, I wouldn't want to stop playing either.

Ryle's Libero, Chase Barber, also suffered what seemed to be another possible concussion. I don't know how a player can have so many concussions and still play without at least head gear.

Camels won both on day 1. Lost all 4 second day pool play games without winning a set. Apparently, players and parents are butting heads with the coaches.

Anyone at this game? Were the cougars playing out of their minds or did Ryle play that bad?

Cooper came out flat to begin the first set, that remained the entire match. The St. Henry team I saw tonight was on fire. Their back row defense was impeccable, something I didn't expect from this year's crusaders. Their offense didn't do much, but defense was on fire and let NOTHING drop, frustrating Cooper hitters. Cooper serve receive and blocking was very weak. This St. Henry team is miles better than last year's. Well, tonight they were. Cooper can be a contender in the 9th, but it isn't something that is just going to happen. They are going to have to work for it and fight for it and from what I saw tonight, they are going to get their butts handed to them by the likes of NDA and Ryle unless they decide to play hard and as a unit. They are too inconsistent day to day to go far in the region. They have to realize that and clean it up. Great win for the crusaders tonight. Well deserved win. Props to Cassidy Schreiber for picking up EVERYTHING. Tough weekend ahead of the jags. Henry Clay and McCracken await them on Saturday, assuming all teams win their pools tomorrow.

My bad. I got mixed up. Oldham county is pretty good. Heard North Oldham got a new coach and maybe isn't as good as last year. Both could be possible losses for SK. I use the word "possible" very loosely. Who knows what could happen, SK could turn around.

When SK plays a legitimate team that is firing on all cylinders, I don't think they can keep up. They just aren't deep enough. You can't rely on one outside hitter to get the job done. They will have off days. Clearly SK is in a slump right now but I do see them coming out from it and making it to regionals. The only team in the region I believe will beat them is Scott. The eagles look surprisingly strong this year. They lost a hard fought 4 set match to Ryle.

To be frank, cooper played with different lineups against sk in their scrimmage. The first game with the starting varsity lineup, they reached 25 first. It was 25-11. The other sets saw flashes of brilliance from SK but in a real match, I don't see them beating cooper and Ryle.

Ryle's top player, S/OH Ashley Bush, still out with injury. With Scott taking a set off of the raiders, I think we can see how vulnerable Ryle is w/o A. Bush. We'll see how they play in the Bluegrass Invitational this weekend. Could possibly see a 33rd district matchup with Cooper. That would be a game to see.

everybody's human. Even Hentz. A team can easily keep their blockers primarily focused on a single player and always have a double block in front of them, which will force them to tip or hit the ball out. Even the bests of us get frustrated.

No but NDA lost to MND in a clean sweep. I heard NDA defense was unreal against MND, but offense was non-existent and almost all sets went to Hentz. NDA got their first reality check, although MND was 2013 state champs and continues to be an Ohio powerhouse. NDA needs to realize that one person can't win a match against great teams. Also, heard starting setter didn't play. Injured I guess?

Highlands beats Simon Kenton 3-2. Simon Kenton seemingly having problems. They barely beat Conner and lost to Highlands, is this this the same caliber Simon Kenton team we've seen in previous years?

Hard fought end to the second set! Two teams going at it! Great volleyball. Very nerve-racking, but great match.

I was saying "way down" comparing them to the previous NCC teams. You would have to agree that since 2008ish, NCC has fallen from their totem pile. Unfortunately, we have to compare them to NDA , Ryle, St. Henry and Cooper because they are in the same region.

New cath gym not air conditioned. Brossart's gym is now air conditioned. They just did a renovation. Game was at New cath

I believe Georgetown college is looking at her. Not sure about other schools.

It must be difficult for a coach from outside the area to come in and gain the respect of her players.

NCC is way down this year. Still missing starting middle blocker but I don't see her return doing much for the Breds. They still lack in many other areas on the court. CCHS, from what i've seen, is hit or miss. They have great matches and not so great matches. Serve receive seems to be pretty weak. They rely a lot on setter Carson Gray, who is a clear leader on the court. I can see Scott winning region this year.

I wouldn't rank NDA in the top-100 either. With what they lost, everyone is saying to themselves "no way NDA could be any good this year". Now it's NDA's job to go out and show if they can compete, but from what i've heard, NDA is on track for a rocky season.

There are several big games this week. Any predictions? Aug 26. Notre Dame vs. Mount Notre Dame, OH Aug 26. St. Henry vs. Assumption Aug 28. St. Henry vs. Cooper

Hopefully the result of the Beechwood match on Tuesday will give us a sneak peak of what Thursday at St. Henry will be like. Thursday is going to be 2 heavyweights going at it. If I was a NKY volleyball fan and wasn't doing anything, Cooper vs. St. Henry would be a great match to go watch. My prediction is Cooper sweeps Beechwood fairly easily. I don't think they will get more than 20 points against the jags. As for the crusaders. I say that will be a very tight match. Games will most likely be won by less than 5 points. I don't think either team will lose without a fight.

I think if some people saw Cooper pummel Brossart the first set, they would be slightly worried about what this team looks like when firing on all cylinders. It has only been a couple weeks since Bluegrass state games, but I already see a ton of improvement. They have a tough week ahead of them (Beechwood, St. Henry, Bluegrass Invitational- McCrackenCounty, Henry Clay) that will test them big time. We may see the potential of this Cooper squad. After losing in 5 sets at regionals to St. Henry last year after leading the match 2-1, the jags have some motivation to work St. Henry on Thursday.

If only Bush had the height of McDonald and Smith, she would be a force to be reckoned with, well, even more than she already is. I think what people are noticing is that you don't always have to go to a private school to get good coaching and to get recognized by college scouts. What you can see is that club volleyball is the connection between the two. People who start with a good club early are almost guaranteed to get a decent college scholarship if they work for it. What some parents don't see is that just because its a club team, that doesn't mean that the club is good. There are several clubs around that, I feel like, parents are wasting thousands of dollars on. I don't want to name them but other than NKYVC, Elevation and Tri-State Elite, you are wasting your hard earner dollars. Yes, these 3 clubs are more expensive and maybe not everyone can afford $3,000 every club season, but if you think your daughter could be good enough for a college scholarship, she NEEDS to go to one of these clubs to get the training that other clubs just don't have.

Once NDA plays a good team, they are going to find out that they will need more than Hentz. Setting a 2 ball in the middle can be very risky when you play teams with big blocks, especially since you can easily triple block a 2 ball. Hentz can only carry the team so far. Also, off-blocker defense will be slightly weak with Draud on the outside. I'm assuming many teams will exploit that weakness. If anyone beats NDA, it's going to be by blocking Hentz and hitting the ball at the other defensive players besides Hentz. Any smart coaching staff will easily recognize that and capitalize on it. People already doubting NDA this season has me guessing that they are a lot more vulnerable and weak than earlier posts portrayed.

Morgan Hentz is absolutely the best player in the region without a doubt. She can read the opposing defense and opposing blockers like no other outside hitter i've seen in the region, probably because she is shorter than most hitters. Ashley Bush is also very good at hitting/setting, but with Ryle's weak middle back defense, it leaves opposing hitters with lots of room to work with, thus making it difficult to get a good set for A Bush and her younger sister, Hayley. Kaity Smith is a middle hitter, different than Hentz and Bush. Until someone has played middle, they won't know how drastically different it is to hit middle rather than hitting on the pins. As a middle, you almost always have a block set up right in front of you that is more difficult to hit around. What Kaity has going for her is that she is fearless. You may block her once or twice, but she is going to shove it down your throat at least 10 more times. She knows how to work around blocks and tool them. Middles can't really use roll shots and very rarely can tip because the opposing defenses will almost always be ready for it. It is very hard to tip as a middle unless you use a power tip, which Smith uses frequently. As far as back row defense goes, Smith isn't used much because of the deep defensive bench Cooper has. She does play defense sometimes and she isn't bad at all. Hayley Bush is great in the back row but in the front row, she lacks the ability to read blockers which was very apparent when Ryle played Dunbar earlier this week. Bush was stuffed quite a lot. Granted, she was going up against a large Dunbar block. Rachel McDonald seems to be fairly good in the front row and alright in the back row but she doesn't really jump out to me as amazing in either aspect. Especially with what seems to be quite a weak NCC team this year (0-3), McDonald would have to step up big time to make an impact on the season.