vballfan

Money is not the same barrier for everyone bc families have different incomes and not all have the financial freedom to be able to afford for their kids to play club ball because it is very expensive. I know there are choices and sacrifices but it's not always that simple. Some clubs do offer a break, but that isn't always enough to make ends meet. Not speaking from experience, but some families just don't have the luxury to afford club ball or private schools, etc. Money is a barrier if you don't have it. To quote an episode of Friends... Ross: I just never think of money as an issue. Rachel: That's 'cause you have it. Ross: That's a good point.

There is one thing stopping girls from playing club. Money. Club volleyball is expensive for sure. Other than that, you are correct, no other obstacles.

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I have known her for years. She is a very talented player, maybe one of the best to play in the state in a long while along with Hentz (they are the best two by a good margin over the past five or so years IMO, Hentz 1, Hammons 2). Unfortunately, she can be very self centered and not the best person or teammate at times. She has a few bad influences around her that cause some poor decisions occasionally. she might have a rude awakening coming when she gets to Florida and sits on the pine bc of her attitude if it doesn't change. Though Mary Wise is one of the best in the biz so hopefully she can turn her into the high quality student-athlete she has the potential to be.

SHA beats Assumption 3-1

Throwing around the words "traditional power" a little loosely there aren't you?

The KHSAA is all about equality and needs to be sure that all regions are equal. There would be no non-objective way to choose 6 at large teams. The only way would be to either re-draw regions (which would never happen since it would increase the travel of whomever gets pushed to region 8 (not to mention upset the region 8 folks who enjoy a relatively easy route to state) and in addition, there have also been talks about moving Mercy to region 7 since they moved to their new school location on the southeast part of town a few years back, but it has been fought by all schools). Imagine SHA, Assumption, and Mercy in the same region! The other solution would be to water down the tournament even more and take the top two teams from each region, for a total of 32. First rounds would have to be played early in that week at region champions/campus sites and then the top 16 get to go to Valley for the current format. This again adds cost so it makes it unlikely. Then again the KHSAA will never realign for volleyball. They will only consider realignment or changes when enough cries are heard from the basketball teams who are stuck in the same format. Money talks...

Lets be honest... the state championship game is about to be played tonight at Valley HS when SHA plays Assumption. Should SHA win, I will say there could be a chance that they mentally fall apart (as they have so many times in the past), ND could have a chance, but nobody will beat Assumption is they advance. Mercy is wayyy down, HC isnt deep enough and no other state challengers. Good luck to all!

I'll say that the kid(s) whose parents are responsible for turning their program upside down going into their senior year are likely going to be just fine getting a scholarship to a D1 program bc as unfortunate as it is, they are talented volleyball players. As far as the AD ignoring the distractions, they need to have a backbone (which SHAs does not). An AD should back their coach through any team rules and regulations they set and not want the coach to change their ways bc it's the easy way out for the AD. The AD is very good at looking out for their own self and current and former bball players (ex: kicking volleyball out of the gym during regional prep week to have open gym). I don't know Brett but hope for his sake that he can have success, and with the players (and select parents) SHA has, he better. He walks into one of the most talented rosters this state may have seen in a long while.

Long story short but mostly one parent with a lot of money has had a vengeance for him for three years and after going to the AD and school president with every little thing as a complaint, the school finally forced him to resign this year. He did no wrongdoing and this is what is wrong with high school sports. Too many politics and the coaches can't even just coach, which is why they are there. The player has everything she wants and it's still not good enough. He is a very good coach and has helped every girl he could get to college and built a program that will be preseason #1 nationally according to many media outlets. Shame he won't get to bask in that success. Shame on Sacred Heart for letting this happen. Good luck to the next person, if they win its with Erics players, if they lose, they let all that talent go to waste. Can't wait to see who SHA pulls out of their hat to make this parent happy. I feel sorry for the kid who is getting more and more brainwashed along the way.

It's not always the case on how your team is nominated by the coach. I have personally seem a coach nominate kids for all state in 1,2,3 order and the #1 kid was 2nd team, #2 was 3rd team (or HM) and #3 was 1st team. A lot of times it's based on other coaches opinions as well and they take seniority into play as well, occasionally voting a less talented senior over a more talented junior or sophomore just as a nod to their career and accomplishments, assuming the younger kids have more time to get accolades.

Congrats to South Warren High School on their KHSAA State Runner Up Trophy. Now let's see who wins it all. IMHO, the state title game was likely played last Thursday at valley. My $ is on Assumption, if I were a betting man or if people bet on prep volleyball. Good luck to all, and to all a good night!

SHA was without their L2 for the Assumption game and def looked all out of sorts vs Mercy. Missed serves, poor passing, etc. Without a true middle on their roster, SHA is looking very predictible and other teams are seeing that as well. Obviously, Hammons is carrying the offensive load, but she has to learn how to "hit 'em where they aint" and not always try for the fancy shot or hit it right at a DS. Zwiebel is not being as offensive as usual and needs to go back to her normal self and help take over games to be the extra offense SHA is in desparate need of. Assumption is coming around like they always do and will be a force if they continue to play in system. They do a good job of running their offense and running a variety of attacks. Olsen does a good job of putting balls in places where their middles can attack and that really opens up the floor for their outsides to get 1-on-1 matchups and Moore has really emerged as their L1 in the last half of the season and is following in the footsteps of her older sister. Mercy is a wildcard as they really are not as good as other teams overall but have some great pieces. Elmore has led this young team all year and done a good job of being a leader and setting balls where they need to be. Their libero, Kelly O'Neil might be one of the best around and is about as automatic as they come in serve recieve. Their middles are athletic and long and pose a force for opposing teams. In my honest opinion, the 7th region championship will be the state championship this year. If Assumption wins, they've won their 18th state championship. If SHA wins, they have a good shot at their 2nd, but will be closer unless things start clicking again. NDA will always be a challenge but one that can be overcome, same with Mercy. Things change when its all on the line.

Ran out of gas? Maybe, but it looked to me as if they were just simply overmatched. SHA has more firepower from hitters and forced NDA to pass much tougher serves which had a direct influence on how they ran their offense. SHAs hitters were overpowering with Hammons and Gentile came up big and had a big day. If SHA can develop a presence from a middle and control the ball, it will be a tough road for anyone to beat them. NDA looked like their usual self, scrappy, but just didn't have enough offense to go with it. Talkers looked like she jammed a wrist late in the first set diving for a ball but played through it and it didnt appear to alter any sets. NDA didn't appear to get Salkowski the ball as much as usual (could be due to passing) and Hentz didn't take over the game. She got a few hard hits in but her normal shots (rolls, tips, etc, weren't falling as SHA seemed to have a good gameplan vs her). This one will be an interesting one if it happens again in the state semis. Also,most noticably, there was no Coach Buck on the sidelines. Hope he is feeling better.

Volleyball officials do make the most and they would be splitting between 4 officials. I would also mention that most schools have a very minimal budget for the "olympic" sports like volleyball.

Multiple things here... Of course money is the issue. It will always be the issue because, usually, the only way to get a qualified individual to call the lines, they need to be paid for it. I personally have called lines at the highest high school level and even collegiate games and know how difficult some of the calls are to make. Touch calls in particular have the potential to be very difficult when even a finger tip touch can make the difference if a ball is in or out. I think parents do try harder as the girls have had to do it so many times that they do not care to pay enough attention. The girls probably have the most knowledge as they have been directly involved in the sport the most. I will say that I have seem some of the bigger schools (SHA, Assumption, etc) employ official line judges for games vs each other. This is probably a very smart move as the rivalry can get heated and one call can change the outcome of the entire night or even the season (hence - Mercy only losing one time last year, their season would have been much different had they had zero losses). Granted, I don't think a call made the difference in that game, but it sure could have with 3 of the 5 games being only decided by the manditory two points. I think it is smart to employ line judges in big games and obviously for any game that is in the district, regional, or state tournament as this is where teams seasons end and sometimes every point is crutial.

Fun tourney to watch. Sacred Heart with the win for the first time in a long while, maybe 2009. Beats St. Joseph's (MO) and Mercy handily along the way and comes from behind 22-16 and 23-20 on Assumption after a relatively boring first set to take the championship. Mercy beats NDA again for 3rd. It's too bad 7 of McAuleys players and their coaching staff came down with food poisoning or that would have been fun to have them at full strength too. Thoughts after the tourney?

That may be true, but she wont need to take that many swings until McAuley in the semis due to the level of competition they face. If Coach Garvey is smart, he will rotate her out at the end of games and even when she is in the back row to help preserve her arm and stamina. Say what you want about Assumption, in all of the games I have seen them play, they have just not been impressive to me. They dont have as many talented hitters as usual, though I do like their middles, and their defense and ball control isnt good enough to overcome a lot of that. I dont think they can get past NDA. I guess time will tell. Good luck to all!

believe it or not that works out... (In head to head only - all have played each other once - minus AHS and NDA) SHA - 8 sets won, 5 lost AHS - 4 sets won, 3 lost ND - 5 sets won, 5 lost Mercy - 4 sets won, 8 lost ...then he simply inserted McAuley where it made the most sense for his agenda.

Odds are in your favor that a school from KY wins it. However, I predict that McAuley beats SHA in the semis and Notre Dame beats Assumption in the other Semi. McAuley beats NDA in the final and SHA beats Assumption for 3rd. Mercy will finish 5th due to the buzz saw of McAuley that they will run into in the quarters.

I never understand the seeding for some of these tournaments. I know it must be hard with teams losing to each other but it would seem that the seeds are much out of whack from where I thought they would be. #1 - SHA (Lost to NDA, beat AHS and Mercy) #2 - Assumption (Lost to SHA, beat Mercy) #3 - NDA (Lost to Mercy, beat SHA) #4 - McAuley (Undefeated @ 4-0, nationally ranked powerhouse) #5 - Mercy (Lost to AHS and SHA, beat NDA) #6 - Walton (GA) #7 - Hillcrest (TN) #8 - St. Joseph's (MO) I would have flipped the script and had McAuley as the #1 seed, NDA as the 2, SHA as the 3, AHS as the 4, and Mercy as the 5. However, I know there are politics and personal reasons for the schedule being the way it is. Assumption already has McAuley on their schedule for later this year the day before the McAuley Chicago tournament so I would assume they seeded themselves as the 2 and 4 so they dont have to play unless it is in the championship (or 3rd place game) since they are also in the Chicago tourney too. Also, I would assume since AHS only gets to see NDA once this year, they seeded them 3rd so they have a chance to play them again in the semis to get a chance to match up with them and prep themselves if they get to state (gotta beat SHA first). Other teams: Walton (GA): 7-0 record - They have a relatively tall roster so we will see what happens if they match up with NDA in the first match of the 2nd day, historically GA volleyball hasn't been as competitive as KY (we saw the same when the national power Cardinal Gibbons (NC) came to town and lost to 3 KY teams in a weekend (including an average North Oldham team) Briarcrest (TN): 16-1 Record - Tennessee plays a ton of games (50+) and that, coupled with a good win-loss record for a few of them, consistantly find a team or two ranked in the top 25 nationally even though they dont play the best of competition. In the past, Mercy has went to TN and swept through anybody they have played. Hopefully they can bring some more depth to the tourney, would be a matchup for AHS if they advance. Im sure Ron did his homework and gave himself a good match-up. St. Josephs (MO): 4-1 Record - regular in attendance to the LIVT and typically have been semi competitive but not over the top. Things wont get competitive until the 2nd matchup on Saturday (minus the Mercy v McAuley match on the first match Sat morning). Thoughts on this? Predictions?

I think all 4 teams are going to obviously be bunched together every year and there will be ebbs and flows in talent. In the end, the match-up is what could make the difference. Mercy probably has the most tall players and big hitters of the four teams (especially middles) and this is definately a matchup advantage to a slightly smaller team like NDA. Mercy is also young so they will probably see the most growth of the four teams. NDA plays the most cohesive on a consistant basis and that is obviously huge for tournament play, plus they have the best player in the state which raises everybodys game not to mention she is a great leader. Assumption just doesnt seem to have much fire power in their hitting corps this year, especially if you can slow down their middles. It also doesnt help that their ball control isnt as good as it typically is (yet). SHA has the tools to put a great run together. They have a great setter and one great hitter, the question is, can the rest of the crew rise up and help their team to victory. The best part about volleyball (aside from the high paced action), in my opinion, is the full team effort it takes to win on a nightly basis. Let's see who can provide the full team effort to navigate the season and take home the state championship trophy, which is no easy task in Kentucky as teams from other states have quickly found out.

I wouldn't say clearly the best in the state, but would rank them #1 over SHA by a narrow margin. After seeing all four teams play, here is how I would rank. 1. NDA - no losses and handled every team they have played easily minus SHA. But a win is a win. They will advance out of their relatively easy region and be at state with a mission (vengence) of "PTS" again I am sure. They seem to be the most in sync team of the four by far and have a lot of balance. Can Hentz and Co. will them through this year? 2. SHA - only lost to NDA and by a narrow margin. Looked superior to Assumption and Mercy in both matches despite not playing very well at times. I would say they are the early favorites in Region 7. They may have the most top to bottom talent and the highest ceiling, but can they play cohesively and make a run through state (of which none of them have done before as they were knocked out in round one last year by NDA). With only one senior, they should be a force both this year and next. 3. Assumpiton - I will rank them ahead of Mercy at this time despite what I saw last night. They looked like they had no fire power on offense most of the night and a surprising lack of ball control from what is usually a DS factory. With such quality coaching, it will get better. 4. Mercy - they are young but quickly getting better. I would say due to being so young and the first year under a new coach that it will take more time to come around. They could end up leap frogging Assumption by years end if the Rockets dont get it together. Fortunately for them, they get a virtual bye into state due to their regional strength. Looking forward, as always, to seeing the best 4 teams in the state traverse the season playing each other, trying to make a quality showing in large national tournaments and to see which of SHA/AHS makes it to the state knock out round for all the marbles.

The rankings that you refer to are the KVCA Poll which is a poll of Kentucky high school volleyball coaches. ND will have its due and after beating mercy (which isn't near as good as last year after graduation a bunch - much like Notre Dame will be next year) will reign as the number one team in the state for much of the year. As someone who has seen the states talent for many years, Morgan is the best KY has this year and barring something crazy, she will receive her due as Ms. KY Volleyball. Most years, the best player likely does come from Louisville and probably rightfully so but this isn't one of those. Fear not my friends, all will be good in time. Rankings do not matter, only titles do and she will lead ND to state and fight for her chance at history.

i was there and have some thoughts on the game. Notre Dame is not only talented but obviously a very well coached team. Minus Morgan and maybe Salkowski they dont have any world beaters but they are solid from top to bottom. They played in system most of the night and had great composure to never give up on a play. I can not think of any long rallys that i witnessed that ND did not win (usually off a middle kill, becuase the pass was a good one). ND is also excellent at hitting "shots." They hit rolls, tips, etc and put them in the places where the defense isn't. It isnt hard to be impressed with Morgan's playmaking ability but what I was more impressed with was her leadership. She took time and picked up multiple teammates after a bad play and helped change their mindset to not let it carry over into the next play, even with other seniors on the team. To me SHA looked out of sorts, especially in the beginning of the night. Credit to ND for serving Hammons off the court early, but credit to Hammons for battling back and never giving up and getting better as the night went on. Hammons hit the ball high and hard but needs to take a page out of ND's book and learn where to hit the ball. Hitting the ball over the block is something not many kids can do, but they hitting it right at a defender makes it manageable to dig. She needs to use the deep tempo (hard roll) shot to her advantage and put it in the corners where nobody is playing since she has the advantage to go over girls to get there. I thought Zwiebel was not nearly as aggressive as she usually is and was not much of an offensive threat. ND dominated the middle position. They did a great job of running slides and turning the ball back across their body and hitting it cross court (much harder to defend, esp bc the defense drifts with the ball). NDs DS/Liberos were superior but that could have been because SHA only plays a few and both of their lefts play all the way around. In the end this was a good match and hopefully we will see these teams play again at state (if not before at LVIT or in Chicago).