Deep state

Congratulations to Notre Dame Academy. I watched the livestream on Saturday night. It was fun to watch two great programs go at it. We may have disagreed how the Pandas got to the finals, but in the end these two varsity varsity teams were clearly the best in the state. Job well done, Pandas. Glad to see the trophy back in northern Kentucky after a 26 year absence!

If anyone chooses to read my past threads on volleyball, I have been an unbiased representative of mostly region 9 volleyball. I have been fair and objective. The tide turned for me when I was asked if I wanted to change my picks for the tournament by Colonelfan after NDA won the first round game. Little did I know that the rules would change overnight into Tuesday. If you read the article about coach Kaiser, St. Henry was fully expecting to play the NDA JV team. My predictions were based on St.Henry playing NDA JV. I was called out by a Panda/Colonel loving colonelfan. I was then called out by Vballtalk who must be the authority on everything COVID-19 related. Vballtalk must also have direct knowledge of video that allowed NDA to have "self quarantined" themselves. This self quarantine must be part of their "higher standards." I wonder if NDA would have drawn Newport Central Catholic or Holy Cross in the first round if their varsity would have played that first round game. Seems awfully convenient that they were amazingly allowed to play on Tuesday. Obviously, Coach Kaiser from ST. Henry was planning on playing the JV from NDA as late as Monday evening. I also heard that the NDA team did not go to school on Tuesday and had a practice on Monday night. I do not know this for sure but that is what I have heard. If this is true, I wonder if any of the other teams in the tournament could have missed school on Tuesday and still played. I am not bitter. I only want every team to play by the same rules. We may disagree on whether or not rules were broken. I believe rules were at the very least bent if not fully broken. Vballtalk, I hope your Pandas represent the 9th region well down state. I also hope that each team plays by the same rules this year and in the years to come. To quote Vballtalk "Jesus love us." Over and out! I will not comment on this post again but I do look forward to any comments that are positive or negative. It's about time people take an interest in something other than football or boys basketball on BGP's!

I guess congratulations are in order for NDA. I wonder if the parents, nuns, coaches and administrators feel good about this championship?

Endoftime, even though I don't know coach Kaiser personally she seems like a class act. You certainly must love the game of volleyball and the art of coaching to last thirty years at the same program. There are other examples around Northern Kentucky of coaches lasting long times at the same program. I believe The coach at Ryle has been there quite sometime also. Since my daughter played in the early 2000's, there has been a total of six different coaches at NDA. Obviously, these coaches didn't last because they didn't win. There must be something about the culture that makes these coaches want to leave or are asked to leave a program with such a storied history of winning. Anyway getting back to the real reason for this thread, I expect NDA to get past Ryle despite Ryle's best efforts. Lucy Trump is fun to watch and she will need to bring everything she has to the floor tonight for Ryle to shock the 9th region.

After researching your statement that this is all irrelevant in regards to the 8:00 time frame. The first Round game with St. Henry stated at 5:30 on the 27th. So it is relevant in regards to time. If CDC guidelines are truly down to the minute, NDA would have been 150 minutes too early to be out of quarantine. So much for your down to the minute statement.

Vballtalk, I find your explanation and statements hard to believe. So you are saying that, not a single player was within six feet of the coach for a cumulative of 15 minutes within a 24 hour period. Does the video include a 15 minute period of warmups and most likely close to an hour match. Assuming that Ryle used all 6 of their time outs during the three set match, that would be 12 minutes in a huddle listening to the coach. I am also assuming that NDA did not call a single timeout in the entire match. It doesn't take too long to accumulate 15 minutes of 6ft contact within a 24 hour period. Obviously, you are in close contact with someone at NDA to have access to game tape or video. I am sure that a lot of people reading this back and forth conversation would like to see that video. Your statement is at very best a stretch of the truth and more likely a flat out lie. Simply put, NDA got away with something that no other school could have or should have.

Tones, I was unbiased until today. NDA not having to follow the rules that all other schools follow is sending the wrong message to young adults. I would hope you would agree.

Colonel-fan your wrong. NDA was supposed to be quarantined until Wednesday October 28th due to the fact that the head coach tested positive for COVID-19. According to CDC guidelines the 14 day quarantine ended on Wednesday the 28th. The diocesan guidelines are the same for all the other private schools in the tournament. The same would be true of the public schools from Boone County if the board of education were to quarantine a team. 14 days is 14 days! Due to the fact that NDA is technically not part of the diocese of Covington, the Nuns that run the school ruled that they could play on Tuesday. I am sure there was plenty of arm twisting to get this approved by the Nuns! That is why NDA plays by a different set off rules. No other school has a get of jail early card that can be played at any convenient time. Is there any wonder why NDA is disliked by so many? In the past, I have defended NDA and their program. I actually have a daughter who played volleyball and graduated from NDA. I, most likely, will have to change my stance on NDA. My information is accurate and on point!

Not surprising

My bracket was based on the fact that NDA was being quarantined to Wednesday. The fact that somehow NDA was reinstated at the last minute seems unfair to this outsider. Colonel-fan your favoritism to NDA and Cov Cath is obvious. I am just an unbiased volleyball fan looking to watch high quality volleyball in person. Hopefully next year I will be able to buy a ticket and watch in person. May the best team that follows the rules that everyone else has to win the region. May that team bring home the hardware that Northern Kentucky longs for.

I just heard that NDA's varsity will be allowed to play tonight against St.Henry. This is a day earlier than quarantine would have allowed. This smells fishy to me. Anybody else hearing anything?

First Round games Ryle over Newport Central Catholic Holy Cross over Dixie Saint Henry over Notre Dame Cooper over Highlands Semifinals Ryle over Holy Cross Saint Henry over Cooper Finals Saint Henry over Ryle.

Wow that's an incredibly long streak of winning sets.

I have heard that Saint Henry will come off of quarantine on Tuesday and that Notre Dame will be back on Wednesday. Would it not make sense to push back the opening round games to Wednesday and Thursday? That would make the semi finals on Friday with the finals on Saturday. I want all teams to be at full strength when the tournament starts.

Thanks for the update. Hopefully these two programs can meet on the court after quarantine.

I have not been able to attend any games this year due to the pandemic. It seems like a lost season for me personally. However, I can't just loose my interest in the game of volleyball. I have heard that the Notre Dame and Saint Henry volleyball teams have been recently quarantined with positive cases of COVID-19. Can anyone verify this?

Ryle High School had a strong showing in the Louisville invitational tournament this weekend. They beat Sacred Heart and with Sacred Heart already besting Notre Dame Academy And Saint Henry this makes Ryle the early season favorite in the 9th region. This may be the year that Ryle gets to the state tournament!

Glad to see Notre Dame Academy getting two first place votes. They are loaded with talent. I believe they have three D1 seniors on their roster.

Now that we know we will have some sort of volleyball season, here are my top ten teams in the 9th region. 1. Notre Dame 2 Saint Henry 3. Ryle 4. Cooper 5. Highlands 6. Holy Cross 7. Dixie Heights 8. Conner 9. Beechwood 10. Newport Central Catholic What does everyone else think?

I agree with you 100%. If you look at other high school sports, the state tournament venue is usually played at a college facility. Basketball is played at Rupp arena. Football is played at Kroger field. Baseball is played at the Lexington Legends field. Why not take the state volleyball tournament and rotate it through all parts of Kentucky. Here is my idea. Western Kentucky University could host one year. Northern Kentucky University (Regents Hall) could host one year. University of Louisville one year. University of Kentucky (Memorial Coliseum) could host one year. These venues could also use it as a recruiting tool for their various programs. As far as expanding the tournament and seeding the tournament, this is long overdue. The state tournament in volleyball has become anti climatic and somewhat boring to watch. 12 of the 15 matches this year were 3 games to 0 sweeps. There needs to be better competition and expansion and seeding would enable this.

Colonel-fan, I could not agree more with the St. Henry coach. Not only did the hitters hit more aggressively, the entire team served to zones and with much more pace all night long. Notre Dame has 11 juniors on their roster and a bunch of strong sophomores and freshman. They are going to be strong in the years to come. The Pandas will have to have someone step up at setter next year. Grace Ward played a nice and steady game both on offense and defense with a couple of nice blocks. She will be the senior that is hardest to replace. I hope the Pandas do well at State!

Notre Dame was clearly the better team tonight. Congrats to the pandas! Pandas win in three convincing sets. They served better and played with a winning attitude. Good luck at state. Bring home some hardware for northern Kentucky.

It should be another epic match tonight with the last three regional finals between these two powerhouses going to a decisive fifth set. Notre Dame winning three years ago and St. Henry taking the last two. I stand by earlier prediction at the beginning of this thread. Notre Dame wins in an exciting match. Game time is 7:00 at Boone County.

Thanks for the updates.

Highlands played with a lot of emotion and enthusiasm. I believe that was the difference in this first round win over Dixie Heights. Job well done Bluebirds! The rest of the first round games went as planned. Lucy Trump from Ryle is fun to watch as a volleyball "Junkie." If things go as planned the Notre Dame Academy/St. Henry Final should be fun to watch. Notre Dame and St. Henry show flashes of brilliance and then run into rough patches. Both of these teams should not take their Semi final opponents lightly.