Deep state

In a remarkable piece of irony, the first round games of the 2019 9th region tournament will feature the exact same matchups as the 2018 9th region tournament. The first game on Sunday at Boone County High School will be Cooper and Newport Central Catholic. I like Cooper advancing in this game. Notre Dame Academy and Ryle High School is next up at 3:00. Notre Dame Academy should march onto the semifinals unless Ryle's hitters have the game of their life. Next up at 4:30 is the Dixie Heights and Highlands High School game. This is the most interesting game of the first round. I like Dixie Heights in this one in what should be an exciting game to watch. The night cap at 6:00 features Holy Cross High School and Saint Henry District High School. Saint Henry should advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, I like Notre Dame Academy over Dixie Heights and Saint Henry to move on to the finals over Cooper High School. This sets up another Notre Dame Academy and Saint Henry final on Wednesday the 30th. I think Notre Dame Academy stops their two year hiatus from the state tournament and wins the 9th region title in a 4 set victory. What does everyone else think?

Is there a live stream of this game?

Is Russell the team to beat in the 16th region? I know that Rowan County is usually pretty good year after year.

vbtalk, you were right on the money! You need to play the lottery soon. Your analysis was spot on. I was certainly surprised at the level of play by SHDHS. NDA's defense was incredible and the Long girl was the difference maker at the net.

It is that time of the year again. The annual "Playing For A Purpose" game is on Friday night. Most importantly the event is held each year to promote awareness and to raise funds for breast cancer research and awareness. Notre Dame Academy takes on Saint Henry District High School. The "Event" and or social gathering eventually gets down to a volleyball game. In terms of volleyball, I think Notre Dame has too many weapons to be stopped. I like Notre Dame Academy in this one in relatively easy fashion. What are others take on this game/event/social gathering/good time?

Thanks for the information. It must have been a great tournament.

Did these two teams meet in the LIT?

Congratulations to Holy Cross!

In what I thought would be much more competitive game Notre Dame Academy breezes past Dixie Heights High school in a Saturday afternoon match up. Notre Dame Academy put their foot on the gas and did not let up. Dixie Heights looked over matched and never got into any sort of flow whereas Notre Dame had multiple hitters hitting well.

Notre Dame Academy's junior varsity team only lost to Assumption high school last year and there appears to be plenty of players on their roster who are eager to get on the court this year. The bigger question for Saint Henry is who is going to step up and replace Bessler at setter this year. I believe that Noll, as a Junior Varsity setter last year, did not play club this year. I wonder if she even plays this year. I hear she may stick with golf as she is a very good golfer. Dixie Heights lost the Metzger girl but has a good group of underclassmen and I think they may contend for the 9th region title. Dixie Heights did take Notre Dame Academy to 5 sets twice last year. Cooper will be rebuilding and will have a tough time replacing Morgan Kelly. Ryle will lean on the Trump girl as she is impressive. Holy Cross has some players but will lack the depth to contend for a 9th region title. This is my way too early prediction for how the 9th region stacks up this year.

Now that the club season is over with both AAU and USA volleyball finishing their respective national tournaments over the last few weeks, the attention turns to the high school season. Is this the year that some team other than Notre Dame Academy or Saint Henry District High School wins the 9th region tournament?

Really great conversation about the state tournament in volleyball. I waited to way in on the conversation until everybody made their statement. I could not agree more with vbtalk. The current format leaves far too many deserving teams out of the tournament. Notre Dame Academy, Sacred Heart Academy, Henry Clay, Dixie Heights, Cooper, and Ryle High School come to mind this year that could easily make the 8 at large teams. The 24 teams should be seeded. The only problem with this is the logistics of it. It would most likely require an extra day for the tournament if the final day is for the championship game only. This tournament needs to be changed or tweaked a little bit to make it more entertaining. 13 out of the 15 matches were decided 3 games to 0 in this years tournament. There was not a single five set match in this years tournament. There needs to be more competitive matches and the only way to do this is have more competitive teams in the tournament.

Congrats to all the players selected. Glad to see that a defensive player of the year award is now being honored.

As much as it pains me to say this, NOBODY will beat Assumption High School. They are simply too good and too deep for anyone to have a shot at beating them.

Central Hardin will win against Campbell County and I Like St. Henry over North Oldham in the opening round on Friday the 26th. I have seen Campbell County play and they are just too weak on defense to stop a team from hitting on them. St. Henry will advance to the semifinals in my opinion due to superior talent. I saw first hand in the 9th region final just how talented St. Henry is.

Congrats to Saint Henry. Tough loss for Notre Dame. The Pandas fought to the end but just came up short. Good luck to Saint Henry in the state tournament.

Notre Dame Academy and St. Henry advance to the finals tonight at 7:00. Dixie Heights and Cooper played amazing. Both semifinals games were hard fought with Dixie taking Notre Dame Academy to 5 sets and Cooper extending St. Henry to 4 sets. Should be a great finals tonight! Can Notre Dame beat St. Henry three times in the same season? We will find out tonight!

Notre Dame faces Dixie Heights tonight in the first regional semifinal and St. Henry plays Cooper in the second semifinal at 7:30. Notre Dame looked really good in their first round victory against Ryle. St. Henry struggled in the first round game against Holy Cross and then ended up cruising to victory in three straight sets. Notre Dame and St. Henry should advance to meet in the finals tomorrow night.

The 9th region tournament starts tonight at Dayton High School. Are we looking at another Notre Dame Academy and St. Henry High School final like the last two years?

Congratulations to the Crusaders of St. Henry High School. Should be an interesting 9th region tournament with Notre Dame Academy's recent missteps.

I would say that it "MATTERS" to the student athletes at Harrison County High School and all the other student athletes around the state. I agree that there is a strong probability that Assumption High School will win the state tournament. For most schools just to make the state tournament is a huge deal.

Congratulations to Estill County. Who do you think is the favorite in the 14th region this year?

Notre Dame Academy wins 25-21, 17-25, 38-36, 25-19. In all my years I don't believe I have seen a set go to 38-36. I was not at the game but it sounds like the Raiders of Ryle High School put up a big fight on what was their senior night I'm assuming.

Is Harrison County the favorite in the 10th region to make the state tournament in Louisville? Overall record is 30 wins and 1 loss. Their strength of schedule seems suspect!

The Pandas played their best match of the year. They came out on fire and really never looked back. Gormally was a beast and was the difference maker in my opinion. Great night of volleyball played for a great cause.