‘Our program is going to be big.’ Douglass shows it belongs; Henry Clay keeps rolling.
For the first part of October, it seemed Frederick Douglass’s volleyball team could not shake off the losing bug as it alternated victory with defeat for 10 straight games.
But the Broncos are rolling now.
Douglass bossed its way to a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-21, 25-23) Tuesday in the 42nd District Tournament semifinals over a Bryan Station squad that nipped it in five sets during the regular season.
Kirsten Mason’s kill up the middle provided the match winner in front of a raucous crowd of family and students at Bryan Station High School.
“We showed them that no matter the odds, no matter what’s happened this season, that we are the team to beat and our program is going to be big in these next couple of years,” said senior Rachel Dodd.
Douglass, unrated in the Kentucky Volleyball Association Coaches poll all season despite some wins over ranked opponents, knocked off No. 21 Bryan Station and set itself up for a 42nd District title match against No. 8 Henry Clay. Both Douglass and Henry Clay advance to next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
The Broncos have now won four straight and are making their second consecutive district finals appearance in the third year of the program.
“It’s about playing confident and coming in knowing that we have this,” Dodd said. “We don’t have anybody else telling us we can’t do this.”
The win came without head coach Erin Grupe on the sideline. Douglass Principal Lester Diaz would not comment on her absence, only offering that he wanted “to keep the focus on the kids.” Freshman coach Alex Boatwright led the team Tuesday.
Wednesday’s finals will begin at 7 p.m. at Bryan Station.
Henry Clay rolls
Henry Clay, the 42nd District Tournament’s top seed, made quick work of semifinals opponent Scott County on Tuesday with a straight-set win on its way to the Blue Devils’ 15th straight district finals appearance.
“Tonight we just went into the game thinking we’ve got to play our game … We can’t slack. Play hard, don’t let up,” said senior setter Sara Shadwick.
The Blue Devils rolled 25-7, 25-11 and 25-12 in a match where Henry Clay Coach Dale Grupe said he was relieved to have everyone back healthy at the right time of the season.
“This is only our fifth day overall all year that we’ve had all our kids healthy,” Grupe said. Shadwick and others missed significant time with nagging injuries. “We’re slowly getting to figure out how to play with each other.”
Henry Clay comes in as the No. 8 team in the state, according to the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association poll, and has never lost a 42nd District title since its realignment into it several years ago.
What the Blue Devils (21-15) have been missing the past couple of years, however, is an 11th Region title and its accompanying trip to the state tournament. With their season and the seniors’ high school careers on the line, Shadwick said the focus now is just to make sure every opponent gets their best effort.
“We just all have to get in that right mental mindset right before we play, she said. “We have to take every game seriously now because if you lose, you’re done. Some of us, this will be our last time ever playing, so we’re just really focused and dialed in on going as far as we can to get to state and win.”
Scott County (11-19) had defeated Sayre (21-15) in four sets, 3-1, in Monday’s opening round.
Wednesday’s finals winner also gets to host its first game of the 11th Region Tournament. Grupe crossed off game one of nine on the team’s goal list in Tuesday’s postgame huddle. Game nine would be the state finals.
“Our goal is to get to the last match. Tomorrow we have a chance to defend our district title, and more importantly, this year they’ve changed the format, so if we can win tomorrow, we can host on Monday.”
43rd District semis
Paul Laurence Dunbar (25-9), ranked No. 10 in the state coaches poll, takes on Lexington Catholic in the first game of Wednesday’s 43rd District finals scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at Lexington Christian Academy.
LexCath (18-15) advanced with a 3-1 win over LCA (12-17) in Monday’s first round to face top-seed Dunbar. The Bulldogs swept the Knights in their regular-season meeting on Sept. 3
In the other semifinal, No. 24 Lafayette (26-9) faces No. 11 Tates Creek (24-7) with a scheduled start of 7:30 p.m. Lafayette stunned the Commodores with a 3-1 win on Oct. 10 that included a 32-30 first set.
As is the case with the 42nd District, each semifinal winner earns a berth in next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
This story was originally published October 22, 2019 at 10:48 PM.
