‘We’re ready.’ Dunbar and Henry Clay set for finals showdown.
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s quest to win a third straight 11th Region volleyball title hit a hiccup Tuesday night against Frederick Douglass, but after dropping the second set, the Bulldogs calmly defeated the Broncos 3-1 in the semifinals at Tates Creek High School.
Dunbar jumped all over Douglass 25-16 in the first set, and looked as if it might make quick work of the crosstown foe. But Douglass responded with a dominating run of its own in the second, taking it 25-14. All the breaks that went Dunbar’s way in the first, seemed to have swung the other direction.
The Bulldogs regrouped.
“I think just coming back and refocusing,” junior Caroline Cole said of her team’s adjustments after the setback. “We know how we played all season and serving aggressive was really huge tonight. I think we just brought it all back together and ended up taking the next two.”
Dunbar closed Douglass out with sets of 25-18 and 25-20. Douglass finishes the season 27-12 in its third year of existence. It was the Broncos’ second trip to the regional and first appearance in the semifinals.
Dunbar (29-9) advances to its third consecutive 11th Region finals where they’ll face old nemesis Henry Clay. The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Tates Creek.
Henry Clay swept Dunbar 25-22, 25-17, 25-20 on Sept. 10, but Dunbar has extinguished the Blue Devils’ season in the regional each of the last two years.
“I think we’re ready to come in tomorrow,” Cole said. “We’ve been in the championship the past two years, and I think we’re really ready to go. I think we have a lot (of momentum) coming in. We’ve always been an exciting team coming into this game.”
Since 2007 no team other than Dunbar or Henry Clay has won the 11th Region title. The Blue Devils have seven titles to Dunbar’s five in that span, including four straight from 2010-2013. In the most recent Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association rankings, Henry Clay ranks eighth and Dunbar 10th. They were the two highest ranked teams coming into the tournament.
In her postgame talk Tuesday Dunbar Coach Jennifer Morgan emphasized the present. Dunbar’s past recent success in the regionals and its loss earlier this year to Henry Clay are history.
“She just basically said to let all the past games go,” Cole said. “We’re focusing on this game, because this one is the only one that matters.”
Henry Clay 3, Madison Southern 0: Henry Clay swept its way into the region finals Tuesday after a one-year absence.
The Devils defeated Madison Southern 25-9, 25-19, 25-15 in a match Coach Dale Grupe said was something to learn from regardless of the score.
“That’s a (29-5) team with two really good hitters,” Grupe said of Madison Southern. “We knew they just weren’t going to give it to us, so I do think we played pretty well. ... We know there will be runs tomorrow, so we’ve got to kind of get over ourselves.”
The Blue Devils have a lot of confidence going into Wednesday.
“We’ve worked our butts off all season to get to the point where we are,” senior Taylor Trammell said. “I know people want to say we have a history with Dunbar, but I think that we’re going into this game with a new mindset, and we’re coming out better than ever.”
Last season, Dunbar swept Henry Clay out of the tournament in the semifinals, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20. In 2017, Dunbar topped the Blue Devils in the title game in five sets, 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 20-25, 15-7.
So, given the history and the Devils’ win earlier this season, Wednesday night figures to shape up as an instant classic.
“We really feel good about where we are and they’ve been playing really well and they have a chance to do something really special here,” Grupe said. “We made it a point to let them know that when we played Dunbar (in September) it was a long time ago. Both of us are different. We feel we’re really good now, so we like our chances.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2019 at 8:41 PM.
