District volleyball: Scott County stuns Douglass for title; Dunbar sweeps LexCath
There will be some fresh faces at the upcoming 11th Region high school volleyball tournament with party crashers Scott County and Lexington Catholic making their schools’ first appearances in years.
But ever-present Paul Laurence Dunbar comes into this stage of the postseason as the field’s highest-ranked team at No. 5 in the latest Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association poll and defending champion No. 19 Great Crossing is riding a nine game win streak.
“At this point in time, it’s just literally the team that shows up — whoever shows up,” said Dunbar Coach Jenni Morgan, who last won a region title with the Bulldogs in 2018. “We know that we have to come out and play our best, because everybody’s going to come out at their best against us. You can’t overlook any opponent, it doesn’t matter who it is, because at this point in the season, you have to survive.”
Scott County stunned No. 9 Frederick Douglass on Thursday with a 3-1 win over the Broncos at Sayre in the 42nd District championship, the first district crown for the Cardinals since 2011 when it won the old 41st.
Also Thursday, Dunbar swept Lexington Catholic for its second straight 43rd District crown while Great Crossing won its fourth straight 41st District crown with a 3-1 win over Franklin County. Earlier in the week, Madison Central topped Madison Southern for the 44th District title.
District champions will host Monday’s first-round games against the four runners-up as the battle for a region title and state tournament berth begins. The region semifinals and finals will be held at Bryan Station. Here’s a look at how the 42nd and 43rd districts were won:
Scott County upsets Douglass
The Cardinals (25-8) suffered a three-set sweep against rival Frederick Douglass on Sept. 15 in their regular-season meeting. It started a spiral of five losses in the next eight games.
Scott County has long since recovered. Thursday’s 3-1 win over No. 9 Douglass was the unranked Cardinals’ 12th straight win.
“Gradually it just clicked more and more,” senior outside hitter Emily Sue Watts said. “It was a roller coaster at the beginning, but we’re just going up from here.”
Those midseason setbacks were difficult but important, first-year coach Michael Ortman said.
“It kind of let us know, these are our weaknesses. With it early in the season, it gave us enough time to say, ‘We’re going to attack these every day in practice.’” Ortman said. “We talk about small details all the time — small details, great culture — and every detail in that practice for the rest of the season was ‘how do we get to that point where we’re not talking about weaknesses, we’re talking about strengths.’”
The Cardinals largely negated Douglass’s height advantage at the net and seemed to have every bounce go their way in an impressive 25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 25-15 victory for the school’s first ever district title in the 42nd as it has been organized since 2012.
“I think we started off slow and our passing wasn’t great the first time we played them,” said senior setter Makenzie Peters. “Today, our passing was fine, so we could beat the block more.”
Watts and Peters credited a culture change under Ortman as one of the primary factors in their success this year, the fourth year after the creation of Great Crossing High School split their former talent pool.
“When the schools split, we had to start the program from the bottom,” Watts said. “We worked our way up all the way from the bottom to this. It feels really good.”
Though not the team’s varsity coach until this year, Ortman has coached a number of Scott County players since fifth grade.
“Michael just makes you want to get better, come into the gym and work harder every day,” Peters said. “He’s there for you and cares about you before your success as a volleyball team.”
Seeing their friends and rivals at Great Crossing win a region title last season also provided motivation. A district title is a nice reward for years of effort.
“It means a lot,” Ortman said. “I started with a club team with nine kids in the gym losing money every day. So for them to have worked their butt off with and without me and to be here at this point … all credit goes to them.”
Dunbar forges itself in late-season fire
The Bulldogs (27-10) challenged themselves with an Oct. 1 tournament trip to Phoenix, Ariz., where they faced several big-hitting teams from out west and then came home to immediately take on Kentucky powerhouses Sacred Heart and Assumption.
“We went out there and it was a lot different volleyball,” senior Ava Jackson said. “We went out there and faced a lot of big hitters. We kind of just took that knowledge back here. We were playing really good against those teams.”
The value of that difficult stretch goes well beyond the outward appearance of seven losses in nine games, Morgan said. Dunbar won its last two in Arizona and took a set off both Sacred Heart and Assumption.
“There’s multiple parts of the season that we break things down. When they think they’re getting ready to get a break, there’s something that’s hard coming next,” Morgan said. “They know that. Part of this whole thing is the preparation. It’s a ride and it’s a roller coaster and you have got to mentally stay tough and mentally stay strong and work together because the hard parts are hard.”
Dunbar swept Lexington Catholic 25-16, 25-20, 25-16 on Thursday at Lafayette for the 43rd District title.
Next up, the Bulldogs try for a sixth region title under Morgan. The Bulldogs brought back a number of key players who finished runner-up to Great Crossing last year.
“We’re taking one game at a time, one step at a time, one match at a time and not looking to the future,” Morgan said. “We’ve got to focus on tonight. … We’ve got to come out ready to play.”
Lexington Catholic makes return to region
The Knights’ 25-17, 25-14, 25-15 sweep of Tates Creek in Wednesday’s 43rd District semifinals gave Lexington Catholic its first 11th Region Tournament berth since 2011 when it got there as champions of the old 42nd.
“To be able to say we’re going to make it to the regional for the first time in 11 years is a nice thing to think about,” first-year head coach Jeff Kaufmann said. “Our goal is just to keep winning as much as we can.”
Jackie Jarosz’s school record 1,451 career assists also provided some “icing on the cake” for the Knights. LexCath won the inaugural Kentucky 2A Championship last season and broke its district jinx this year.
“It means everything,” Jarosz said. “For my senior season, it’s so great. I’m really excited. I’ve been here since my freshman year. Last year we won the 2A state championship and this year, we lost it, so to be able to go into districts like this feels good.”
11TH REGION TOURNAMENT
Monday’s quarterfinals
Hosted by each district champion
7 p.m: Frederick Douglass (24-7) at Great Crossing (27-7)
7 p.m: Lexington Catholic (24-9) at Madison Central (26-10)
6 p.m: Madison Southern (11-18) at Scott County (25-8)
6 p.m: Franklin County (19-12) at Paul Laurence Dunbar (27-10)
Wednesday’s semifinals
At Bryan Station
6 p.m.: Douglass-Great Crossing winner vs. Lexington Catholic-Madison Central winner
8 p.m.: Madison Southern-Scott County winner vs. Franklin County-Dunbar winner
Thursday’s finals
At Bryan Station
7 p.m.: Championship match
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 11:37 AM.
