‘There were no doubts.’ Douglass, Dunbar sweep their way to district volleyball titles.
Paul Laurence Dunbar and Frederick Douglass swept their way to their respective district championships on Thursday and will be among the contenders vying for next week’s 11th Region volleyball tournament championship.
The No. 7 Broncos (26-6) and No. 11 Bulldogs (25-8) landed on the same side of the bracket in Friday morning’s draw for next week’s 11th Region Tournament, meaning first-round wins at home on Monday would pit them against each other in Tuesday’s semifinals at Madison Central. The finals will be Thursday, also at Madison Central.
On Monday, Dunbar will host No. 19 Franklin County (27-6), the 41st District runner-up. Douglass will host 42nd District runner-up Madison Southern (13-8). The other side of the bracket contains No. 17 Great Crossing (23-12), the 41st District champion and the last team not named Dunbar to win an 11th Region title, and No. 15 Lexington Catholic (23-6).
Dunbar earns four-peat in 43rd District
Dunbar’s 3-0 win against Lexington Catholic — 25-13, 25-23, 25-17 — marked was its fourth straight 43rd District title and seventh in its last eight tries.
It also represented a stark departure from Dunbar’s regular-season showdown against the Knights, where they faced a match point at home on Sept. 17 before eking out a win in five sets.
This time, the Bulldogs dominated from the outset. While Lexington Catholic made the second set interesting, the Knights couldn’t string enough points together to extend the match beyond the minimum.
“A lot of people doubted us. And I’m not going to lie. There were doubts,” Dunbar senior setter Isabella Haggard said. “But tonight, there were no doubts in our mind. It was literally a 1 through 15 effort. It took all of us … It’s just Dunbar volleyball for you. We just made history.”
Dunbar has won 10 volleyball district titles since 2009 under head coach Jenni Morgan. It had a repeat and two three-peats before Thursday made it four in a row.
It might have been Dunbar’s best performance against a ranked team this year.
“This is what we prepare for all season long,” Morgan said. “When we step on the court in the regular season, every single team wants to beat you. It’s the same feeling you go in with — the little bit of nervousness and anxiety you have going into tonight’s match. … To win in this district and win in this region, you’ve got to do hard things together. This whole season they’ve done the hard things.”
Dunbar will be looking to win its third straight region championship, which would be another first for the program.
“We just have to keep the same energy going through. I mean, we all just kind of shocked ourselves and, now, we know how we can play,” Haggard said. “We just raised the bar a little higher, so we just keep the standard there.”
Douglass repeats in 42nd District
Frederick Douglass repeated as 42nd District champions on Thursday with a straight-set win against tournament host Scott County (25-13, 25-15, 25-16).
The No. 7 Broncos will go into next week’s region tournament as the highest-ranked team in the field, according to the latest Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
But that didn’t mean clear sailing this week. Douglass dropped the first seven points in its semifinals match against Bryan Station on Tuesday before settling down and getting a hard-fought 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 sweep. The match included a rally from 23-17 down in the second set that was overcome entirely on the serve of senior Malia Bivins.
“I’d rather have those moments now where we can learn from it,” Douglass coach Nick Griffin said. “One loss and you’re done. I’m proud of them, it was nice to get that win.”
Despite losing in five sets to Dunbar in the regular season, Douglass has consistently ranked higher than the Bulldogs in the coaches poll all year. The Broncos jumped to a 2-0 lead over Dunbar way back on Sept. 5 only to suffer a dreaded reverse sweep on their home court.
Senior outside hitter Addison Jarvis said the Broncos learned a lot from that match.
“I think the problem was our mentality was that we were up two (sets) — we’re fine. We weren’t fine,” Jarvis said. And I think from now on, we don’t quit. I think that’s going to be really important to us in the Region 11 tournament. Don’t stop. Don’t quit. Play our game.”
The Broncos have lost only three games since and recently got back junior libero Ava Simonsen from injury. She missed more than a month of the season, including the match against Dunbar.
“We’ve been clean at practice. I feel good, especially with our height on the front row,” Jarvis said. “I think our defense up at the net, along with the back row, has really picked up, and I think we’re going to do good stuff in the Region 11 tournament.”
Griffin is optimistic, as well, but he knows what lies ahead.
“We are ready,” Griffin said. “But our region is one of the top three in the state. So we know it’s going to be a dog fight.”
11TH REGION TOURNAMENT
MONDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
Hosted by each district champion
7 p.m.: Madison Southern (13-8) at Frederick Douglass (26-6).
7 p.m.: Franklin County (27-6) at Paul Laurence Dunbar (25-8).
7 p.m.: Lexington Catholic (23-6) at Madison Central (21-16).
7 p.m.: Scott County (13-13) at Great Crossing (23-12).
TUESDAY’S SEMIFINALS
At Madison Central
6 p.m.: Madison Southern-Frederick Douglass winner vs. Franklin County-Paul Laurence Dunbar winner.
7:45 p.m.: Lexington Catholic-Madison Central winner vs. Scott County-Great Crossing winner.
THURSDAY’S FINALS
At Madison Central
7 p.m.: Championship match.
