Lexington Catholic lost to Dunbar 30 times in a row. That streak ends at the perfect time.
Lexington Catholic’s players knew what they needed if they were to finally defeat two-time defending 11th Region champion Paul Laurence Dunbar in Thursday’s tournament finals at Madison Central High School.
“Confidence. Literally, just confidence,” senior outside hitter Addie Lowe said. “And not knowing (or worrying about) who’s on the other side of the net — just playing our game.”
The task was formidable. Last week, Dunbar swept the Knights 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-17) for the 43rd District Tournament championship. That victory stretched the No. 11 Bulldogs’ win streak over No. 15 LexCath to an astounding 30 matches dating back two decades to Aug. 21, 2004.
Dunbar has won seven region titles since then and was 2022 state runner-up with some of the same players on the court Thursday.
Turns out, last week’s loss proved just the motivation for Lexington Catholic to put an end to all its frustrations as the Knights flipped the script and swept the Bulldogs 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-16) to claim the 11th Region volleyball crown for the first time in school history.
“We had the mentality that this wasn’t going to be our last game,” Lowe said. “We got angry. And we had so much fun.”
Lowe, a Loyola Maryland commit, tormented Dunbar all evening as she flew in from the left to pound kills on critical points throughout the match.
Dunbar (27-9) most closely contested the second set, but unforced Bulldogs’ errors let the Knights establish a three-point gap in the late stages.
“Even when they went on their run, we didn’t let them go big,” LexCath junior libero Maddy Warner said. “We always got it right back. I think that was really important.”
With Ella Rose Gentry serving for set point at 24-21, LexCath got crucial digs by Finley Quinn and Warner on a rally that included three Charlotte Hall sets to Lowe on the left. Dunbar dug out the first two, but Lowe tooled the third try through Dunbar’s block to win the set 25-21 and take a commanding two-sets-to-none lead.
“She’s a once-in-a-lifetime kid to come through a program,” Lexington Catholic coach Jeff Kaufmann said of Lowe, a five-year varsity player who ranks as the Knights’ all-time kills leader. “Because of her senior leadership and the maturity she gained through years of playing varsity … she knew exactly what she had to do to lead this team.
“I was so happy that when it was money time, we were able to get her the ball, because I wouldn’t have wanted it anywhere else.”
Lowe shared the credit all around.
“We have so much chemistry on the court. You can see it from a mile away,” Lowe said. “And so much energy.”
In the regular season on Sept. 17, Lexington Catholic pushed Dunbar to five sets and had a match point before succumbing to the more determined Bulldogs. And the Knights never seemed ready for last week’s rematch in the district finals. They would not make that mistake again.
“They turned everything that went against us (last week) into a lesson for tonight,” Kaufmann said. “They made their adjustments. We didn’t miss as many serves. We had spot-on passing. We covered the floor well, and we got them frustrated. We kept the momentum the whole game.”
Fittingly, Lowe closed out the match and the championship with a kill from the left that caromed off a Dunbar defender and sailed to the back wall.
And, yes, “first-ever region champs in program history” has a nice ring to it.
“It’s crazy,” Lowe said, holding the region trophy and her tournament most valuable player plaque. “This is, like, insane to be here right now.”
Next, Lexington Catholic (26-6) must prepare for KVCA coaches poll No. 1 Notre Dame (31-3) in the girls volleyball state tournament. The luck of the current KHSAA rotation has the Knights traveling to the Pandas’ Park Hills campus before the tournament moves on to George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester.
Notre Dame has 10 volleyball state titles, the second most of all schools. It’s a difficult draw for a team making its first state tournament appearance.
“We’re going to bring our game and, hopefully, we can have the same results,” Kaufmann said.
All-11th Region Tournament Team
Charlotte Hall, Miller Duncan, Maddy Warner and Addie Lowe (MVP), Lexington Catholic; Bela Haggard, Sadie Stuart and Peyton Beatty, Dunbar; Addison Jarvis and Ava Simpson, Frederick Douglass; Kate Rush and Jenna Browning, Great Crossing; Mya Duncan, Madison Southern; Josie Campbell, Madison Central; Sophie Dufour, Franklin County; Allie McClanahan, Scott County.
State Volleyball Tournament
MONDAY’S FIRST ROUND
7 p.m.: Lexington Catholic at Notre Dame.
This story was originally published November 1, 2024 at 8:13 AM.
