‘It means so much.’ Henry Clay claims historic boys volleyball region title
Henry Clay made history Monday by sweeping Lafayette 25-22, 25-13, 25-18 to claim the inaugural KHSAA 7th Region boys volleyball championship at Bryan Station High School.
“It’s the first one in the history books, and the first one of many for years to come,” Henry Clay senior McAllister “Mac” Millar said. “And us going into the state tournament with this mentality and this momentum, it’s huge, and it means so much.”
Henry Clay survived a nervy first set that went back and forth more on errors than points won.
“In the first set, I guess everybody was just nervous with jitters,” Henry Clay tournament MVP setter Jonathan Pineda said. “We missed seven or eight serves. It was bad. It was really bad. We talked it out, you know. We said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to bring up the energy. … Just calm down and take a deep breath. And we just made it happen.”
The Blue Devils cruised from there, taking control of the next two sets in the early going.
“They’ve earned this — definitely with the results of the last two games, taking the last two opponents 3-0,” Henry Clay coach Luke Grupe said. “These are city teams who sometimes you struggle with because you know the people across the court. I’m very proud of them.”
The win gives Henry Clay (20-7) a home game against 8th Region runner-up Powell County at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the state tournament. Lafayette (16-10) advances, as well, but must travel 148 miles east Wednesday to face 8th Region champion Pikeville.
Though boys high school volleyball is new to most of the state, many of Louisville’s private schools, including coaches poll No. 1 St. Xavier, No. 2 Trinity and No. 3 DeSales, have been playing the sport for years in leagues with out-of-state teams. That institutional advantage bears out on the court when those programs face other Kentucky teams.
“We know we can compete on offense. We’ve got big hitters who can put balls away,” Grupe said. “It’s the little things that we’ve got to work on. And it’s the little things that St. X and Trinity have an advantage over us because they’ve played volleyball longer. Their volleyball IQ is a little bit ahead of us.”
Of Henry Clay’s seven losses, two came to Trinity and one to St. X in sweeps. The Blue Devils also lost to DeSales 2-1 in a weekend showcase event.
“Anytime we’ve played really good opponents, they’ve locked in and said, ‘We’ve got to be better,’” Grupe said. “Even though we lost on some scoreboards, they wanted to improve, and they’ve gotten better every single time.”
Millar said the Blue Devils took their losses to heart.
“Early in the season, we went on a dominant streak,” he said. “And then we got kicked in the mouth a few times by St. X and Trinity and also even Franklin County. But, of course, after getting knocked down, we got right back up and we just pushed ourselves hard.”
Boys volleyball has grown rapidly from a club sport played by only a few schools a few years ago to a 59-team league sanctioned by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association for the first time this spring.
It’s somewhat fitting that Henry Clay took one of eight region titles on the line across the state Monday night. It’s one of the few public schools to have had boys volleyball players walking its halls when there were no high school-affiliated teams.
Grupe, who stands 6-foot-6, played college volleyball at Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina, from 2012 to 2016. He’s been a girls assistant to his father, Dale, for the last several years. Another former Henry Clay student, Will Andrews, played club volleyball out of Louisville in high school until graduating in 2018. He continued his volleyball career at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Dale Grupe took Henry Clay to the girls state finals in 2016 with a team that included future Penn State and Nebraska standout Kaitlyn Hord. Henry Clay is one of only three public schools to make a girls state final. It’s the only public school to win a set in a state final. That success helped set a foundation for the boys’ program.
“This season has meant a lot to me, this being my last year,” Pineda said. “I just want to do my best and go as far as I can with the team.”
After Wednesday’s first round, the state tournament will continue with quarterfinals Friday at various school sites and end with semifinals and finals at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester on May 20.
Boys Volleyball State Tournament
WEDNESDAY’S FIRST ROUND
Fern Creek at DeSales, 7 p.m.
Holy Cross (Louisville) at North Bullitt, 7 p.m.
Lafayette at Pikeville, 7 p.m.
Powell County at Henry Clay, 7 p.m.
Ohio County at West Jessamine, 7 p.m.
Southwestern at South Warren, 7 p.m.
St. Xavier, vs. Oldham County (at Sacred Heart), 7 p.m.
Trinity (Louisville) at Ryle, 7 p.m.
