Douglass knocks off top-seeded Sayre for improbable 3rd straight district title
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Douglass rebuilt after losing its front line, entered 14-15 and won its district.
- Senior setter Olivia Orr earned MVP, delivered a one-armed dig and controlled tempo.
- As district champion Douglass will host a region quarterfinal; draw set for Friday.
After graduating the entire front line from a team that won back-to-back 42nd District girls volleyball titles, Frederick Douglass struggled to find its way during the regular season and entered this year’s district playoffs with a 14-15 record as the No. 2 seed.
However, these Broncos took those losses to heart, and when they got a chance to defend their district crown against top-seeded Sayre, they applied those lessons to a 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 25-18, 25-18) championship game win Thursday night at Bryan Station High School.
“They were determined this week like I’ve never seen them before,” first-year Douglass coach Tori Hanson said.
A coaches poll preseason top-25 team, Douglass (16-15) tumbled out of the rankings after a 7-13 start over the first month. That included a puzzling 3-1 loss to district rival Scott County that they followed with a gut-check sweep of No. 24 Great Crossing.
But the next night, the Broncos dropped a five-set match to Sayre 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 20-25, 17-15) that snuffed their hopes of earning the district tournament’s top seed.
“They wanted to prove themselves tonight against a tough team,” Hanson said. “That loss we suffered against them, that was a hard pill for us to swallow, but we’ve gotten so much better since that matchup a month ago, and we just utilize it to our advantage.”
Senior setter Olivia Orr earned tournament most valuable player honors for her efforts, which included a one-armed dig that set up junior outside hitter Urijah Holman-Allen’s kill to end the third set.
“We had a good work ethic, and we really wanted it for ourselves,” Orr said. “Everyone wanted to win and win it as a team instead of individually, which was great. So it really came together at the end.”
Hanson took over a team that had lost its top five players in kills and blocks. But the Broncos returned assist leader Orr, along with senior defensive specialists Lilly Cowing and Ava Simonsen, all among the team leaders in digs.
“The biggest thing that helped me was having a solid back row,” Hanson said. “So that allowed our hitters to grow and develop with (Orr). She’s a great setter. They were able to put balls down and swing away.”
Sayre (29-8) had trouble keeping the ball off the floor against Douglass’ attack most of the night, but it dominated the second set thanks to a 4-0 start and another rally that extended its lead to 23-14 on the way to leveling the match.
Douglass shrugged off the setback, and traded point-for-point in the third set before pulling away late to an easy 25-18 set win for a two sets to one lead. Sayre never recovered.
“You’ve got to be able to have that right mentality to turn your heads back around and push forward with it,” Hanson said of the second set. “After that, it was a brand-new ballgame for them. They wiped the slate clean, and they were able to pull out the win.”
Holman-Allen summed up the strategy.
“We just had to stay aggressive. … We had to swing at everything,” she said.
Next, as a district champion, Douglass will host its 11th Region Tournament quarterfinal matchup on Monday against one of the runners-up from the 41st, 43rd or 44th districts (draw below). In the 41st District finals, Great Crossing topped Franklin County. In the 44th District finals, Madison Central defeated Madison Southern.
The region tournament’s Tuesday semifinals and Thursday finals will be played at Frankfort High School’s F.D. Wilkinson Gymnasium.
All-42nd District Tournament Team
Lilly Cowing, Ava Simonsen, Urijah Holman-Allen and Olivia Orr (MVP), Frederick Douglass; Brooke Barntsen, Eli Powell and Phoebe Barlow, Sayre; Cameron Owens and Abigail Brown, Bryan Station; Emma Jane Hurley and Kelsie Lawson, Henry Clay; Zariah Gent, Scott County.
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11th Region volleyball tournament
MONDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
Monday’s games at site of district champions; Tuesday’s semifinals and Thursday’s finals at Frankfort High School’s F.D. Wilkinson Gymnasium.
- Madison Southern at Great Crossing, 7 p.m.
- Sayre at Paul Laurence Dunbar, 6:30 p.m.
- Franklin County at Frederick Douglass, 7 p.m.
- Lexington Catholic at Madison Central, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY’S SEMIFINALS
- Great Crossing-Madison Southern winner vs. Paul Laurence Dunbar-Sayre winner, 6 p.m.
- Frederick Douglass-Franklin County winner vs. Madison Central-Lexington Catholic winner, 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY’S FINALS
- Championship game, 6 p.m.
This story was originally published October 24, 2025 at 6:55 AM.
