Region recaps: Four teams win first championships

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Attend the Top 250 Expo 12/1 in Wilder, KY! Use coupon code "GrahamExpo2024" at checkout for $10 off registration fee!</strong> Here's the&nbsp;link to the event page:&nbsp;<a href="https://events.prepdig.com/e/1299/register/kentucky-top-250-expo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://events.prepdig.com/e/1299/register/kentucky-top-250-expo</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The region tournaments saw a number of familiar teams win championships. However, there were some surprises. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three teams won their first region championships in program history. The Heritage Christian Warriors claimed the 2nd Region with Knott County Central, Owensboro and Lexington Catholic winning the 14th, 2nd and 11th Regions, respectively for the first region championships in school history.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1st Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>McCracken County 3, Paducah Community Christian 0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-15)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Mustangs (34-5) rolled to the 12th straight region crown with another undefeated run through the region in the regular season and postseason.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='159358' first='Addison' last='Hart'] again led the Mustangs with 19 kills and 10 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='531304' first='Elizabeth' last='Gilbert'] added 11 kills and nine aces. [player_tooltip player_id='757541' first='Taylor' last='Dugan'] added 37 assists with [player_tooltip player_id='533343' first='Reagan' last='Hill'] and Emily Hatfield recording three blocks a piece.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2nd Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Heritage Christian 3, Union County 1 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Warriors (24-5) won the crown behind 27 kills, 27 digs and seven aces from [player_tooltip player_id='734283' first='Mya' last='Goodwin']. [player_tooltip player_id='535284' first='Makenzie' last='McCarty'] had 28 assists and Hadlee Hayes had 19 digs and 14 assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Katie Cansler recorded 21 digs and eight kills. Teammate Allison Craft added 27 digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3rd Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Owensboro 3, Owensboro Catholic 1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-14, 25-20)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Devils (24-14) avenged a loss to the Aces in the 9th District title game to earn that elusive region title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Addie Travis led the way with 19 kills and 11 digs with [player_tooltip player_id='477206' first='Ava' last='Fincher'] recording 18 assists, 14 digs, three blocks and six kills. [player_tooltip player_id='612018' first='Ayrish' last='Barksdale'] had 14 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='484315' first='Anna' last='Travis'] had 22 assists and 13 digs. Rose Laren recorded 14 digs and [player_tooltip player_id='588574' first='Mollie' last='Bratcher'] had six blocks with [player_tooltip player_id='612019' first='June' last='Larsen'] and Macey Kahn recording eight and six digs, respectively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Bowling Green 3, Warren East 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-18)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Purples (33-6) saw the 6-4 [player_tooltip player_id='212192' first='Amirra' last='Bailey'] pound down 16 kills and record two assisted blocks with [player_tooltip player_id='741315' first='JoEllen' last='Marshall']. Marshall added 39 assists and 10 digs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bowling Green's depth played a big role in the first region crown in two years. [player_tooltip player_id='276175' first='Morgan' last='Rockrohr'] had nine kills and eight digs and [player_tooltip player_id='477191' first='Claire' last='Lawless'] recorded 12 digs and three aces. Olivia Arauz had 13 digs and Addie Kincheloe recorded eight kills. Leyla Spurlock added eight digs and two aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Central Hardin 3, Elizabethtown 1 (26-24, 25-13, 20-25, 25-17)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bruins (35-5) won consecutive region championship behind 42 assists from dynamic setter [player_tooltip player_id='477116' first='Kati' last='Vest'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='159346' first='Samantha' last='Nelson'] led Central Hardin with 19 digs and two aces with Sadie Atcher and [player_tooltip player_id='212390' first='Klaire' last='Warrell'] tallying 24 and 11 kills, respectively. [player_tooltip player_id='579201' first='Larkin' last='Taylor'] had nine with Vest recording eight. Taylor had three solo and two assisted blocks and Vest had two of each. [player_tooltip player_id='212389' first='Graci' last='Blair'] added two aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>6th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mercy 3, Holy Cross (Louisville) 1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-15)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Jaguars made it back to the state tournament for an astounding 43rd year in a row with yet another region championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='554148' first='Emma' last='Cronen'] led the defensive effort with 23 digs and two aces for Mercy (25-14) with [player_tooltip player_id='172954' first='Madisyn' last='Green'] posting 19 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='479273' first='Mady' last='Yaden'] had 16 kills and two aces and [player_tooltip player_id='611834' first='Nalani' last='Derringer'] had 13 kills to go with three blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='544366' first='Addison' last='Randol'] had 19 assists and nine digs with [player_tooltip player_id='477137' first='Alyssa' last='Carter'] posting three assisted blocks and one solo block.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>7th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Assumption 3, DuPont Manual 0 (30-28, 25-23, 25-14)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Rockets (31-8) fought through a tough region behind 43 assists from [player_tooltip player_id='172952' first='Emilee' last='Fuller']. [player_tooltip player_id='172951' first='Bailey' last='Blair'] and [player_tooltip player_id='172950' first='Emma' last='Barnett'] led the Rockets with 16 and 10 kills, respectively. Blair also had 11 digs and three aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Assumption saw four reach double figures with 69 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='172945' first='Kristen' last='Simon'] led the way with 13 and [player_tooltip player_id='611724' first='Brooke' last='Codey'] had 11 with Fuller contributing 10 and Barnett nine. Emily Kieran had six digs and served two aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>8th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>North Oldham 3, Simon Kenton 0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-20)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Link to Game Story:</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2024/11/north-oldham-takes-back-8th-region-title/">https://prepdig.com/2024/11/north-oldham-takes-back-8th-region-title/</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>9th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Notre Dame 3, St. Henry 0 (25-15, 25-14, 28-26)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Pandas (32-3) won their third straight region crown with [player_tooltip player_id='210633' first='Ava' last='Tilden'] leading the way with 15 kills and 11 digs to go with one solo and one assisted block.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='210634' first='Julia' last='Grace'] led Notre Dame with 16 digs and [player_tooltip player_id='379687' first='Lizzy' last='Larkins'] had 47 assists. [player_tooltip player_id='312234' first='Audrey' last='Dyas'], [player_tooltip player_id='484250' first='Teagan' last='Kondik'] and [player_tooltip player_id='507601' first='Grace' last='Portwood'] added 11, 10 and nine kills, respectively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>10th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Scott 3, Bishop Brossart 1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-11)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles (29-11) earned their way back to the top of the region after finishing runner-up the past two seasons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two-time region player of the year [player_tooltip player_id='212393' first='Milyn' last='Minor'] led the Eagles with 20 kills and [player_tooltip player_id='477094' first='Elise' last='Manhardt'] had 20 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='500587' first='Ryann' last='Grigsby'] added 34 assists with [player_tooltip player_id='477092' first='Brooklyn' last='Helm'] tallying eight kills and [player_tooltip player_id='604595' first='Payton' last='Grigsby'] had seven. Minor also had six solo and one assisted block.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>11th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lexington Catholic 3, Paul Laurence Dunbar 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-16)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Link to Game Story:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepdig.com/2024/11/11th-region-championship-game-histortic-night-knights/">https://prepdig.com/2024/11/11th-region-championship-game-histortic-night-knights/</a>: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>12th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>West Jessamine 3, Boyle County 0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-21)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Colts (24-16) recorded their sixth straight region crown and eighth in the last nine years with a sound home win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='477143' first='Callaway' last='Marsh'] led West Jessamine with 32 assists, 16 digs and three aces and Riley Cissell had three aces and seven digs. [player_tooltip player_id='608158' first='Taylor' last='Snowden'] added 11 digs and [player_tooltip player_id='588569' first='Sienna' last='Schantz'] had nine. Anna Boikov had 10 kills with [player_tooltip player_id='779174' first='Tori' last='Daleng'] and [player_tooltip player_id='603652' first='Ashlyn' last='Crutcher'] pounding out eight each. Daleng also had four assisted and one solo block.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>13th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Whitley County 3, Corbin 2 (25-18, 15-25, 18-25, 25-21, 17-15)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Colonels pulled out the win to make it back to the state tournament for the third straight year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whitley County (28-10) dug up 87 balls in the win. [player_tooltip player_id='603765' first='Khylea' last='Ray Collier'] had 27 with [player_tooltip player_id='603768' first='Jonna' last='Rice'] and Kirra Vance digging up 15 each and Chandra Price 13 to go with three aces. Vance also had three aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rice had 36 assists, four assisted and one solo block with [player_tooltip player_id='477138' first='Addison' last='Siler'] leading the Colonels with 16 kills. Chandra Price had 11 kills with Aubree Clemens adding nine kills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>14th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Knott County Central 3, Wolfe County 0 (25-6, 25-22, 25-10)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Patriots (pictured) knocked off the two-time defending champions to win the first region crown in school history.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='172935' first='Faith' last='Pollard'] led the Patriots (30-9) with 13 kills, five assisted blocks and two solo blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='159310' first='Sydney' last='Stidham'] had 10 digs to go and [player_tooltip player_id='159392' first='Ellie' last='Miller'] led the way with 13 assists. [player_tooltip player_id='484291' first='Zoe' last='Miller'] had eight assists to go with five digs and five aces with Akasia Bentley recording four aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>15th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Paintsville 3, Johnson Central 0 (25-21, 25-17, 27-25)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers earned their way back to the top of the region with a second postseason win over the district rivals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='269735' first='Olivia' last='Maynard'] led the Tigers with 20 kills and 14 digs with [player_tooltip player_id='477088' first='Bailee' last='Porter'] recording 38 assists. Jenna Ousley added 12 digs and three aces. [player_tooltip player_id='253875' first='Kylie' last='Kinner'] pounded out 21 kills and three aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>16th Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ashland Blazer 3, Raceland 0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-17)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ashland won the first region championship since 2011 with the win. [player_tooltip player_id='741511' first='Olivia' last='Wiley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='741516' first='Mena' last='Pittman'] have led the Kittens (33-6) in kills all season with [player_tooltip player_id='159393' first='Grace' last='Clark'] and [player_tooltip player_id='782955' first='Sydney' last='Mertz'] leading in assists. [player_tooltip player_id='477129' first='Sadie' last='Chaffins'] has also had big kills for Ashland this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Notable Performances</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["159392"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":715060,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-672828290b131"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Miller has played a huge role in leading the Patriots to the first region championship in program history. Miller does a great job moving her feet and putting balls to different spots near the net including the go route, short routes and back sets. She puts the Knott County Central hitters in good spots to put balls down. Miller is very alert at the net digging up various tips. Miller can also record big aces when needed. Miller leads Knott County Central with 622 assists to go with 162 digs and 35 aces.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["535284"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67282c6921712"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">McCarty has done a good job setting up the hitters all season. She does a great job in transition from defense to offense by moving her feet and positioning herself well on the court. McCarty adds versatility with her ability to block and dig defensively. McCarty has 397 assists, 146 digs, 52 aces and 68 kills on the season for the Warriors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["588572"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-67282f35ab2e1"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Travis does a great job commanding the net for the Devils. She can smack balls down on one play, then push them to the sidelines on the next play. When tips are there, Travis is not afraid to go to them to find the donuts on the floor. Travis also brings a lot of valuable play defensively. Travis has 440 kills to go with 280 digs and 38 aces on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["269735"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-672831ebe64e4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Maynard brings a huge weapon offensively for the Tigers. She forms double blocks well at the net then does a great job transitioning to offense. She puts balls down from the pins and the middle. Maynard also makes things happen out of system pushing balls to open parts of the floor. Maynard is also sound on defense constantly getting her arms under balls and making crisp passes and has developed a tough serve. Maynard has 527 kills, 28 assisted blocks, three solo blocks, 295 digs and 89 aces on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["603765"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":715094,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-672831ebe655b"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Collier has provided steady play at the libero spot for the Colonels this year. She moves her feet well anticipating where balls are going and gets her arms on the ground to pop balls back up to teammates when needed. Collier moves forward quickly to track down tipped balls. Collier does a great job with her arm motions to make quick passes to the setter to set up the Whitley County attack. Collier has 520 digs and 55 aces on the season for the Colonels.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->