State Quarterfinals: Early Session Results, Takeaways

The winners of the first games will not play each other in the semifinals, but the advantage the winners have is more rest before the semifinal games the next day. Assumption and North Oldham earned the wins in the first two state quarterfinal games Friday at George Rogers Clark in Winchester.   Game 1: Assumption 3, Shelby Valley 0 (25-5, 25-10, 25-15)   Favored Assumption (38-4 overall) may have won in three against the Kats, who made their first trip to the state quarterfinals in program history. However, as Shelby Valley head coach Misty Riddle said, after the first set, the Kats did not play scared actually holding brief leads in the second set and more than that in the third set. The supportive student section and fans roared loudly each time the Kats made a big save or landed a huge kill.   Entering the game, every person in attendance knew most of the Rockets had much more club experience playing in the highest open divisions. On the other side, junior [player_tooltip player_id='535230' first='Miley' last='Riddle'] and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='741700' first='Sahnia' last='Linton'] played in the 17 Open Division for [program_tooltip program_id='747806' first='East' last='Kentucky Junior Volleyball'] in the Bluegrass Invitational in early March. That team finished 0-9 in the tournament, but did go three sets in the last game. The Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy 17 Red team that included Assumption seniors [player_tooltip player_id='212400' first='Jillian' last='Bohannon'], [player_tooltip player_id='212399' first='Kathryn' last='O'Toole'], [player_tooltip player_id='212396' first='Emily' last='Keiran'] and [player_tooltip player_id='212398' first='Ella' last='Askin'] won the 17 Open in that tournament.   Assumption wound up hitting .427 to .055 for Shelby Valley. The Rockets saw 12 different players record kills to just three for the Cats. Riddle led Shelby Valley with 15 kills with [player_tooltip player_id='851613' first='Julia' last='Lee'] recording 11 for the Rockets. [player_tooltip player_id='611724' first='Brooke' last='Codey'] added nine.   Assumption did put up 14 aces to just three for Shelby Valley (34-6), but the defensive stats were not too far apart. The Rockets had 38 digs and five blocks to 33 digs and two blocks for the Cats. [player_tooltip player_id='212397' first='Iris' last='Williams'] led Assumption with nine digs and [player_tooltip player_id='740604' first='Makaya' last='Price'] had nine to lead Shelby Valley.   Assumption plays in the state semifinals at 11 a.m. Saturday against Lexington Catholic.   Game 2: North Oldham 3, Apollo 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-22)   North Oldham has had a size advantage on most opponents all season and it more than paid off in this win that marked the first state quarterfinal win since 2019. The Mustangs (26-11) play in the state semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.   North Oldham had an impressive .384 hitting percentage in the win landing 44 kills on 86 attempts minus just 11 errors. Seven of the errors came in the third set. The two seniors in 6-0 [player_tooltip player_id='706522' first='Vita' last='Sensenbrenner'] and 6-3 [player_tooltip player_id='212386' first='Reagan' last='Baxter'] especially dominated at the net. Sensenbrenner landed 15-of-20 attempts minus three errors for a .600 hitting percentage with Baxter nailing 11-of-19 with just one error for a .526 percentage. [player_tooltip player_id='484260' first='Lilah' last='Anthony'] and [player_tooltip player_id='780301' first='Alex' last='Cannon'] also had big swings to give the Mustangs balance.   North Oldham out-dug Apollo, 37-29 and had 38 assists to just 21 for Apollo. [player_tooltip player_id='724992' first='Berkeley' last='Baxter'] dished out 26 assists to lead everyone with Sensenbrenner and [player_tooltip player_id='547082' first='Ashlyn' last='Thompson'] leading the Mustangs with eight digs each.   Apollo (31-11) hit .162 overall landing 24-of-80 attempts, also with 11 errors. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='484301' first='Avery' last='Gray'] led the E-gals connecting for 12 kills on 36 attempts and four errors for a .222 percentage. North Oldham limited freshman standout [player_tooltip player_id='888227' first='Keelan' last='Wettstain'] to just four kills. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='612255' first='Jessie' last='Pate'] led the E-gals with 12 digs with setters [player_tooltip player_id='845619' first='Jessica' last='Lee'] and Madalyn Roberts recording nine assists each.   Notable Hitters    Reyes makes first touches to get the Rockets into the tough offensive rhythm using a good platform. Reyes earned the Rockets three points on aces using a great jump floating serve. Reyes said the team works on serving a good bit in practice. She noted the Rockets use a point system trying to hit various targets, which helps them be effective with serving in games.     One has to take advantage of opportunities when they get in games for the Rockets because of their depth. Poteraj (pictured) more than did in the win over Shelby Valley landing five kills on 10 attempts and just two errors for a .300 hitting percentage, taking hard swings. Poteraj also formed sound double teams at the net making things tough on the Shelby Valley hitters. Poteraj said the Assumption practices are so hard it helps them stay focused on the end goal no matter who the opponent is on the other side of the net.     Linton showed she is not afraid of the big stage even though Assumption outmatched her at the net. She kept swinging hard no matter what happened and tried to get hands on balls defensively. Linton stayed tough on the short sets and hit some nice ones off blocks. Linton also landed a sound cross. She'll be a force in eastern Kentucky these next two seasons.     Sensenbrenner has been a solid six-rotation player for the Mustangs all season and came up huge once again. Sensenbrenner makes amazing in-air adjustments and puts down overpassed balls with authority. She takes a solid net approach generating power from her feet through the hands. Sensenbrenner said the setters did a good job spreading out the offense to open things up for the hitters to take those big rips at balls. Sensenbrenner also said the blocks slowed balls down for teammates to make good first touches.     Similar to Elizabethtown in the first round, Apollo served hard at her. After some bad touches, she came out, regrouped then made a difference in the win for the Mustangs. Thompson still makes a lot of the simple passes, nicely backing up plays at the net. She dives for balls when necessary and has displayed remarkable improvements on her ball control. On one play in the third set against Apollo, a Wettstain hit appeared destined for the ground, but Thompson slid over to make the clean pass that North Oldham put down for a big point. Thompson credited teammate [player_tooltip player_id='752630' first='Raleigh' last='Becker'] for coming in and playing well while Thompson sat to calm her nerves before going back out and making the key first touches.     Gray put forth a great effort for the E-gals who had not made it this far since 2016. She brings great versatility to Apollo. Gray takes sound swings and can execute roll shots when the E-gals are out of system. Gray also makes good first touches and quickly runs to the net trying to form good double blocks. Gray is not afraid to execute pipe plays. That generally separates teams and hitters offensively.    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The winners of the first games will not play each other in the semifinals, but the advantage the winners have is more rest before the semifinal games the next day. Assumption and North Oldham earned the wins in the first two state quarterfinal games Friday at George Rogers Clark in Winchester.