Even Keelers in Beechwood at 35th District Holy Cross Barnburner

One region has already gone to a super region format and another could follow this season.   In the 9th Region, the 35th District could make a case for it with the way the season has played out so far. The Beechwood Tigers (10-1 overall) are the top-ranked team in the region and eighth overall in the latest Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association poll with four-time defending region champion Notre Dame and St. Henry tied for second. Ryle and Conner from the 33rd District follow at fourth and fifth, respectively.   However, the Holy Cross Indians beat Conner in the September Slam championship flight on Saturday so the Indians at 11-3 overall with two of those losses coming to Beechwood after the Tigers won Thursday's barnburner, 3-2 (25-12, 24-26, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11) in Covington. Beechwood head coach Matt Long even said he voted Holy Cross in the region's top five after the district seed game. Only the two teams that make it to district championship games in the state make it to the region tournament.   Both teams have a good mixture of veteran and younger players. Beechwood is especially young in the back row. However, freshman libero [player_tooltip player_id='966134' first='Kennedy' last='Sturgeon'] played in the Open Division for Elevation Volleyball Club's top 14 Jeni team in the spring with eighth grade outside/defensive specialist [player_tooltip player_id='938521' first='Payce' last='Adams'] playing for the top Tri-State Elite 13 Blue and freshman outside/defensive specialist [player_tooltip player_id='1040706' first='Emma' last='Harris'] playing for the TSE 14 Blue. Holy Cross also has some young players in the back row. Sturgeon squared off against her older sister in Holy Cross junior libero [player_tooltip player_id='612183' first='Avery' last='Sturgeon'] for the second time this season.   While both teams took big swings and made a number of fabulous first touches, Beechwood's back row did a better job closing down seams and keeping plays alive to lift Beechwood the the win. Beechwood setter [player_tooltip player_id='456668' first='Skylr' last='Estep'] made a number of nice sets to the three senior power hitters in pin hitter [player_tooltip player_id='456263' first='Rachel' last='Lewandowski'], middle [player_tooltip player_id='484443' first='Macy' last='Armstrong'] and six-rotation outside/defensive specialist [player_tooltip player_id='484442' first='Isabel' last='O'Brien']. The 6-3 middle/right side [player_tooltip player_id='827943' first='Teegan' last='Becker'] also played a huge role in Beechwood's net defense.   "It's good to see our young kids and our older kids, especially our young kids stay resilient, play super hard, even in the tough situations," Long said. "I think our young kids played really, really well. Obviously, we rely on our older kids. We know they're going to do their thing. But for our young kids to come in whether it was passing, where it was on block or defense, whether it was attacking. I'm super proud of them."   Holy Cross fought back harder after the first set trying to defend the home floor. Their two setter/hitters in senior [player_tooltip player_id='484458' first='Lucy' last='Lenihan'] and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='731693' first='Lacey' last='Hunt'] led the way with sophomore middles [player_tooltip player_id='817590' first='Paige' last='Arlinghaus'] and [player_tooltip player_id='816874' first='Maya' last='Hayden'] along with junior pins [player_tooltip player_id='795019' first='Jordyn' last='Timmerding'] and Kensington Adams taking solid swings. Eighth grade defensive specialist Kendall Arlinghaus also made some nice plays in the back row.   Holy Cross hosts Newport Central Catholic on Monday. Beechwood travels to Boone County on Tuesday.   These six players especially stayed at an even keel trying to help their teams win.    Adams is showing great poise on the court well above her age. Adams is striving to quickly turn into a solid all-around player for the Tigers. Adams makes the simple passes, only lunging when necessary under control to keep plays alive. Adams came through on a big double block in the fifth set. Adams takes aggressive jump float serves and provides nice net backup. Adams takes sharp shots to the back row when she has good spacing from the net and puts across an aggressive jump float serve. Adams is trying to hit from the back row and bounces back quickly from mistakes. Her back row hitting needs work, but that will come around because she is coachable. Adams said she tries to keep her teammates excited despite her youth and bring whatever she can to the court trying to help the Tigers win.     O'Brien continues to make solid plays all over the court. She is a great example to the younger players with her continued scrappiness on defense. O'Brien gets on top of balls and takes great rips into seams with precision. O'Brien does not let mistakes or balls that did not drop get to her. O'Brien bring the intensity until the whistle blows. She also had a number of quality blocks in the win. O'Brien said exposure to Open club division and these type of games will only help the program continue to grow even when the seniors graduate.     Sturgeon has used her club experience to come in and execute like an experienced player. She takes minimal steps to balls and has great range. While Sturgeon makes flashy plays, she most importantly makes the simple two to three-point passes to help the Tigers get into a good offensive flow. Sturgeon sticks her arms out to keep balls alive and showed she can handle well-struck crosses effectively. Sturgeon also puts aggressive jump float serves to different zones on the court. Sturgeon said she and her sister are both competitive so when Beechwood plays Holy Cross, Sturgeon said she wants to play well to prove she's just as good as Avery.     Harris has a bright future ahead of her. Knowing teams generally hit away from liberos, Harris stays down and in ready position for balls coming her way. Harris makes good first touches on defense and serve reception and provides nice net backup. Harris digs up well-struck crosses and has a deceptive float serve. Harris said she's been trying to get used to the right back position on defense having not played it before.     Lenihan finds different ways to hit by double blocks. She makes the most of balls to make precise sets per usual. Lenihan delivers quality swings when she has space away from the net. Lenihan does not give up on plays and delivers tough crosses. Lenihan does a good job tooling blocks and putting over hard serves.     Timmerding also makes great plays to keep Holy Cross in games. Timmerding made clean first touches and is showing good leadership on the court. She forms walls around balls and makes sound two to three-point passes. Timmerding can take some nice hits when needed.    Note from Writer   Mike Graham has been writing for Prep Dig for two years and has enjoyed getting to know the volleyball scenes in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. If you liked the story, please copy and paste to X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. You may also follow us at @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigkentucky/#">prepdigkentucky</a>, @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigtennessee/#">prepdigtennessee</a> or @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigoh/#">prepdigoh</a> on Instagram in addition to @PrepDigKy, @PrepDigTN or @PrepDigOH on X. If you feel someone in Kentucky, Tennessee or Ohio needs coverage or even have feedback on the Kentucky or Tennessee rankings, please email Mike at michaelgraham@prepdig.com. 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One region has already gone to a super region format and another could follow this season.