High Risers in Championship Flight of Annual September Slam

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With all the talk about parity in the 9th Region, one team to definitely not overlook is the Holy Cross Indians. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Covington school has not been able to crack the region tournament the past three years against Notre Dame and Beechwood. However, the Indians showed they could have a say in the region with a fourth September Slam crown at Scott in the past six years Saturday. They are bringing the crown back after a two-year absence following three straight titles from 2021 to 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holy Cross sophomore setter/pin hitter [player_tooltip player_id='731693' first='Lacey' last='Hunt'] was a seventh grader on the team with that last title in 2023 and senior setter/pin hitter [player_tooltip player_id='484458' first='Lucy' last='Lenihan'] was a freshman. The duo gave opponents a number of different looks on the court, making plays from all six spots to propel the Indians to the title with the 5-0 run over two days. They had plenty of help from junior libero [player_tooltip player_id='612183' first='Avery' last='Sturgeon'], junior pin hitters Kensington Adams, [player_tooltip player_id='795019' first='Jordyn' last='Timmerding'], senior outside Aubrey Schoettle, sophomore middles [player_tooltip player_id='816874' first='Maya' last='Hayden'], [player_tooltip player_id='817590' first='Paige' last='Arlinghaus'] along with junior outside/defensive specialist Zara Velasquez and junior opposite/defensive specialist Maddie Holtz.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Holy Cross (9-2) won both games Friday then handed the Ballard Bruins their first loss of the season in the final game of Pool B play Saturday morning. The Indians then dispatched Pool A champion Madison Central and Pool C champion Conner. Conner won the three-way tie at 2-1 in pool play with Simon Kenton and Newport Central Catholic after all three best Montgomery County but split against each other. Set win percentage determined who came to the Championship Flight and Conner went 5-2 in the pool play sets for a .714 percentage. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These players rose to the occasion Saturday trying to help their teams to victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["731693"],"_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":1039092,"_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-6a9cc7fd95c48"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Hunt brought her solid all-around play per usual. Hunt has a quick arm swing, gets on top of balls and puts nice power into them to different zones on the court. Hunt has quick hands to make good touches on sets. Hunt also makes aggressive serves. She involves a number of hitters offensively and does not lock her arms. Hunt said the Indians are great friends on and off the court, therefore, the trust is there to play as a team, which leads to a push and desire to win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["612183"],"_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":1039101,"_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-6a9cc9c880229"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Sturgeon is as steady of a libero as she has been her entire time at Holy Cross. Sturgeon makes the simple first touches and does what she can to get both arms on balls, even swinging them out to the sides to dig up balls. Sturgeon has shown she can handle well-struck balls. Sturgeon kept opponents out of system with her serving both days. Sturgeon said she's been better about not hesitating on defense, going for every ball that comes her way.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["769212"],"_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-6a9ccbf1398a6"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Hall has developed consistent play for the Indians. She unleashes hard swings on go routes for tough crosses as the result of a nice attack approach and quick adjustments on her arm swing. Her ball control on first touches improved on both days. Hall uses a great platform to make those crisp first touches and get the Indians into a great offensive flow.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1000100"],"_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":1039115,"_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-6a9ccd31be39f"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Lambert had an outstanding club season and her play has carried over into high school ball for the Cougars. She takes quality swings at the pins and pulls blockers away from teammates to give them better spacing. Lambert hits balls hard down the line and makes nice tips to the middle. Lambert has good double blocks and drops back quickly to get to balls defensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Note from Writer</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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>&nbsp;or @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigoh/#">prepdigoh</a>&nbsp;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. You may also follow him on X @GMCgrah or Instagram @g.michaelgraham. Subscriptions give you access to exclusive content. For a 30% discount on yearly subscriptions, enter code graham30 at checkout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->