Even Keelers in Beechwood at St. Henry Key 9th Region Battle

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Editor's Notes: Do you want to get in front of Prep Dig Scouts? This is one big way to do it. The annual Kentucky Exposure Tour in Wilder is Nov. 28. Click on this link to register: </em><a href="https://events.prepdig.com/e/2489/register/prep-dig-exposure-tour-kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://events.prepdig.com/e/2489/register/prep-dig-exposure-tour-kentucky</a>.<em> For 25 percent off, type </em>ET26Mike25OFF<em> at checkout.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Over the years, the Commonwealth's Dominant Five in Louisville powers Mercy, Assumption, Sacred Heart along with Notre Dame and St. Henry from just south of Cincinnati have dominated the state with their depth. They have combined to win every state championship since the first one in 1980 with the long exception coming in 1980 when St. Henry's 40th District rival Villa Madonna won it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ever since Matt Long came back to Beechwood in 2023, the Tigers (22-2 overall) have really worked at building up that depth to compete with the Dominant Five. Visiting Beechwood turned another corner in that regard with a second win over St. Henry this season by a 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 26-28, 25-21) score after winning the All "A" 9th Region battle at home, 2-1 on Aug. 27. These players remained on an even keel the entire game trying to lead the respective teams to a huge region win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beechwood won more of the net battles with senior hitters [player_tooltip player_id='484443' first='Macy' last='Armstrong'], [player_tooltip player_id='484442' first='Isabel' last='O'Brien'] and [player_tooltip player_id='456263' first='Rachel' last='Lewandowski'] leading the way. Freshman hitter [player_tooltip player_id='992381' first='Charlotte' last='Conway'] and eighth grader [player_tooltip player_id='938521' first='Payce' last='Adams'] also took some nice swings off quality sets from senior setter [player_tooltip player_id='456668' first='Skylr' last='Estep']. Beechwood's young back row in freshman [player_tooltip player_id='966134' first='Kennedy' last='Sturgeon'], freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1040706' first='Emma' last='Harris'] and even senior [player_tooltip player_id='476283' first='Emma' last='Stewart'] kept a number of balls alive to help the Tigers beat the Crusaders for the third time in the previous four meetings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Our message is always next point, whether we win the point before it or lose that point. Our mindset is what can we do with this next point and never be satisfied. I know we were up big in the first set, but I told them not to be satisfied with that lead that we had because St. Henry's a great team," Long said. "We know they're going to fight back into it. It's more what we do on our side of the court because I feel at times we can be our own worst enemy. How can we get out of those situations? We didn't get out of that in the third set as quick as we needed to."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Henry (18-7) third-year starting juniors in libero [player_tooltip player_id='610406' first='Kenadi' last='Sieg'], setter [player_tooltip player_id='612108' first='Madelyn' last='Keipert'] and middle [player_tooltip player_id='709517' first='Violet' last='Main'] tried to lead the Crusaders to another reverse sweep. The likes of [player_tooltip player_id='727147' first='Molly' last='Blackburn'], [player_tooltip player_id='1005143' first='Ashley' last='Hammond'], [player_tooltip player_id='950707' first='Hadley' last='Lemmond'] and Stella Flick with Audrey Pieczonka, [player_tooltip player_id='727132' first='Kali' last='McCane'] and Ashlyn Summers making plays on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beechwood plays in the Jefferson County Invitational on Friday in Louisville, taking on Seneca at 6 p.m. St. Henry does not play for another week taking on Paul Laurence Dunbar at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["484443"],"_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":1047767,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6abf2f37a0ec7"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Armstrong came out determined to control the net from the first serve. She asserted herself as consistently as she has her entire career. Armstrong forms solid blocks with teammates and places overpassed balls away from opponents. Armstrong is extremely aggressive at the net making a lot of plays there. Armstrong runs great fakes and mixes in tips to open shallow zones. Armstrong uses her size to rise up on ones and tool blocks. Armstrong is hard to block as the result of her mixed bag of swings. Armstrong said it's important to know where big blocks are and how to work around them. Armstrong added good blockers get their touches, so it's a matter of how players respond to that.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["992381"],"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6abf2f37a0f35"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Conway (pictured) has Open level club experience and it shows for the Tigers. Conway quickly moves on to the next plays whether she lands kills or makes mistakes, staying on that desired even keel. Conway makes quick adjustments to hit away from strong defensive specialists. Conway does a not of the small things to help the Tigers win. Conway tools blocks well and is learning how to be more aggressive on her blocks. Conway said it's an adjustment playing with older players, but her teammates have helped out and she's thankful to have the opportunity that will help her game grow.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["456668"],"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6abf307aa333d"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Estep once again did a good job distributing balls and making nice adjustments on out of system balls in Beechwood's 5-1 formation. Estep is coachable and continuously finds the hot hitters. Estep executed a variety of sets to help lead Beechwood to victory. Estep also gave the Tigers a lift with her double blocks. Estep said she tries to see the other side of the net and put the hitters in favorable matchups to put balls away in addition to finding the hot hitters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["966134"],"_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":1047780,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6abf31456b055"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Sturgeon once again played like a veteran libero, setting up nicely behind her blockers and taking away a number of angles. Sturgeon keeps her arms above her waist and uses her range to make two to three-point passes. Sturgeon digs up hard line swings under control and puts across nice spin on her jump serve.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["610406"],"_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":1047783,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6abf3234c7a09"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Sieg ended up putting together another phenomenal game on defense. She is on the move well before hitters take their rips trying to beat balls to their destinations on the floor. If balls are anywhere near Sieg, she will make an attempt to go after them trying to keep plays alive. Sieg had some nice out of system sets for the Crusaders.</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 and a half 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 -->