By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Mikah Freppon was very fortunate to begin her high school volleyball coaching career this season with a Campbell County team that had six seniors who came up through the program together since middle school.
Their experience and chemistry helped the Camels overcome a shaky 7-8 start in the first few weeks, rebound from a five-set loss in the 37th District final and win the 10th Region tournament at Harrison County.
Campbell County volleyball players hoist the championship trophy after their five-set victory over Scott in the 10th Region final. (Photo provided)
Campbell County defeated Scott, 3-2, in the region final on Thursday to earn a berth in the 16-team state tournament bracket. The Camels (19-13) will host a first-round match against 9th Region champion Notre Dame (30-5) on Monday.
“They came in right from the start and were ready to work so they deserve this,” Freppon said of her senior-laden team.
“Their chemistry is amazing. They know each other’s tendencies in and out, and that very much benefits our game plan having them on the court working with each other,” added the first-year head coach who was a college player last fall.
In the region final, Campbell County faced Scott for the fourth time this season and it took five sets to determine a winner just like their two previous matches.
After Scott won two of the first three sets, the Camels evened the match with a 25-19 win and then took the tiebreaker, 15-13, to claim their first region title since 2019 with a victory over the team that beat them in last week’s 37th District final.
“We wanted this title really bad,” Freppon said. “We wanted districts bad, but I looked at the the girls (after we lost) and was like, ‘We’re getting the next title, this is not over.'”
Mikah Frepponj
Campbell County’s kill leaders were seniors Emma Manser with 17 and Lexi Scharold with nine. Both of them also had four blocks. Sophomore setter Hope Hamilton had 23 assists and senior Ava Crowl contributed 15 digs, four blocks and two aces.
Their next opponent is a Notre Dame team that won last year’s state tournament and entered this year’s playoffs ranked No. 1 in the volleyball coaches state poll. The Pandas swept the Camels, 3-0, in a regular season match on Sept. 6.
“We’re excited just making it to state, and we mean business,” Freppon said. “We’re not done yet and we’re excited to be the host on Monday.”
Simon Kenton lost to Oldham County, 3-1, in the 8th Region title match on Thursday at Eminence so the winner of Monday’s match will be the only local team in the state quarterfinals on Nov. 3 at George Rogers Clark.
Simon Kenton made it to the 8th Region final for the third time in four years and won the first set, 25-22, but the momentum shifted. Oldham County won the next two sets, 25-15, 25-14, and then pulled out a 26-24 win in the fourth set.
The Pioneers named to the region all-tournament team were sophomore Jenna Kitchens, junior Tori Chasteen and senior Alisha Hawkins. Simon Kenton’s final record of 30-8 included two wins over Oldham County during the regular season.
Notre Dame loses rematch with Sacred Heart in state soccer semifinal
Notre Dame’s soccer team won rematches with two opponents that defeated the Pandas earlier in the season, but they weren’t able to do that in a state semifinal game against Louisville Sacred Heart on Thursday.
Kimberly Woeste was one of two Notre Dame soccer players named to the state all-tournament team.
Sacred Heart scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a 3-0 lead and went on to defeat Notre Dame, 3-1, at Lexington Lafayette High School.
The Pandas lost to Sacred Heart, 4-1, in their third game of the season. Their other losses were to Louisville Assumption and Highlands, but they evened the score against both of those teams in later matches.
In the state semifinals, junior striker Lilly Lund scored Sacred Heart’s first two goals to give her 27 on the season. Her first one came with 3:48 left in the first half. She got the second one five minutes after the halftime break.
A short time later, the Valkyries took a 3-0 lead on a goal by sophomore Mia Lancaster with Lund getting credit for an assist. After a goal by Notre Dame junior Riley Robertson made it 3-1, neither team scored over the last 26 minutes.
Notre Dame ends the season with a 21-4-2 record under first-year head coach Brian Woeste. The two players named to the state all-tournament team were seniors Kimberly Woeste and Carlyn Tranter.
Sacred Heart (20-2-3) will play Bardstown Bethlehem (21-4-2) in the girls state championship game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The boys title game will be Lexington Lafayette (20-3-1) vs. Louisville St. Xavier (23-3-3) at 4 p.m.
