By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Notre Dame volleyball coach Leslie Litmer said her team’s game plan going into Saturday’s match against St. Henry emphasized a balanced offensive attack and the final statistics showed how well the players carried it out.
The Pandas had six players with five or more kills during a 3-0 sweep against the Crusaders in their annual Playing for a Purpose charity match that raises funds for breast cancer research, support and awareness. The set scores were 25-23, 25-17 and 25-12.
Notre Dame’s team leaders were senior Ava Tilden with 12 kills and junior Audrey Dyas with eight. The three players behind them were juniors Tergan Kondik and Grace Portwood with seven kills each and senior Ella Goetz with five.
“That’s something we know is critical to our success, that we can’t just have one person succeeding or else the other team can pick up on that,” said coach Litmer. “And I think that comes from last year, we were becoming very predictable and we want not to be as predictable this year.”
A large crowd that included two raucous student cheering sections turned out for the match between the long-time rivals played at Boone County High School.
In the latest state coaches poll, Notre Dame was No. 3 and St. Henry was No. 4, so that added another element to the excitement. The Pandas, who made it to the state tournament final last season, were also ranked No. 24 in the nation by MaxPreps.
In the first set, Notre Dame took a 19-14 lead on a kill by Dyas, but St. Henry mounted a rally and tied it, 23-23, on a point by junior Emily Helmers. Litmer called a timeout to settle down her players and the Pandas got the next two points to win the set.
The second set was close until Notre Dame went on a 9-4 run to open up a 23-15 lead. During that spurt, five different players had scoring kills for the Pandas.
“When everybody steps up, it’s amazing,” said Tilden. “It’s great to know we can rely on everyone and not just one person.”
Notre Dame took control in the third set with a 10-2 run that resulted in a 19-8 lead. The final three points came on two kills by Tilden and one by Portwood.
“Their blockers, they started to follow me, but our other hitters got them off to me, so it’s nice that they’re all so good,” Tilden said.
On Thursday, Notre Dame lost a five-set match to Louisville Sacred Heart, the second-ranked team in the state coaches poll. The Pandas (10-2) needed the win over St. Henry (12-2) to retain their No. 3 spot.
“No pressure at all, it fires us up 10 times more,” Tilden said of the state rankings. “We’re striving to be first, 100 percent.”