By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
St. Henry’s volleyball team added another All “A” Classic state championship trophy to its collection after a 25-12, 25-22 win over Louisville Holy Cross in the title match of the small school tournament played Saturday afternoon at the Bluegrass Sportsplex in Elizabethtown.
The Crusaders won three pool play and three elimination bracket matches in two sets to take the title for the eighth time in nine appearances.
The team’s overall state tournament record under coach Maureen Kaiser is now 53-1 with the only loss coming in the 2016 title match against Louisville Presentation.
In the latest statewide coaches poll, St. Henry (22-2) was No. 4 and Louisville Holy Cross was No. 25. On Friday, the Crusaders won a pool play match between the two teams, 25-16, 25-20, and they met again in the championship bracket final on Saturday.
Senior outside hitter Lizzie Casey was named most valuable player on the state all-tournament team that included three of her St. Henry teammates — freshmen Violet Main and Kenadi Seig and senior Corrine Blackburn.
Brossart and Walton-Verona both finished 0-3 in their pool play matches and lost in the first round of the eight-team consolation bracket.
In the first rounds of the All “A” Classic boys and girls state soccer tournaments on Saturday, the Brossart girls defeated Hazard, 9-0, and Louisville Collegiate knocked off the Brossart boys, 2-0.
Brossart (9-4-2) defeated Lexington Sayre, 7-1, in the girls semifinals and will face four-time defending state champion Bardstown Bethlehem (11-3) in the championship final 11 a.m. Sunday at Louisville Collegiate.
The last time a local team won the All “A” Classic state tournament in girls soccer was 2019 when St. Henry defeated Bethlehem, 5-0, in the title match.