By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The annual regular season volleyball showdown between St. Henry and Notre Dame on Tuesday was scheduled earlier than usual. For several years, the longtime rivals faced off later in the season in Playing For A Purpose, a match that raised money for a local charity.
As usual, the match on Tuesday drew a large crowd and they saw a wild one. St. Henry team came from behind and defeated Notre Dame, 3-2, to end the Pandas’ streak of 59 straight wins against 9th Region opponents that dated back to the 2021 season.
“Everybody did their part and it was just a great night for us, St. Henry coach Maureen Kaiser said of her team that has only two seniors in its regular rotation.
Notre Dame won the first two sets, 25-1, 26-24, but St. Henry pulled out a 27-25 decision in the third set that shifted the momentum.
The Crusaders won the next set, 25-20, and then took the tiebreaker, 15-11, to end the Pandas’ local winning streak.
“We were down (in the third set) and Maria Klare, who I threw in to play defense, picked up a dig and we rallied from there,” Kaiser said. “We had the momentum and that’s what volleyball is, a game of momentum.”
The Crusaders’ big win came five days after their 2-0 loss to Beechwood. Both of those outcomes were considered upsets because the latest Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association state poll ranked Notre Dame No. 2, St. Henry No. 6 and Beechwood No. 13.
Kaiser was disappointed with her team’s defensive performance against Beechwood, especially giving up 14 points on service aces.
“Passing and defense wins games and we did none of them against Beechwood,” Kaiser said. “We went back to the drawing board and did make a few changes on the defensive end. And we talked to our libero, Kenadi Sieg, and just told her she needed to play a bigger role on that end.”
St. Henry’s home match against Holy Cross on Sept. 23 will be this year’s Playing For A Purpose fundraiser. Kaiser said proceeds will be donated to T1D Warriors, an organization that supports people dealing with Type 1 Diabetes.
All-state girls basketball player makes college commitment
Haylee Noel, one of the top college prospects in Kentucky girls high school basketball, has made a commitment with the University of South Florida team that hired a new head coach in March.
Ranked No. 2 among the state’s top prospects in the 2027 senior class by Prep Girls Hoops, Noel was named 9th Region Player of the Year and first-team all-state last season when the 5-foot-10 combo guard averaged 20.4 points and 7.6 rebounds and shot 88 percent (139 of 158) from the free throw line.
She will enter her senior year with career totals of 1,685 points and 782 rebounds for the Jaguars, who have won 20 or more games five consecutive seasons with her on the varsity roster.
According to postings on her X account, Noel received offers from several other Division I teams, including Missouri, Boston College, Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Butler and Ball State in Indiana, High Point and Wilmington in North Carolina and Richmond in Virginia.
South Florida, a member of the American Conference, finished 20-12 last season under an interim head coach. The new head coach is Kristy Curry, who has more than 500 victories in 27 years with stints at Purdue, Texas Tech and Alabama.
Notre Dame graduate is college volleyball team’s top hitter
Notre Dame Academy graduate Sydney Nolan is the leading hitter on the University of Cincinnati volleyball team with 43 kills and .324 attack percentage in the first three matches.
The 6-foot-4 senior outside hitter opened the season with 25 kills in a win over Illinois and notched 12 kills in a loss to Santa Clara on Tuesday. Last season, she was named first-team All Big 12 Conference after totaling 468 kills with a .305 attack percentage for the 15-12 Bearcats.
In high school, Nolan played on Notre Dame teams that won back-to-back state championships in 2021 and 2022. She was named most valuable player on the 2022 state all-tournament team and earned second-team All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.