Thursday Sports Briefs

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The Highlands Ladybirds volleyball team picked up a big victory in Alexandria on Thursday.
Highlands knocked off the Bishop Brossart Lady Mustangs, 3-2 (21-25, 25-13, 19-25, 25-20, 16-14). Highlands won its second straight to move to 4-5 overall and Bishop Brossart lost for the first time this season dropping to 9-1. The Lady Mustangs finished 24-13 last year and made it to the 10th Region semifinals.
Sophomore Jessica Ginter led Highlands with 17 kills and setter Kaitlin Hall had 44 assists and five aces. Teammate Katie Van Curen added 14 digs.
Highlands plays in the Varsity September Slam all day Saturday at Scott High. The Ladybirds open the day with a 10 a.m. contest against Simon Kenton (13-2). Highlands also faces host Scott at Noon, 2011 state runner-up Greenwood (outside Bowling Green) at 2 p.m. and Covington Holmes at 3 p.m.

Highlands Soccer ties Dixie Heights:
The Bluebirds could not follow up Tuesday's big win over Boone County with a bigger win.
Highlands tied the Dixie Heights Colonels, 1-1. Emerson Holladay scored the Bluebird goal in the first half to give Highlands a 1-0 halftime lead. But the Colonels (2-4-1) tied the game with about 18 minutes left in the game from about 35-40 yards out.
Nick Breslin had another good game in goal for the Bluebirds (4-2-1 overall) Thursday. He recorded seven saves.
Highlands takes on Scott (3-5) at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Lady Breds soccer bounces back:
The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds soccer team too down visiting Villa Madonna, 5-0 on Thursday.
NewCath moved to 5-1 playing its third game in three days. The Lady Breds lost on penalty kicks to Bishop Brossart in the All "Ä" Region 9/10 Semifinals on Wednesday. Villa Madonna fell to 1-5.
Michela Ware scored two goals to lead NewCath with Sam Bunzel, Loren Zimmerman and Christina Seibert scoring one a piece. Courtney Hagedorn had two assists with Nikki Buller adding the other.
Lady Bred goalkeeper Erin Ackerson had to record just one save. This marked the third shutout of the year for NewCath.
The Lady Breds do not play again until Wednesday. They play host to Beechwood at 6 p.m.

NewCath volleyball drops home contest:
The Campbell County Lady Camels came to Newport on Thursday and beat the Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds, 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 27-25).
NewCath fell to 4-8 and Campbell County improved to 6-7 under the guidance of first-year head coach Kimberlee Nemcek, who was a senior at Northern Kentucky University last year.
Nikki Kiernan and Abbie Lukens led NewCath with seven kills each. Teammate Alyssa Maier had 23 assists and Maria Froendhoff had 19 digs.
The Lady Breds do not play again until Thursday at 6 p.m. at home against Boone County.