NewCath made progress this year

G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic's volleyball team gathers before Wednesday's 9th Region semifinal contest. The Thoroughbreds lost in three to finish the year 17-17 with a 36th District championship.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

UNION – They are not there quite yet.

But the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds volleyball team took a big step this season toward ultimately competing with 9th Region powers Ryle, Notre Dame and St. Henry. The Thoroughbreds improved from 10-20 last year to 17-17 this year and advanced a round further in the region tournament.

They’d won six consecutive 10th Region crowns before moving into the 9th last year. Ryle again beat Newport Central Catholic by a 3-0 score this year Wednesday. But it was the semifinals instead of the first round.

“We played the same schedule we did last year, which is a tough schedule,” said Vicki Fleissner, NewCath Head Coach. “We won 17 this year and it should have been more because we gave some away. That’s a huge stepping stone for us.”

NewCath came back to tie the first game at 25-all but could not get the game-winner losing 27-25. The Lady Raiders (35-4) then won the next two by 25-12 and 25-15 counts.

NewCath could not contain junior Ashley Bush. Bush, verbally committed to Northwestern University of the Big 10, had 10 kills, 10 assists and five aces. Teammate Alexa Nichols added 10 kills and younger sister Hayley Bush added 11 assists.

“You have to have the mental fortitude to play the entire match the way we did that first set,” Fleissner said. “(Ashley Bush) is amazing. I picked her as the player of the region for that reason. She just takes over.”

The six seniors played a big role in leading NewCath back to where it is used to playing. They are Nikki Kiernan, Abbie Lukens, Alyssa Maier, Molly Mertle, Rachel Parnell and Madison Volk. Maier had 13 assists for NewCath and Kiernan added six blocks.

“I’m really proud of (the season),” Maier said. “As a team, we worked really hard. We wanted to come out and prove to people that we didn’t just lay around all summer. We showed people how NewCath is with sport, especially volleyball.”

NewCath can build around junior Keyaira Lankheit and freshman Rachel McDonald next year. Lankheit had six kills and McDonald five. The Thoroughbreds also return juniors Laura Brannon, Jamie Lohr, Olivia Owens and sophomore Alexa Kehoe and Amanda Ruwe next year.

 

Ryle moved on to play in the region championship game Saturday at 6 p.m. back on its home floor. Tasha Lovins has coached the Lady Raiders for a while and has more than 300 wins during that time.