Highlands Wednesday Results

Bluebirds Girls Soccer Handles St. Henry

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands senior Lauren Deckert had an assist when the Bluebirds beat the St. Henry Lady Crusaders, 4-1 on Wednesday.

The Highlands Bluebirds girls soccer team (1-0-1) received the strong start and drove to its first victory with a 4-1 road 9th Region win over the St. Henry Lady Crusaders (1-1).

"We got one really early and that was what we pushed for going into the game," said Alex Dean, Highlands Head Coach. "We talked about it being the end of the year, being the underdogs and starting the score 1-0. Then getting another two in the first half was very nice. We wish we'd have had the shutout, but you can't always get a shutout so we had to make sure once we gave up a goal, we didn't give up another one. We did pretty well at that. The effort was great and that's what we're looking for."

Highlands put up 22 shots with 16 on goal compared to 14 shots including nine on goal for St. Henry. Junior goalkeeper Jasmine Rehberger had eight saves for the Bluebirds.

The Bluebirds built the lead at halftime starting with goals from the Broering sisters. Sophomore Faith Broering, a midfielder, scored two minutes into the game and senior forward Maria Broering scored four minutes later.

"I think we took a pretty big step growing together," Faith Broering said. "The first game we were all pretty nervous playing against Notre Dame because that's usually a huge game. But (Wednesday), we got to work on new formations and that's helping our chemistry. Everyone on the team is super welcoming and super inviting, especially to the new sophomores. I think it's going really well."

Senior defender Katelynn Helminiak scored with 21 minutes left in the first half and sophomore Chloe Bramble scored with 11 minutes left in the second half for the final Highlands goal. Bramble also had an assist for a team-high three points in the win. Senior defender Lauren Deckert also had an assist to tie Bramble for the most points on the team. Senior midfielder Parker Price and sophomore forwards Macy Hedenberg and Jade Rehberger also had assists.

The biggest challenge for the Bluebirds was playing on a natural surface. The Bluebirds have played their home games at Tower Park on turf since 2012.

"A huge thing, especially in hitting the ball on grass, is hitting the ball with pace so that it gets to the players and if you're receiving the ball, making sure you step to it and not waiting on the pass," Dean said. "We had a couple turnovers in the back. That's not an excuse. We have to play through that because they're playing on the same, exact field."

Highlands plays Cincinnati (Ohio) Indian Hill on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m.

Volleyball:
Kings (Ohio) 3, Highlands 0:

Highlands (1-1) lost for the first time on the road. The Knights won first game, 28-26. But things fell apart for the Bluebirds after that in the second two games by 25-21, 25-12 scores.

Highlands Head Coach Katelyn Sallee likes for the team's hitting percentage to be in the .300-.400 range. It was just .165 in the loss.

Senior Casey Dunn dug up 21 balls and recorded six kills with senior setter Audrey Graves recording 24 assists. Senior Ava Hockney led Highlands with eight kills and two solo blocks with sophomore CC Shick tallying four kills and three solo blocks. Junior Laura Winkler had five kills and four digs. Graves and senior Rylee Kirschenbaum had nine digs each with sophomore Madison Clore digging up seven balls.

Highlands travels to Campbell County on Thursday. Game time is 7 p.m.