Highlands Friday Notebook

Highlands Volleyball Wins Twice in Cake Classic

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands Head Coach Katelyn Sallee (left) watches while senior setter Madison Opitz (center) gets in position in a recent game.

No one covers Highlands sports like FTM! We're there, in-person, every week! Please consider a small donation to help fund our content. We rely solely on support from our advertising partners, providing our content for free. Any amount helps. Click here to donate!

 

The Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team (19-6 overall) won its two pool play games Friday to open its own Cake Classic quickly bouncing back from the tough loss at Covington Holy Cross on Thursday.

Highlands beat Bishop Brossart, 2-0 (25-9, 25-19) for the second time this season in the first game. Highlands had 25 kills and assists, five aces, one solo block by junior Bailey Houston and 37 digs. Senior Sophia Sarakatsannis had eight digs, one ace and four kills. Senior Nicole Ossege added five kills. Senior CC Shick led Highlands with 10 kills.

"Our (Head) Coach (Katelyn Sallee) mentioned something in our huddle (at Holy Cross). It's been a breakthrough moment for us," Sarakatsannis said. "We had a moment where our mindsets kind of changed so we tried to follow that energy and that love into these past games. When we play different teams with different atmospheres, we know how to handle that."

Junior Kenzi Vennefron had seven digs and senior Madison Clore had six. Vennefron added 12 assists and senior Madison Opitz had nine.

The Bluebirds took down South Oldham, 2-0 (25-17, 25-18). Highlands had 27 kills and assists, six aces, one solo block by senior Avery Cavacini and 38 digs. Clore and Sarakatsannis had 11 digs each and senior Honor Valentine had six.

Vennefron and Clore had two aces each. Sarakatsannis had kills and Shick five. Senior Lauren Buemi added four. Vennefron and Opitz had 13 assists each.

The Bluebirds conclude pool play against Walton-Verona on Saturday at 11 a.m. They will play again at Noon or 1 p.m.

Class 5A, District 5 Results:

The other teams had district openers. Covington Catholic outlasted Cooper, 31-24 in quadruple overtime in Park Hills and Conner knocked off Boone County, 38-7.

Series Against Dixie Heights:

Highlands is still 66-10 all-time against Dixie Heights. The Bluebirds won three of four meetings between the two when they faced off in the same district between 2015 and 2018.