Highlands volleyball gearing up for new era

Allen Ramsey Photo. Highlands celebrates a point in Tuesday's scrimmage against Harpeth Hall (Tennessee). The Ladybirds are hoping to use their experience to build a solid foundation with new Head Coach Katelyn Sallee.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The mountain may be long and tough.

But new Highlands Ladybirds head volleyball coach Katelyn Sallee and staff have been gearing up for the challenge. Sallee, a former Simon Kenton and Morehead State University standout, took over the program after Whitney Mulroney resigned in the spring. Mulroney and husband Kevin, a former Highlands football player, are expecting their first child.

Highlands volleyball seeks more improvement

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands junior middle hitter Jessica Ginter (red shirt) and teammates get set in a recent practice. The Bluebirds hope to improve on last year's 13-23 record and 36th District championship.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team tasted some postseason success last year.

Now they hope to take some next steps in becoming a 9th Region contender. The Bluebirds captured their first district championship since 2004 and ended a 15-match losing streak to the rival Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds in the District 36 title game last year. The Bluebirds last made the state tournament winning the 10th Region in 2004.

That followed with a 3-0 loss to Cooper in the 9th Region quarterfinals to finish the year 13-23. Despite that record that included a 13-match losing streak, Highlands did improve its win total by five from 2011.

The Bluebirds graduated five seniors from that team in Katie Van Curen, Brooke Hamilton, Sarah Schweitzer, Sydney Lindeman and Lauren Tallon. Frances Tracy decided not to return this year as well.

But Highlands does return its top setter in junior Kaitlin Hall and top hitter in junior Jessica Ginter. The two returning seniors are opposite hitter/defensive specialist Abby Schweitzer and outside hitter Mallory Seidel.

“We’re trying to come out strong. We’re trying to be the best role models we can for the team,” Seidel said of senior leadership. “It will be tough this year because we are young. But we have a lot of talent coming up so I think we’ll do well. It will be fun.”

Fifth-year head coach Whitney Mulroney and staff know the best teams in the 9th Region like Notre Dame, St. Henry and Ryle play volleyball year-round. Mulroney said 21 of the 24 players on all three squads have played club volleyball in the offseason.

“This is the first time I have had so many girls play club volleyball,” Mulroney said. “They are all out there in the offseason touching a volleyball and getting better. I think this has a little to do with how close they are as a team, but mainly it is because they all love the game of volleyball, are proud to be a Bluebird, and all have the same goal in mind: to improve every day and win Districts.”

Ginter, Hall, Schweitzer and Seidel are the lone returning players with varsity experience. That leaves seven players without varsity experience.

“We are working very hard on being a team and playing together,” Ginter said. “It’s about trusting each other. We should be piecing it together.”

Despite the youth, the Bluebirds hope to be more consistent this year. Mulroney said that comes down to repetition.

“Muscle memory is huge in the sport of volleyball,” Mulroney said. “Yes, a player needs strength, endurance, speed, and smarts to play volleyball, but muscle memory is the key. If we hit it hard at practice on the things that we aren't consistent in, eventually things will fall into place.”

Mulroney said the team is focusing like crazy on defense this year. Solid defense such as blocking and digging usually separates the good teams from the great teams.

The other two junior players are opposite hitters in Anna Marie Houliston and Lauren Maines. Houliston will also be a middle blocker in Highlands’ 5-1 set.

Five sophomores are hoping to contribute this year. They are leftside hitter/defensive specialist AJ Guth, outside hitter Izzy Schultz, defensive specialist Sydney Kroger, setter/defensive specialist Ellie Van Curen and middle blocker Kaylan Frisch.

Highlands opens the season on Aug. 20 at home against Simon Kenton. Game time is 7:30 p.m.   

Highlands ends skid againt NCC, wins first district volleyball title since 2004

Photo by G. Michael Graham. The Highlands Ladybirds volleyball team defeated the Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds, 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-20) on Wednesday at Newport High to win the District 36 Tournanemt championship. This marked Highlands' first district title since 2004.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The number 13 may be unlucky.

But the Highlands Ladybirds volleyball turned it into a lucky number on Wednesday at Newport High. The Ladybirds (13-22 overall) snapped a 15-match losing streak to the arch-rival Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds (10-22) with a 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-20) win to capture the District 36 championship for the first time since 2004. Highlands had not beaten NewCath since 2005.

“For a change, we’re turning it around. We’re actually building this program up,” said Whitney Mulroney, Highlands head coach. “It’s been a long time that the girls have been at the caliber to where they want to work hard and actually win big games. It’s good to see them come back, not lose faith and put the ball down and put it away.”

NCC volleyball wins 15th straight over Highlands

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

NEWPORT – It had been a while since the hosts lost a game to their rivals, let alone a match.

That changed in the first game when the Highlands Ladybirds won 25-17 to take their first game over the Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds since the 2008 District 35 Tournament. But the Lady Breds came back and flexed their old muscles winning the next three games, 25-8, 25-19, 25-15 to win their 15th straight over their rivals Tuesday. Highlands last beat NewCath in 2005.

The Lady Breds moved to 8-13 with their third straight win and the Ladybirds dropped to 8-12 with their fourth straight loss. NewCath head coach Vicki Fleissner, a 1985 Highlands graduate, moved to 8-0 against her alma mater.

“We were shaky in that first game,” Fleissner said. “We weren’t generating anything on offense. We took charge from there. It was a great, balanced attack.”

Both teams used a 5-1 attack. NewCath did better than Highlands in many aspects in the last three games. Setter Alyssa Maier settled down and recorded 26 of her team’s 31 assists and got seven hitters involved.

“I think we shut down more than anything,” said Whitney Mulroney, Highlands head coach. “I think they got so excited and overwhelmed that they won the first game that the emotions confided in them and they didn’t know what to do.”

NewCath added 31 kills, nine blocks and 12 aces. Nikki Kiernan took over at the net for NewCath during that run and libero Maria Froendhoff made a number of digs. Kiernan finished with 12 kills and seven blocks. Molly Mertle and Whitney Fields added seven and six kills respectively with Froendhoff and Fields tallying four aces a piece.

“They key (to good setting) is knowing your hitters in what they like and where to set the ball,” Maier said. “We have been clicking more at practice. That’s helped us push forward.”

Highlands had 20 kills, 17 assists, nine blocks and six aces. Jessica Ginter and Kaitlin Hall once again had good games for Highlands. Ginter had eight kills and Hall recorded 15 assists.

“We weren’t focuse on one hitter because they have several good hitters,” Fleissner said. “So we don’t really key on one. They were trying to pick apart the middle. We did a better job covering the middle (after the first game).”

Highlands came out and led 6-0 to start the first game. NewCath called timeout and took the lead briefly. Highlands finished the game with a 9-1 run. Hall had a block for a kill during the run and Frances Tracy landed an ace for Highlands.

“You still have to understand there is a task at hand,” Mulroney said. “There were still at least two games left to not only play, but to win the match. They don’t have that experience yet to do that in a varsity game.”

NewCath hit the ball at better angles and serve-received a lot better starting in the second game. The Lady Breds used two 6-0 runs to pull away in the second game. NewCath often faked to Kiernan and Fields landed kills down the lines.

The second and third games were closer. But NewCath used an 8-0 run to go up 15-5 in the third game and scored the first six points of the fourth game. The Lady Breds also scored  five in a row toward the end of the fourth game.

Newport Central Catholic travels to Cooper at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Highlands plays in its own Cake Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Volleyball teams kick off rivalry week and a half

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The electricity really seems to ride high more often than not when district rivals Highlands and Newport Central Catholic take the field together.

That could again be the case when the volleyball and soccer teams take the field over the next nine days. Albeit, one matchup is more even than in years past and the other two do not have as much riding on the line. But those games could still set a tone for the postseason tournaments in October. This is the first part in a series of three.

Volleyball on Tuesday at Newport Central Catholic at 7:30 p.m.

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association split volleyball into Regions starting in 2003.

Between 2003 and 2011, the Highlands Ladybirds and Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds found themselves in the 10th Region and NewCath won it seven of those nine years, including the previous six. The only years the Lady Breds did not win it were 2004 and 2005.

The Ladybirds won it in 2004 and lost to state power Louisville Assumption in the second round of the state tournament. NewCath drove to the state semifinals in 2008 and 2009.

During those years, Highlands and NewCath met for the Region 10 crowns in 2003, 2004 and 2010. In recent years, the Lady Breds dominated the rivalry winning the last 14 dating back to a Highlands 2-1 victory (25-23, 21-25, 25-21) on Sept. 20, 2005. Current head coaches Whitney Mulroney of Highlands and Vicki Fleissner of Newport Central Catholic took over as head coaches in 2009.

Both teams find themselves below .500 this year struggling with consistency. NewCath is 7-13 with a young team and Highlands is 8-11 and lost its fourth in a row at Cincinnati Anderson on Monday, 3-0 in a five-set match. Both teams also find themselves in Region 9 because of the realignment this year with the likes of state powers Notre Dame, St. Henry and Ryle.

Highlands has five seniors, but sophomore setter Kaitlin Hall is the lone returning starter from last year’s team that won just eight games. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Ginter has emerged as a big threat in Highlands’ 5-1 attack and senior defensive specialist Katie Van Curen often leads the team in digs.

“My girls are very smart and very school-oriented, which has its definite positives and also has its negatives,” Mulroney said. “They overanalyze everything and want to know exactly what they did wrong and how to fix it when in reality, they need to just play. Don’t think about what happened, move on to the next point and work on doing everything possible to win that next point. If we keep working hard and staying positive, things are bound to go our way.”

The Ladybirds do have some big wins this year. They beat 2011 state runner-up Greenwood en route to a fourth-place finish out of 10 teams in the September Slam Tournament.

“I think we can really improve on communicating more as a team,” Hall said. “We’re so individuals on the court sometimes. I think at the end of the day, we really need to come together.”

The Lady Breds are not used to this record. But they have played a tough schedule and have just one senior this year in defensive specialist and lone returning starter Maria Froendhoff. They graduated a number of key players from the previous couple years such as Jamie Kohls and Taylor Snyder, now at Northern Kentucky University. NewCath finished 24-7 last year and won its seventh straight district title.

“I think they are finally starting to come together,” Fleissner said. “They’ve shown a lot of good things. We’re still working on getting rid of some bad habits.”

Froendhoff has taken it upon herself to lead. The Lady Breds did see junior Nikki Kiernan return after a one-year absence. She often leads the team in kills and setter Alyssa Maier often leads the team in assists.

“I’m definitely always talking to my teammates letting them know what is going on and what needs to happen,” Froendhoff said. “I’m keeping positive definitely because you can’t go very far with a negative attitude.”

Both head coaches know that teams need to play with emotion, but not get emotional in games like this. The teams know each other really well.

“I think with this group of girls, I have to make sure that EVERY game they are playing with emotion and not getting emotional,” Mulroney said. “With the lack of varsity experience, emotions always run high because the girls try so hard to be perfect and win. This rivalry week is big for us because this is the first year in a long time that we have a true chance at beating our biggest rival. The girls are excited and ready to play hard for a victory. It should be a really good game.”

Fleissner has a personal incentive to win. Fleissner is a Highlands graduate and is 7-0 against her alma mater.

“They know what is at stake,” Fleissner said. “They see these kids through town. But you do have to contain that when you’re on the floor. That’s a hard thing to manage because they do get so passionate about playing them. It can get away from that.”

The District 36 Tournament is at Newport High this year. Both teams come into Tuesday’s game 2-0 in loop play. The tournament winner could avoid Ryle, St. Henry and Notre Dame in the first round of the tournament.

The mens soccer teams face off Saturday at 3 p.m. and the womens’ teams square off on Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Those previews will come at later dates.