Local volleyball teams such as Owensboro Catholic, Owensboro, Apollo and Daviess County open up the 9th District Tournament on Monday, while Trinity (Whitesville) will begin the 12th District Tournament as well.
Daviess County
Ending the regular season riding a three-game winning streak, Daviess County is ready to battle with its opponents in order to hoist the 9th District Championship trophy.
The Lady Panthers closed out the year with an overall record of 17-9 overall, while owning a district record of 5-1.
“I’m very pleased with the way we closed out the regular season,” Head Coach Tyla Bailey said. “We continue to improve and are coming together as a team.”
Daviess County fared well in the regular season, with their lone district loss coming to Owensboro Catholic in late September.
The Lady Panthers had defeated them in late August, so they will look to replicate that performance in the tournament if both teams meet again.
Daviess County will be tasked with taking on Apollo to open up the tournament, playing at 6 p.m. at Owensboro Catholic on Monday.
Bailey said that they’ve been focusing on shoring up the little things and working on the mental side of the game in order to execute their gameplan.
“Our biggest focus in practice has been on controlling what we can control and fine-tuning what makes us successful,” Bailey said. “We plan to keep energy levels high, limit silly mistakes, and play our game from start to finish.”
Knowing that they will have to play at a high level to win the 9th District Championship, Bailey said they have to be in sync and stay mentally strong point after point.
“We know our district is extremely competitive this year and each night will be a battle,” Bailey said. “Our ultimate keys to winning another district championship will be working as a team, letting mistakes go, and executing offensively.”
Owensboro Catholic
Led by a strong group of upperclassmen, the Lady Aces are looking to take things game by game in order to come away victorious in the 9th District Tournament.
Owensboro Catholic finished the regular season with an overall record of 24-11, while owning a district record of 4-2.
“I feel like we closed [out the regular season] strong and you better in our district, because if you are not playing hard in this district you probably won’t be around long,” Head Coach Brian Hardison said.
The Lady Aces lone losses came at the hands of Daviess County and most recently Owensboro in five sets.
Owensboro Catholic bounced back from its loss to the Lady Devils in the regular season finale, sweeping Trinity (Whitesville).
The Lady Aces will be tasked with taking Owensboro in the first round, playing at home at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
In practice leading up to the district tournament, Hardison said they’ve been focusing on fine-tuning their all-around game.
“[We’ve been focusing on] basically covering our hitters, putting the ball away and taking the floor away which I felt we did well on Saturday,” Hardison said.
Hardison said that in order for the Lady Aces to come away as 9th District Champions, they have to take things one point at a time and come together as a unit.
“Playing as a team [is key], [as] there are no individuals,” Hardison said. “Also staying focused on our side of the net and controlling our side of the net [will be crucial].”
Owensboro
The Lady Devils are prepared to come into the tournament and shock people as a young team, looking for a shot at a 9th District Championship.
Owensboro closed out the regular season with an overall record of 20-14, while sitting at 3-3 in district play.
The Lady Devils fell to Daviess County twice and split it’s games with Owensboro Catholic for its three district losses.
Their most recent success came against the Lady Aces, defeating them on Oct. 12 in five sets. With this in mind, Head Coach Melissa Hibbs feels as though they are ready for the strong competition they will see in the upcoming week.
“Going into the tournament this week, I feel good about our team’s mindset. We know that it is going to be a fight and we believe we are up for it,” Hibbs said. “We ended the regular season on a very strong week with some good wins and good morale. We’ve seen some things start clicking on the floor that we’ve been working toward throughout the whole season so we are pleased at where we are at.”
In order to ensure that they are in peak form for the tournament with very limited experience, they’ve been sharpening their mental focus for upcoming matches.
“Going into practice, we have really worked on some situations to keep working on mental toughness,” Hibbs said. ‘With a young team that can be a big factor in these games. To help, we have focused on just controlling our side of the floor and making sure we execute the game plans we put in place.”
Hibbs said that as long as they simplify each play and stay locked in from the very first point, they can go far in the tournament.
“We need to play consistently and try not to do too much but just finish off points,” Hibbs said. “At this point, everyone is 0-0 in our heads. We know that you have to focus on that first match up and not get ahead ourselves. It is tournament time, anything can happen.”
Apollo
The E-gals will assume the underdog role in the 9th District Tournament, as they believe that they can be the ones holding up the trophy at the end of the week.
Apollo closed out the regular season with an overall record of 14-21, while owning a district record of 0-6.
As the regular season came to a close, Head Coach MaryAnne Howard feels as though they are playing some of their best volleyball.
With that in mind and knowing that they will have to play at an extremely high level to grab a championship, they’ve been working on limiting mistakes and being laser focused on both facets of the game.
“We’ve been really focusing on consistency here as we prepare for district play and not allowing our opponents to make big runs on us,” Howard said. “Our mindset for Monday night is to play aggressive while limiting unforced errors.”
They will be tasked with taking on the Lady Panthers at 6 p.m. at Owensboro Catholic on Monday in the first round.
Despite not having defeated Daviess County, Owensboro, or Owensboro Catholic, Howard feels as though anyone can come away victorious in the tournament.
With this in mind, Howard said that if they can put together a complete game with a strong defense and efficient offense, they can hoist the trophy at the end of the week.
“Any of the four teams could win the district championship this year,” Howard said. “I think the keys to winning will be the ability to maintain the momentum on our side of the floor and being able to side out efficiently every time.”
Trinity
After dominating in district play during the regular season, Trinity volleyball has its eyes set on a 12 District Championship this week.
The Lady Raiders closed out the regular season with an impressive 23-5 record overall, while finishing undefeated in district play at 6-0.
Trinity got swept by the Lady Aces in its regular season finale, but was riding an 11-game winning streak prior to.
The team had a two-week break before completing the final week of the season, which Head Coach Daniel Morris feels they handled well.
“For the most part, I feel like we closed out the end of the regular season well,” Morris said. “After having a break, two out of three wins isn’t too bad. We could’ve played better in our last game, but I’m hopeful that we got our nerves out before district.”
Knowing that they’ve had a lot of success, Morris has made sure the team has its eye on the prize and is laser sharp in practice leading up to postseason play.
“We have been trying to focus on going back to the basics in practice,” Morris said. “It is so easy to get wrapped up in the plays and winning that you sometimes lose focus of the easy things like serving and communicating.”
They will be facing Butler County in the opening round of the 12th District Tournament, playing at Edmonson County at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
Trinity is going into the tournament with a championship on its mind, as Morris has continued to preach that a winning attitude and effort will take them as far as they want to go.
“The mindset going into this tournament is that if we put our minds to it, we can win this thing,” Morris said. “The girls get a little nervous, but I have been drilling it into their heads that with a championship attitude and effort, we can 100% win this tournament.”
Morris said that in order for them to earn the 12th District Championship at the end of the week they have to limit mistakes and stay locked in even if they falter at times.
“The ultimate keys for us are minimizing errors and having a positive mindset no matter the score,” Morris said. “If we keep our cool no matter what is happening in the game, we won’t get shaken and we will make less errors. The girls perform so much better when they have fun.”
