Lady Aces ready to make run in state tourney

November 8, 2019 | 12:03 am

Updated November 7, 2019 | 11:56 pm

Owensboro Catholic begins play today in the volleyball state tournament. | Photo by Ryan Richardson

Owensboro Catholic begins play today in the volleyball state tournament, and the Lady Aces have a fairly favorable draw for the early rounds as they start their run for a title.

Catholic (26-10) will square off today against 10th Region champion Campbell County (21-15) at 4 p.m. CST at Valley High School in Louisville.

It’s the first trip to the state tournament since 2015 for the Lady Aces. Catholic head coach Brian Hardison said while his team may have to shake off some early nerves, he’s confident they have the skills to move on.

“Once they get up there they’ll have the little butterflies at first,” he said. “But then they’ll get out there and get focused. Energy is our biggest thing. The other night (in the 3rd Region championship) when we warmed up they were full of energy. If I can keep the energy up on them, that would be huge for them.”

Hardison said he didn’t know a lot about the opposition but likened their attack to Daviess County.

“They’ve got a couple of big hitters with a bunch of kills,” he said. “But, they’ve lost kind of roughly when they’ve gone against tough competition.”

Hardison said that if he can keep the Lady Aces focused, they will be a tough out in the tournament.

“I think if the girls come out here focused and playing together, they are tough to beat,” he said. “If they get in their own heads, they’ll beat themselves. That’s my job to not let them get to that point.”

The winner will play at 12 p.m. Saturday in the quarterfinals, where they’ll meet the winner of today’s match between North Oldham (26-8) and Floyd Central (30-7).

The quarterfinal winner will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. The championship is set for 2 p.m. Sunday.

Though KHSAA’s RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is only officially used for football’s postseason, it does provide a look at how teams in other sports — including volleyball — stack up against one another based on their performance during the regular season only.

Catholic is ranked 29th among all schools, while Campbell County is 89th. North Oldham is 30th and Floyd Central is 23rd.

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November 8, 2019 | 12:03 am

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