Prep Sports Report: Notre Dame’s veteran volleyball team looking for another shot at state title

By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

With four NCAA Division I college recruits on the roster, Notre Dame Academy’s volleyball team is ranked No. 1 in the 9th Region and considered one of the leading contenders for the state title going into the 2024 season that starts on Monday.

Notre Dame won the 2022 state tournament and lost in the championship final last year. Four seniors and two juniors on this year’s team played in both of those state tournaments and they want another shot at the title this fall.

Two of the seniors are Ava Tilden and Julia Grace, who have made commitments with Xavier University. Their  classmate, Riley McCloskey, is a University of Memphis recruit and junior Audrey Dyas accepted a scholarship offer from Wake Forest University.

Last season, Tilden led the Pandas in kills with 355 in 115 sets for a 3.09 average. Dyas had 200 kills and a team-high 70 blocks while McCloskey finished with 291 kills and 64 blocks.

Notre Dame also has last year’s assist leaders Lauren Ott (710) and Lizzy Larkins (566) returning along with Grace, a libero defensive specialist who had 487 digs to go along with a team-high 48 service aces.

Grace was named Division I Player of the Year by local high school coaches after last season. During the summer, she played for the NKYVC Tsunami club team that finished fifth in the USA Volleyball under-17 national tournament and was named to the all-tournament team.

The other Notre Dame players on the Tsunami team were seniors Ella Goetz and Lacey Hostetler, Tilden and McCloskey. T heir teammates included seniors Corrine Blackburn of St. Henry, Maya Kondik of Villa Madonna and Azaria Sweet of Boone County.

Two football coaches enter season
within reach of career milestones

High school football season begins next Friday with head coaches Randy Borchers of Cooper and Mike Engler of Ryle within reach of career milestones.

Borchers needs four victories to reach 100 as head coach of the Jaguars. In his previous 16 seasons with the program, his teams compiled a 96-90 record and made it to the Class 5A state finals twice. His overall career record is 103-104 in 18 seasons.

Engler has a 71-48 record in 10 seasons at Ryle. He needs three more victories to set a new team record for most wins. That record is currently held by Bryson Warner, who was 73-58 in 12 seasons as head coach from 2002-2013.

Cooper and Ryle are neighboring rivals and will play the annual Battle of Union game on Friday, Sept. 6 at Cooper. Ryle has a 13-3 lead in the regular season series and won a playoff game against Cooper in 2016.

Newport rehires girls basketball coach
who stepped down before last season

One year after stepping away from coaching the Newport High School girls basketball team, Beau Menefee is returning to the program.

In Menefee’s previous three seasons as head coach, the Wildcats compiled a 37-31 record. Last year, he resigned to coach his son’s AAU basketball team and was replaced by Marcus Harris, who had a 7-24 record with last season’s team.

“Coach Menefee brings a ton of experience, success and familiarity to our program,” said Newport athletic director Kevin Reinhardt.

“We conducted several interviews and Coach Menefee stood out to us – and we are confident that he will be successful at Newport.”

Menefee had previous girls coaching experience at Campbell County and Bellevue high schools. He was named 10 th Region Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2018 with the Campbell County girls program.

Ryle softball pitcher receives $5,000
from Tom Browning Scholarship Fund

Madison Goddard, starting senior pitcher on the Ryle softball team last season, received $5,000 from the Tom Browning Scholarship Fund prior to the Cincinnati Reds home game on Tuesday.

The fund was established in 2023 in honor of the former Reds pitcher who passed away two years ago. Scholarships are awarded each year to high school pitchers in baseball and softball who excel on the field, academically and exhibit superior leadership and community service.

Goddard graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ryle with a 4.65 grade-point average. On the field, the senior team captain had an 11-9 pitching record during her final season with 159 strikeouts in 140 innings and 2.39 ERA.

The post Prep Sports Report: Notre Dame’s veteran volleyball team looking for another shot at state title appeared first on NKyTribune .