By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
St. Henry volleyball player Taylor Preston will continue her pursuit for the team record in career kills in a home match Tuesday against Louisville Assumption, the top-ranked team in the preseason state coaches poll.
Preston became the second St. Henry player to surpass the 1,000 mark in career kills in the team’s first match of the season. The senior outside hitter has pushed her career total to more than 1,100, but she still trails the Crusaders’ all-time leader, Maria Tobergte, who graduated in 2018 with 1,387 total kills.
Senior outside hitter Taylor Preston became the second St. Henry volleyball player to surpass 1,000 career kills in the history of the program. (Photo from school’s Twitter account)
Tobergte is now a junior on the University of Cincinnati volleyball team. Preston was recruited by the University of Oklahoma.
St. Henry has an 8-2 record with both losses coming to Louisville Sacred Heart during a tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., last weekend. Sacred Heart, ranked No. 3 in the state coaches poll, defeated St. Henry, 3-2, in pool play and in the championship match of that tournament.
“We had to come up through the losers bracket and had to play more matches than them and we just didn’t have it,” St. Henry coach Maureen Kaiser said of the 25-21, 22-25, 15-8 loss to Sacred Heart in the championship match. “We had them beat. It really only should’ve went two games, but it didn’t work out that way.”
The Crusaders, who started the season ranked No. 9 in the state, will honor their 1981 state championship team at Tuesday’s match that’s scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Kaiser also plans to recognize Preston for surpassing 1,000 kills and senior libero Abby Schaefer for surpassing 1,000 defensive digs in their varsity careers.
St. Henry will return to the 9th Region All “A” Classic volleyball playoffs this season after a two-year layoff due to scheduling constraints. The Crusaders’ first match will be against Newport Central Catholic on Sept. 1 at Ludlow High School.
Brossart expected to name girls head basketball coach Tuesday
Garren Parker is expected to be named the new girls head basketball coach at Bishop Brossart High School on Tuesday. His name has already been added to the school’s listing of head coaches on the khsaa.org website.
Parker was coach of the Mustangs’ freshman team last season and his daughter, Madison, was a starting junior guard on the varsity team that won the 10th Region championship and lost a double-overtime game to Bowling Green in the first round of the state tournament.
Junior forward Lauren Macht was the other underclassmen in last year’s starting lineup. One of the three senior starters who graduated was center Marie Kiefer, who was named 10th Region Player of the Year after posting team-high averages of 19.6 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Parker was promoted to head coach to replace Kevin Bundy, who resigned in June and then became head coach at Mason County. Brossart teams compiled a 95-52 record and won three 10th Region All “A” Classic championships during Bundy’s five seasons as head coach.
Last season, Brossart was runner-up in the Northern Kentucky post-season tournament for girls freshman basketball teams under coach Parker.
NewCath reclaims 9th Region All “A” Classic girls soccer title
Newport Central Catholic won three matches by one goal to claim the 9th Region All “A” Classic girls soccer championship for the second consecutive year.
After defeating St. Henry, 3-2, and Beechwood, 2-1, NewCath won the title match against Villa Madonna, 1-0, with senior forward Rylee Turner scoring the lone goal and freshman goalkeeper Katelyn Haigis making six saves to post a shutout.
NewCath junior striker Karly Enginger was named the tournament’s most valuable player. She scored four goals in the first two matches and got the assist on Turner’s goal in the final. Haigis and junior defender Joelle Kinnett were the other NewCath players named to the all-tournament team.
The Thoroughbreds earned a berth in the 16-team All “A” Classic girls state tournament to be played Sept. 25 and 26 at Capitol View Park in Frankfort. Their first-round opponent will be the winner of the 10th Region tournament that’s scheduled to begin on Sept. 4.
