The Beechwood volleyball team has finally broken the dam.
The Tigers made the most of their first appearance in the annual "Playing for a Purpose" match, earning their first ever win over Notre Dame in five
sets: 25-21, 25-18, 16-25, 18-25, 15-9. They are the first Ninth Region public school to defeat the Pandas since Ryle did so on Oct. 12, 2021.
"Four years coming, it just feels through the roof right now. I'm just so happy for my team," Beechwood senior Macy Armstrong said.
Fresh off a program-high No. 4 ranking in the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Tigers picked up their biggest win of the season. They also own two wins over St. Henry and should go undefeated against the Ninth Region in the regular season for the first time ever.
Beechwood dominated the first two sets
The seniors led the way for the Tigers in the first set. Isabel O'Brien put away 10 kills, Macy Armstrong had five of her own and Teegan Becker contributed two blocks as the Tigers left no doubt in the first frame.
Four Notre Dame errors contributed to a 12-3 Beechwood lead in the blink of an eye. Armstrong's final kill of the set brought the lead to 22-12 before the Pandas clawed back. Three kills from Emma Redlinger, two from Makayla Roose and three Beechwood errors brought Notre Dame within 24-21 before O'Brien closed the set with a high-flying, powerful swing.
After Notre Dame grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second set, the Tigers responded with a 15-5 run once again led by Armstrong, O'Brien, Payce Adams and a stout defense that forced four Panda errors. In the three sets it won, Beechwood never trailed by more than two points.
"I'm so proud of them. We talk about getting big leads and then side-out games from there. For the most part it did work out. That grit after the loss, that's hard for especially some of the younger kids on our team. I feel like we fought through it and we made some decent changes that helped us win that match," Long said.
Notre Dame would once again close to within five points at 18-23 behind two Teagan Kondik kills and a Roose block, but two attack errors put them in a two-set hole.
Notre Dame battled back with service pressure, defense
After falling in a 2-0 deficit for the second time in three sets, the Pandas bounced back to a 8-5 lead by forcing three Beechwood errors. Their largest lead of the match to that point immediately gave Notre Dame the fuel it needed. An Ellie Osterkamp ace expanded the lead to 13-9 and a Kaia Tilden ace gave the Pandas a 18-12 advantage.
The set ended with Notre Dame serving five aces and forcing five Beechwood attack errors. The Tigers connected on just seven kills.
The Pandas used that momentum to surge to a 5-2 lead in the fourth set behind four Beechwood errors and an Ellie Breitling block.
In the first two sets, the Tigers were quick to shut down any momentum Notre Dame tried to gain. The Pandas flipped that script to even the match. Every time Beechwood got within a point or two, Notre Dame's block forced the Tigers into an attack error.
Two separate three-point runs, punctuated by two more Tilden aces and two Roose kills sent the match to a winner-take-all fifth set.
Beechwood snatched momentum in fifth set
While all of the first four sets were fairly one-sided, the deciding frame was the cherry on top of the best Northern Kentucky volleyball match of the season.
Kills from Charlotte Conway and Armstrong, plus a Kennedy Sturgeon ace, gave Beechwood a 3-0 lead. Notre Dame stormed back thanks to a Kondik kill and a Breitling block.
The point of the match came with Beechwood leading 9-7. A rally that lasted over one minute saw Beechwood control the rhythm of the point, but an all-out dig from Kondik eventually led to a statement block from freshman Sophia Bramlage.
After Long called a timeout, another Breitling rejection tied the final set but proved to be the Pandas' final point.
O'Brien, who was battling cramps the entire fifth set, put a kill down the line for the lead. She later put away the final two points for the Tigers and led all players with 24 kills, collapsing to the floor in exhaustion as her teammates surrounded her in pure jubilation.
"If we didn't have a target on our back, we definitely have a target on our back now. It's a double-edged sword and I think we're here for the challenge," Long said.
It's been a dream season for the Tigers, who so far have only lost to the best team in Kentucky (Assumption) and the best team in Ohio (Seton). After a must-watch season finale at McNicholas, this year's Ninth Region tournament at Dayton High School, featuring three of the top six teams in the state, will be the highest-profile bracket in history.
"I think it just puts a stamp on that confidence that we can go out and beat any team in Northern Kentucky and that we have the means to make it to state this year.," Armstrong said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Beechwood takes down Notre Dame in 'Playing for a Purpose' epic
