LouisvilleCatholicSports.com

Valkyries overpower St. Henry in three sets

You could hear the hard rain pound away outside on the roof of the Sacred Heart Academy gymnasium. Inside, you could hear the thunder of the Valkyries blasting away at St. Henry High School.

The Sacred Heart volleyball team stormed past the Crusaders 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-16) and moved to 2-0 on the young season.

Led by an experienced cast of eight seniors, the Valkyries were poised to take control of the match. Early in the first set, seniors Emily McDaniel and Annie Adams put up a wall at the net and recorded a block that gave the home side a 5-4 lead. They didn’t trail again in the set.

Back to back spikes from senior Madison Wessling pushed the Valkyries to a 9-5 lead. The rest of the set was highlighted by junior Ashley Askin hammering the ball for big points. Senior Amy Evans had a solid evening setting up her big-swinging teammates, junior middle blocker Kianna Dieudonne among them. The Valkyries eventually pulled away and cruised to a first set win.

“I told the girls before the game, let’s not just win, let’s put our very best effort out there,” Sacred Heart coach Eric Garvey said. “It’s the first big challenge, try to make a statement. They came out and showed up.”

With the score tied 9-9 in second set, the Valkyries relied again on some thunder from the tough trio of Askin, Dieudonne and Wessling. Those three combined for 32 kills on the night, some of which left leather marks on the floor.

St. Henry put together a furious rally to get back into the set until Askin flattened a ball to steal away the momentum. She also landed a kill on set point to put her team up 2-0.

The Valkyries owned set three from the get-go, scoring the first five points. Dieudonne finished with six kills and two blocks, not a bad line on the night of her mother’s birthday. Senior Allie Kellerman kept the ball off the hardwood with 13 digs. The Valkyries also counted on nine aces in the match.

Sacred Heart cruised in set three, winning 25-16.

“The theme of our team is I don’t think we’re outstanding at any one thing, I just think we do everything really well,” Garvey said. “We have a lot of seniors. They communicate. They play consistent. We don’t have any let down at any one position. These girls play well together.  They can beat you at a lot of spots.”

Up next, a big weekend of volleyball with a road trip to face some of the best teams in Indiana. That is followed by a game Sunday at Mercy Academy at 5pm.

It is a strong slate of competition for which the Valkyries believe they are prepared.

“Our team is really well rounded this year, probably the deepest we’ve ever been,” senior Annie Adams said. “We have nine seniors who have varsity experience. We’re determined to start off strong.”