There’s just one 16-team bracket for this weekend’s KHSAA State Volleyball Tournament at Valley High School, but it just as well could be split into a pair of brackets called “The Haves” and “The Have-Nots.”
The bottom half of the bracket features five of the top seven teams in the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association’s Top 25, including three — No. 1 Assumption, No. 3 Mercy and No. 5 Notre Dame — that have combined to win 32 of the past 33 state championships.
None of the eight teams in the top half of the bracket — led by No. 16 Owensboro Catholic and No. 23 South Warren — has ever reached a state final.
“It’s pretty obvious when you look at it at the bottom half is a rough draw,” Mercy coach Matt Thomerson said. “It would be nice if there could be a better final matchup toward the end and have the better teams spread out. But, hey, when you have a blind draw that’s just how it works sometimes.”
The state tournament will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday when Pulaski Southwestern faces South Laurel in the first of eight first-round matches. Quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Saturday, with the championship match set for 2 p.m. Sunday.
Along with Assumption, Mercy and Notre Dame, No. 4 Henry Clay and No. 7 North Oldham are the top-ranked teams in the field.
While his team is ranked No. 1, Assumption coach Ron Kordes said the state’s top teams are as even as they’ve ever been.
“This is my 27th year at Assumption, and I’ve never seen all four of us (Assumption, Mercy, Sacred Heart and Notre Dame) as close as we’ve been this year,” said Kordes, whose Rockets eliminated No. 2 Sacred Heart in last week’s Seventh Region final. “Everybody has kind of been beating everybody. It’s great for the sport.”
Assumption will be a heavy favorite over No. 18 McCracken County in Friday’s first-round match but could face two very tough matches Saturday, with Mercy the likely opponent in the 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal and Notre Dame a possible foe in the 8:30 p.m. semifinal.
Assumption is 2-0 against Mercy and 2-1 against Notre Dame this season. Kordes said his team would be prepared if it faces tough back-to-back matches Saturday.
“That’s sometimes where the club-ball experience has to kick in,” Kordes said. “We don’t do that too much in the high schools season, but they’re used to playing three or four matches a day in club.”
Mercy enters the tournament with an eight-match winning streak since a 3-0 loss to Assumption on Oct. 8. Thomerson said his team won’t consider itself the underdog if it faces Assumption again on Saturday.
“What we’ve put in our mind-set is, ‘Let us be the team to beat,’” said Thomerson, whose Jaguars are 2-0 against Notre Dame this season. “Unfortunately when we’ve lost, we’ve lost because we beat ourselves, not necessarily because the other team was much better than us. We all know Assumption is a solid team that’s gotten better since the beginning of the season, and so have we.”
Notre Dame was the state runner-up to Mercy last season and may have the most dynamic player in the tournament in senior Morgan Hentz, who has committed to Stanford.
“Hentz is a beast, a complete difference-maker,” Thomerson said. “I’ve never seen anybody like her in all my years of coaching. … She’s just very smart and doesn’t make mistakes. With it being her senior year, you know she’s going to want it.”
STATE VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
* Where: Valley High School.
* Friday’s first round: Pulaski Southwestern (26-11) vs. South Laurel (30-7), 9:30 a.m.; North Oldham (25-12) vs. Scott (37-3), 11; Henry Clay (36-4) vs. Notre Dame (31-5), 12:30 p.m.; Mercy (30-7) vs. Allen Central (32-5), 2; McCracken County (31-9) vs. Assumption (32-7), 3:30; Letcher County Central (29-7) vs. South Warren (33-6), 5; Elizabethtown (27-12) vs. Owensboro Catholic (32-8), 6:30; Raceland (31-8) vs. Henderson County (30-7), 8
* Saturday’s quarterfinals: Letcher County Central-South Warren winner vs. Elizabethtown-Owensboro Catholic winner, 10 a.m.; Raceland-Henderson County winner vs. Pulaski Southwestern-South Laurel winner, 11:30; Henry Clay-Notre Dame winner vs. North Oldham-Scott winner, 1 p.m.; Mercy-Allen Central winner vs. McCracken County-Assumption winner, 2:30
* Saturday’s semifinals: 7 and 8:30 p.m.
* Sunday’s final: 2 p.m.
* Tickets: $10 each per session; all-session pass $30; children 10 and under free.