Notre Dame won the DII-A East Region District 2 volleyball championship Monday night.
photo by Contributed
Last year Boyd Buchanan’s volleyball team interrupted a streak of three straight Notre Dame East Region District 2 Championships in Division II-A. Monday night, the two teams met to determine if the Lady Bucs was establishing a new dynasty or if the Lady Irish was reaffirming their own.
Notre Dame had won both regular season matches controlling most of the play and it looked that might be the case again early in set one. Notre Dame raced out to a 7-2 lead behind the serving of District POY Maggie Fillauer and a thunderous kill by All-District team member Sam Brown. But Boyd had other ideas.
With passionate defense, Boyd fought back and slowly ate into the Irish lead. Boyd’s Brooklyn Mathis produced a three-point service run to finally tie the score at 22 and forced a Notre Dame timeout. Out of the time out, Notre Dame would score two quick points to earn a set point, but the Bucs would fight back again to tie it at 24. The gym would be whipped into a frenzy as both fan bases had something to cheer about as the score was tied again at 25 and 26. Finally, the set would come to a close the way it has started with Fillauer finishing off a 28-26 win.
The second set was just as competitive. Both teams battled back and forth with no one getting more than a one point lead midway through the set. With Boyd leading 17-16, Notre Dame started to get control of the match. Two more All-District team members from Notre Dame, Callie McCormick and Maggie Clotfelter, both went on service runs that included aces and built the Notre Dame lead to 24-20. At this point, the two teams decided to play an epic point. The point lasted over a minute and feature 14 digs by the two teams. It ended on Irish outside hitter Scarlett Hughes’ 3rd dig of the point and a kill by Notre Dame’s Violet Wright.
The loss of the second set in seemed to signal the end of Boyd’s spirited attempt. Notre Dame quickly built a 10-4 lead and Irish senior Savannah Scarboro ended all thoughts of a comeback with nine point service run that included 2 aces. The final member of the All-District team for the Irish, Caimen Cothron, sealed the championship with a kill.
The championship is Notre Dame’s fifth in the last seven years and marked the third time in the last four years that the Irish have gone undefeated in district play. Both teams will host regional cross-overs on Thursday. The Lady Irish will host Berean from Knoxville, while the Lady Bucs will host Grace Knoxville.
District All Tournament Team
2023 District Player of the Year, Notre Dame Libero Maggie Fillauer
Grace, Outside Hitter – Ella Taylor Waldron
Collegedale, Libero – Linley Hold
Collegedale, Outside Hitter – Gina Rasi
Boyd, Setter/Rightside Hitter - Caitlyn Kruse
Boyd, Libero - Isabella Messer
Silverdale, Setter/Outside Hitter – Camryn Neal
Silverdale, DS – Haley Williams
Silverdale, RS Hitter – Kelsey Johnson
Notre Dame, Caimen Cothron
Notre Dame, Callie McCormick
Notre Dame, Maggie Clotfelter
Notre Dame, Sam Brown
The District Coach of the Year is Dan Clotfelter from Notre Dame.
Stats:
Notre Dame
Caimen Cothron: 4 Kills, 18 digs
Callie McCormick: 5 kills, 9 digs
Sam Brown: 11 kills, 5 digs, 4 blocks, 1 ace
Scarlett Hughes: 6 kills, 23 digs, 2 blocks
Violet Wright: 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 block
Aniyah Brown: 2 kills, 1 dig
Maggie Clotfelter: 1 kill, 7 digs, 1 ace, 22 assists
Sarah Dobson: 4 digs, 7 assists
Maggie Fillauer: 18 digs, 2 aces, 1 assist
Savannah Scarboro: 2 digs, 2 aces