Beechwood volleyball coach Matt Long has reached 400 career high school wins, a milestone the Fort Mitchell program announced on X on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
Long has compiled a 115-30 record with the Tigers' current senior class over four years, according to the team's post. The milestone lands at the peak of a standout season: Beechwood is 30-2 after the Oct. 10 Notre Dame win, and entering the postseason as the 9th Region favorite for the first time in program history, according to the NKY Tribune.
The Tigers prompted the NKY Tribune to identify Beechwood as the regional favorite on Saturday, Oct. 10, beating four-time defending 9th Region champion Notre Dame 3-2 at Boone County High School in the 17th annual Playing for a Purpose benefit game, LinkNKY reported. Notre Dame entered ranked No. 2 in the state coaches poll. No. 4 Beechwood won the deciding fifth set 15-9.
"If we didn't have a target on our back, we definitely have a target on our back now," Long said after the win, according to LinkNKY.
Beechwood's only losses came to defending state champion Louisville Assumption and Cincinnati Seton. Long calls those squads the best teams in Kentucky and Ohio, respectively, LinkNKY reported.
The Tigers have beaten several state-ranked opponents, including No. 6 St. Henry twice, No. 9 North Oldham, Lexington Catholic and Louisville Ballard, according to the NKY Tribune.
Beechwood won its second consecutive All ‘A’ state championship Sept. 18–19 in Owensboro, winning all six tournament matches. Senior Isabel O'Brien, a Bellarmine commit who broke the Beechwood records for career kills and aces, was named tournament MVP. Senior Skylr Estep has surpassed 3,000 career assists.
Long was named Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association (KVCA) Girls Region 9 Coach of the Year after the 2025 season, according to Beechwood Independent School District board minutes. That season ended with a program-record 33 wins, the school's first All "A" state championship and its first 9th Region semifinal appearance since 2017.
No public school has won the 9th Region volleyball title since the current playoff format was established in 2003, the NKY Tribune reported. Beechwood made the state tournament semifinals in 2002 and 1989 and lost in the first round in 1991 under an older format that included region runners-up.
Long has six seniors looking to change that. District tournaments begin the week of Monday, Oct. 19. As the top two seeds in the 35th District, Beechwood and Notre Dame will be on opposite sides of the bracket, with the winner and runner-up in each district advancing to the region tournament.
