Notre Dame Academy senior Teagan Kondik ended the 9th Region volleyball championship with a tomahawk spike, capping a five-set comeback that gave the Pandas their fifth straight title.
Notre Dame beat Beechwood 3-2 (24-26, 22-25, 25-13, 25-14, 15-10) on Oct. 29 at Dayton High School, as first reported by the NKY Tribune. The Pandas trailed two sets to none before storming back to win three straight, extending their region dynasty to 18 titles in the last 23 seasons.
The Tigers, playing in their first 9th Region final since 2003, looked poised to become the first public school to win the title. Senior Isabel O'Brien led Beechwood to a 26-24 first-set win and a 25-22 second-set victory.
Then Notre Dame flipped a switch.
The Pandas scored the first seven points of the third set and cruised to a 25-13 win. In the fourth set, Kondik scored seven points and junior middle hitter Makayla Roose added three in a 25-14 rout that forced a decisive fifth set.
Notre Dame used an 8-2 run in the tiebreaker to build an 11-4 lead. Beechwood clawed back to 14-10 behind O'Brien before Kondik put the match away.
The 6-foot-1 outside hitter, a University of Cincinnati recruit, finished with a team-high 28 kills and 13 digs. She was named tournament MVP.
"I've played four years here and seen people before me be leaders on the court and take the initiative," Kondik told the NKY Tribune. "I take a lot of inspiration from that and wanted to be that person tonight for my teammates."
Roose added 16 kills and four block assists. Junior Emma Redlinger had 11 kills, and junior libero Kaia Tilden posted a team-high 20 digs with four service aces.
"After losing that second set, we knew we had to keep pushing and keep fighting," Roose said, according to the NKY Tribune. "Just coming back with all that energy was a key part of it."
Beechwood coach Matt Long credited Notre Dame's star.
"She's a great hitter, great swinger. She's hard to stop," Long said of Kondik.
Long said momentum swung away from his team in the final three sets. The Tigers finished the season 35-5, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, with a second straight All "A" state title and a 118-33 record over the senior class's four-year run.
The two teams split their regular-season and postseason meetings. Beechwood won a five-set match during the regular season, and Notre Dame took the 35th District final 3-0.
Three Notre Dame players earned spots on the 9th Region all-tournament team: Kondik, Tilden and Ellie Osterkamp. Beechwood placed O'Brien and Macy Armstrong. St. Henry's Kenadi Sieg and Dixie Heights' Payton Bromley also made the team.
Notre Dame hosts 10th Region champion Bishop Brossart (36-3) in the first round of the KHSAA state tournament on Monday, Nov. 2, with first serve at 7 p.m.
