KYdigsTN

Sure, no problem.

Impact does play open division in many tournaments I've seen them in and has come a long way, but still would not be able to qualify in the open division for USA nationals yet. They do extremely well in the club division at qualifiers, but would have little chance of qualifying in open. Still some VERY good teams though that qualify for the national division and american division. Clearly the best teams qualify in open and the winner of open is considered the "true" national champion. The only way to qualify for the open division is to finish in the top three at a qualifier in the open divison. No way to get there through the regional qualifying tournament. A few teams are selected as "At Large" open bids by committee. These are teams that demonstrated themselves to be great all year but did not finish top three in a qualifier. National and American bids are granted differently. The winner of a club division in a qualifier goes to national and runnerup to american. Regional bids are granted in national and american through the regional bid tournaments. The louisville area here truly amazes me though with how well they do at nationals. EVERY single KIVA Red team(#1 team) in every age group qualified for open division at nationals. 13's and 15's won the championship. 14's, 16's, 17's finished third. MAVA also had three elite teams finish either runnerup or in the top 4 of the open division. Of the 28 medals given out for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in open, Louisville teams received 8 of them. That's incredible for a city of that size!

Big congrats to not only Impacts 15 national championship team, but also the 17's team that qualified and won the bronze bracket in nationals. Dig to Win also had a team qualify. I'm not sure people understand just how difficult it is to qualify for nationals, yet alone win it in any division. VERY BIG accomplishment! VB is clearly on the rise in TN!

I totally understand the frustration the Independence or Centennial teams are feeling. Lafayette went home early last year. Lafayette's district has 4 top 25 teams, but only two can advance and this year every match was a close three game match(best 2 of 3 here). Lafayette was fortunate enough to win districts this year and advance to regions, but two great teams went home while lesser teams advanced from weaker districts. In KY their are 60 districts made up of 3 or 4 teams per district. Most districts are jokes as there is never any doubt which two will advance other than Lafayette's district. Top 2 from each district move on to the regional tournament. Their are 16 regions and each region will consist of 8 teams with only the winner moving on to state. The state champion is really determined in region 7 as that is the region that contains Sacred Heart and Assumption. Imagine how SH must feel every year virtually NEVER getting to state. They made it three years ago and won state, but that's the only time in at least 15 years they have got there. There will be 16 teams at state from 16 regions. Keep in mind this entire process is single elimination. Lose once and go home unless it's in the district finals. State is single elimination also. Also, only one state champ here and Assumption always wins, so everybody else is just trying for the honor of getting there. The state venue is Northern Ky University this year. This is the first time it's been there so I dont know how nice it is. The format at state is always the same though. 16 teams aligned in a blind draw with first round matches on Friday. Final eight bracket on saturday. Three matches to win the championship to crown Assumption state champion. Also, at least 6-7 of these region champions will be teams from Eastern and Western Ky that are not very strong teams and most wouldn't even rank in the states top 100. They are there while teams like Sacred Heart and Presentation(in Mercy's region) rarely ever get there.

That score is VERY impressive! You may not have defeated them, but you certainly earned their respect. I'm shocked, yet VERY excited to see that score. Perhaps Lafayette isn't that far outside of Presentation's league as I had thought. An update on lafayette's season so far. The girls are currently 24-3. They have won three of four tournaments and finished third in northern KY last weekend in the Cake Classic. The three losses came against #8 ranked Ryle, Independence TN, and #20 ranked Campbell County the team that won the Cake Classic. The girls moved up to #15 in the latest coaches poll and have since defeated #10 Beechwood, #18 Henry Clay, and #22 Tates Creek. The last two against HC and TC were district matches that are HUGE rivalries. Next weekend is our last regular season tournament in Louisville. This is a big one! Hope it goes well.

Three years ago Lafayette played their JV in the varsity Lafayette Invt tournament because a team did not show up. Our coaches were just trying to provide a match for the other teams in that pool, but it almost cost us our season. We found out that our district rival was secretly waiting to turn us in for playing in too many matches after we completed the regular season. They wanted us out of the playoffs. Turns out those two JV matches our girls played in a "varsity" tournament legally counted as varsity matches according to the KHSAA, but our coaches had no idea. We ended up having to cancel 2 varsity home matches at the end of our season as to not be disqualified. Lavergne better be careful that those JV matches dont count against their varsity.

Final 4 predictions. Lavergne Anderson Co Franklin Presentation Championship match will be Presentation over Franklin in two. The 8 ball has spoken. Had to edit, because the 8 ball assumed Harpeth was the same as Harpeth Hall.

One other thing to consider is just how committed do you as parents want to be for your area to actually catch up to KIVA. Financially, it's not cheap. The amount of travel is mind blowing. I dont know how many tournaments Impact plays in over the course of a club season, but my daughters KIVA team played in 16 tournaments and over 100 matches. Imagine starting your daughter out in the 12 age group and doing this for 7 straight years in addition to high school ball. That's what KIVA and MAVA girls do. That's why they are so good.

Have to agree with the A-5 statement. Like he said, all the great players had been playing for years for other clubs before they came to A5. That's just not a fair comparison. I've been around club ball for about 7 years now. Last year was my first with a daughter in the KIVA system. KIVA is very impressive! The coaching is absolutely top notch and seem to all train with similar methods. They even have a former NFL player as a strength trainer that looks like he could still play. Take one look at the thighs, calves, and glutes on those Red team hitters and it's obvious he knows how to train. In the case of most clubs, a #2 or #3 team will be weak. Not at KIVA. They wont even put a team on the court unless it can be competitive. Most every KIVA white(#2 teams) made it to nationals and most won qualifiers to get there. My daughter played on the KIVA 17 Black(#3) team, but still had two INCREDIBLE coaches and the team won over 65% of their matches, two tournaments, and made it to gold almost every time as a #3 team. They also played UP to 18's in most tournaments because that's another KIVA philosophy to not play their age groups in order to get better competition. If there is a finer model anywhere I'd be amazed. With regards to Impact, all I know is their #1 teams have seemed to do VERY well in tournaments I have seen them in. I was also happy to see them participating in the Central Zone tournaments last year. The best of the best play there and to my eye Impact clearly belonged there. Somebody is doing something right. To compare them to KIVA may not really be fair, because really...just how many clubs out there do compare to KIVA. A5 is not even close. My guess is the complaints with Impact are the usual complaints from family's of girls that do not make the #1 teams and suffer through difficult club seasons losing because the overall talent just isn't good enough to produce two competitive teams. That's a complaint everywhere. Even on KIVA #2 teams that are winning.

Assumption won the tournament. I believe they beat #2 ranked Mira Costa in three in the finals. That should but an end to any doubt as to who deserves to be ranked as the top team in the nation.

You're guess is as good as mine then. Perhaps they just want some more wins and a pretty good chance at a championship, because the schedule they play is absolutely brutal.

I have no idea, but I do wonder why Presentation is not in the BIVT. They won that tournament last year. Like I said, I dont know much about a couple of those non TN teams, but my guess is Presentation steamroles through this tournament. Makes me wonder a little if they scheduled the stronger BIVT but were forced to find something else this same weekend. I have absolutely NO proof of that, but it I cant help but wonder.

I know nothing about Curry and Desoto, but I seriously doubt the TN teams listed can win a game from Presentation. They are ranked #6 in KY and are just at a higher level than anybody in TN IMO, with perhaps the exception being Brentwood. My daughter played on a KIVA club team with a DS from Presentation and I've seen all their players individually at KIVA, though not as a team together. EXTREMELY well coached girls with unbelievable ball control skills. Anderson is a good team, but they are young and their inexperience hurts them. I can safely say they have no chance against Presentation because Lafayette would have no chance against Presentation and we beat Anderson rather convincingly in 2. Anderson is capable of beating teams like Independence, Centennial and BGA that were in the Page, but not Presentation Academy. Just no way. Completely different level of volleyball played by those Louisville Catholic girls.

Freshmen at JV matches are to 21. Vartsity to 25 even in game three for regular season games. Game three's can vary in tournaments to either 15 or 25 depending on how the tournament is set up. I know Lafayette plays all our varsity district games best 3 of 5. This is optional but has been agreed to by all the coaches.

BINGO! That's it in a nutshell. The younger they start the better they will be when they get to high school. Louisville girls start even before 12 on the KIVA teams. By the time they make a KIVA 12 Red team they have been playing a few years in the catholic school system. Obviously great coaching is key also, but even if the coaching were just average(it's not) the extra playing time would still generate great players.

I was just messing with you TGLJ. Ghost had a few very close line calls in our match. Most went in favor of Anderson, but there was no doubt in my mind he made the right call every time. The ball goes down and the call made decisively. A touch is seen and heard and a signal made instantly. A peave of mine is allowing JV or freshmen girls on the line in big matches. I just believe a parent should do it, but even then that parent needs to practice on some lesser matches before doing a championship or significant match or a match where the speed will be intense with two good teams. Parents will usually pay attention, but even parents need to understand the rules and I've seen soooooo many that dont. Last weekend in the Page Classic coach Berry of BGA actually requested line judge replacments in a match involving BGA and Lafayette. There were two parents from another team calling lines in that match, but one was missing a bunch of calls. In mid match I was called out of the stands to do one line to represent Lafayette and a BGA parent called to represent BGA. I've never seen that happen before, but it was the right thing to do.

It was great having Anderson at our tournament again here in Lexington. They always do very well, but this is the first year Lafayette and Anderson Co have met in the finals. Lafayette won 25-18, 25-17 to win it's third tournament in a row. Anderson finished runnerup, finished 4-1 and beat a solid Louisville Ballard team that is currently ranked #25 in KY in the semi-finals. Both teams played great volleyball the entire tournament, but I think "The Ghost" would agree the best team won today. Anderson has some great young players and one very strong OH, but they weren't able to get into their offense as often as they needed to due to some serve receive issues and our girls put up a very strong attack. They caught us clicking on all cylinders like Centennial did last week, but I saw enough of them to know they will be tough to beat in State in their division. Lafayette is off to their very best start ever at 18-2 and three tournament championships in a row. They moved up to #18 in the last poll, but should move up a little after the last two weekend championships. It's off to NKY for the Cake Classic next weekend. That will definately be a challenge. Hopefully they stay on a roll! No offense to TGLJ, but I must say the Ghost and myself are probably the best line judges in their respective states!

Presentation will be VERY good. Assumption is at a level that nobody can touch and then you have Mercy, Sacred Heart, Presentation, St Henry, and Notre Dame beating up on each other, but nobody else in the state able to beat them. Doubtful anybody in TN can either other than Brentwood, but I dont think that will happen. Of course I could be wrong.

This one is bigtime! Check out this list of pools. Seeding is left to right. 1. Assumption(#1 nation and #1 KY), Conner(#13 KY), Boone Co(#24 KY) 2. St Josephs Saint Louis(#1 MO & #10 nation), Newport Central Cath(#15 KY), Beechwood(#10 KY) 3. Sacred Heart(#3 KY), South Oldham(#12 KY), Harding Academy TN 4. Mercy(#28 nation #2 KY), Campbell Co, Henry Clay(#20 KY) 5. St Henry(#36 Nation and #5 KY), Male( #16 KY), Tates Creek(#22 KY) 6. Presentation(#97 nation #6 KY)), Ryle(#8 KY), Holy Cross Covington 7. Notre Dame(#4 KY), Butler(#9 KY), Bishop Brossart 8. Holy Cross Louisville(#7 KY), Huntsville AL, PRP This tournament has 5 nationally ranked teams plus Sarcred Heart and Notre Dame that probably should be. It also has the entire top 10 and 18 of the top 25 in KY. I really dont know much about Harding Academy TN or Huntsville AL, but my guess is they are great teams too. I dont think I've ever seen a tournament this strong! Lafayette(#18 KY) couldn't do this one because it's the same weekend as our Invitational, but obviously wouldn't have had much chance to win it either.

Just to commemorate how well they played. No disrespect was intended. Centennial used lots of combinations in that game two to try to improve their passing. I saw several substitutions, but nothing seemed to help. The key to that match in my opinion was a point early in the game on perhaps the toughest, longest, hardest fought volley I have ever seen that Lafayette won. After that Centennial just didn't look the same and Lafayette played just about as good as they could possibly play.

I guess I was right about Manual being much weaker this year. Looks like they probably only won 1 match against Cordova and lost the rest to go 1-6 for the tournament.

It's interesting you thought #1 was our best hitter. She's very good, but overall I would say she is our third best offensive weapon, but our very quickest and best passer. She does leap out of the gym though at about 5'7". Extremely athletic girl! Statistically our strongest hitters are #9, the lanky blond MB and then #7, the other OH. Against Centennial and Page #1 played amazing, while all three were hitting against Centennial. If our girls get in a passing rhythm like they were, our two setters can lay the ball on a platter to those hitters. All three were just killing the ball against Centennial. Best match our girls have played all year.

It was clear to me that the TN teams that had a fair number of club players were the better teams. I'm told Independence and Centennial have a good number of club players and it showed. Ball control skills like serve receive, passing,and setting just takes repetiton to master and the girls that play more are simply better at it. Every player for Lafayette but one is a multiple year club player. That one girl is a softball player and fantastic athlete, but she only plays front row as her passing skills are not as strong as the others. Lafayette went 3-4 in this tournament just last year. The team this year is almost exactly the same team as last years team less one key player. Last year Centennial, Page, East Ridge, and Goodpasture all beat Lafayette. They were good close matches, but we were to young and inexperienced. In the club season three of our girls played in 16 tournaments, 100 matches, and practiced twice a week from Dec-July for Louisville club teams KIVA and MAVA. The rest practiced the same amount, played in 9 tournaments to total about 55 tournament matches for a club based here in Lexington called BAVA. Basically all our girls worked their butts off to get better and did. They still have much to improve on, but overall they just made themselves better players. In KY, if the majority of your girls dont play in the off season they simply cant compete with the ones that do. Lafayette would have no chance of advancing out of district without club volleyball. With that said, probably only the top 50 teams have ANY club players. The bottom 200 teams with no club players are not even in the same league as the top 25 that do. I'd be willing to bet that most teams in Eastern KY are worse than the very worst teams in TN because at least TN plays a longer season and more matches. Eastern Ky volleyball is among the worst volleyball played ANYWHERE.

Thanks to all for the hospitality shown to our team. This tournament is one of my all-time favorites to attend. The 7 match guarantee and the overall quality of the teams makes it a top notch tournament. I will miss not coming back here as my last daughter is now a senior. Overall Lafayette played pretty well. They played poorly in most game two's and brilliant in a couple games against Centennial and Independence. Especially the championship match. Centennial to my eye was the best overall team we faced even though the scores may not reflect that. Our girls simply played harder and better against them. This is Lafayettes second straight gold championship. They are definately off to the kind of start I was hoping for.

We're on our way down. Hopefully we wont run into any traffic problems. GO GENERALS!