Notre Dame completes comeback against Beechwood, Ninth Region 5-peat

Editor's note: This story will be updated with a photo gallery.The more things change, the more they stay the same.Despite entering the postseason with a 20-11 record, their first time with double-digit losses in the regular season since 2019, the Notre Dame Pandas swept through four straight opponents, then pulled off a comeback for the ages against Beechwood (24-26, 22-25, 25-13, 25-14, 15-10) to complete the journey to a fifth straight Ninth Region championship.For the second straight night, tournament MVP Teagan Kondik had her fingerprints on the final play, putting away her 27th kill to complete the comeback."Joy. Doing it for my teammates when we've had a hard season, for sure, faced a lot of adversity. I think ending the region with a kill was super special to do it for them," Kondik said.Notre Dame co-coach Madison Salkowski added: "It's very gratifying but we never take it for granted. Obviously there's a lot of tough competition in Region Nine. We know that. We've always worked our entire season to this point, knowing that Beechwood's going to come out on fire, and knowing that the work that we've put in over the course of the season has shown in our effort."The match was a microcosm of the Pandas' seasonMuch like the match on Thursday night, Notre Dame started the season strong and stumbled in the middle weeks, but looked like their old selves once the postseason began.The first set was tight until NDA used a three-point run led by Kondik and Makayla Roose to take a 19-16 lead. The Tigers immediately fought back with kills from Macy Armstrong and Payce Adams, plus a block from Isabel O'Brien to tie it at 23. The Pandas had a match point after a Sophia Bramlage kill, but blocks from O'Brien and Charlotte Conway swung momentum in Beechwood's favor.The back-and-forth affair continued well into the second set until consecutive kills from O'Brien and Adams forced NDA to use both timeouts in short order, the second one to allow Ellie Osterkamp time to replace a contact lens. Every time Beechwood established a gap, the Pandas would reel it right back in, the final time being kills from Emma Redlinger and Kondik that tied the match at 20.The Tigers responded with five of the next seven points, coming on kills from O'Brien and Rachel Lewandowski, plus a Notre Dame attack error that gave Beechwood a two-set lead."We were finding a lot of spots, a lot of holes. I think what they changed on their side really was they picked up the ball a little bit more on defense," Beechwood head coach Matt Long said.Midway through the season, Colvin, who's in charge of the defense, switched to a rotation-based defense instead of focusing on the perimeter. The biggest change was having the right-back play more shallow so that the Pandas wouldn't get beat on tips or roll shots.In the final three sets, NDA was everywhere it needed to be on defense, limiting Beechwood to just 20 kills.The Pandas knew they couldn't end the season by getting swept and held a do-or-die mentality in the huddle before the third set. The flip in momentum was immediate as they came out like gangbusters in the third frame, building a 7-0 lead in just a few minutes.Ellie Breitling started it with an ace. Bramlage added a block, Roose had a kill and Kaia Tilden served two aces."The first two sets, you could tell (Beechwood) just wanted it so bad and they came out hot. That put us on our heels a little bit," Notre Dame co-coach Hannah Colvin said.Roose, who put away 15 of her 17 kills in the final three sets, registered four straight at one point. The University of Cincinnati commit who normally dominates out of the middle has added the right-side slide kill to her repertoire this season."That's one of our main points and I think that really stood out in this game. It really helped us in the tight situations," Roose said.Said Salkowski, "When we have more than one or two players actively hitting, it's helpful for everybody on the court and really hurts their blockers because they don't know who it's going to. That's something we've tried to enforce the entire season, making sure everybody is ready to hit at all times."The closest the Tigers got in the third set was five points as Roose, Tilden and Redlinger dominated the attack, and Tilden, Dara Jackson and Elise Grout dug everything out of the back row."They played cleaner than us in those last three sets and they deserved to win from that aspect of it. They were controlling the ball a little bit better than us," Long said.After the semifinal win over St. Henry, Colvin brought up luck when it came to limiting errors. The Pandas used a bit of luck to separate in the fourth set. Grout dove for a dig that flew back over the net and turned into a kill. Roose scrambled for the ball at the net, popping it across the court and landing it just inside the line. Kondik served an ace that clipped the tape and fell on the Tigers' side.Even with all the momentum on NDA's side, the early stage of the fifth set was an even-matched affair. Kondik, Roose and Tilden gave the Pandas a 3-0 lead. Two kills from Armstrong evened it at 3-3. Three more kills from Kondik and Roose gave NDA a 7-3 lead. After a service error gave the Tigers an opportunity to claw their way back, Kondik and Roose once again slammed the door, combining for three more kills for a 12-6 lead."It just felt like, 'Okay, next ball, we got this point. Just keep on pushing.' Getting points is obviously so important, but so is finding ways to score again," Roose said.The Pandas ultimately didn't let the regional final be a replay of their "Playing for a Purpose" match on Oct. 10, where they went down 2-0 and came back to force a fifth set, only to lose 15-9. Still, the two best matches of the season coming from district rivals was ultimately a celebration of the more-than-usual amount of parity within the Ninth Region in 2026."So proud of that. It's a team that's right down the street. That's a cool aspect of this, and the Ninth Region, having to go through them if you want a shot at the state tournament. It's the Ninth Region and (the Seventh Region) down in Louisville. These are the toughest regions to play in," Long said.Injuries played a small role in the matchFor the first three sets, Colvin and Salkowski inserted Bramlage, a freshman, and Grout, a sophomore, into the starting rotation in an attempt to mix things up both on defense and at the net.With the Pandas up 7-0 in the third set, Beechwood setter Skylr Estep stepped on the center line after a set. Bramlage, who jumped to block the attack, landed on Estep's foot and missed the rest of the match with an ankle injury. Sophomore Charlotte Vest replaced her and, in her first meaningful action this season, did an admirable job passing and blocking."That's a hard situation coming off the bench after a few sets and going in and delivering. Couldn't be more proud of her. She's a sophomore and that speaks a lot about her character and the player that she is," Colvin said.Later in the third set, Kondik sent a rocket down the line for a 19-10 lead. The bad news for Beechwood was the second it hit off Estep's face, she was forced to leave for the rest of the set with a bloody nose. The set was already well in hand for the Pandas and Estep was able to return in the fourth set, continuing to serve as well as she had all game.The Tigers' seniors forever changed the course of the programBeechwood's senior class has been one for the ages. O'Brien, Estep, Armstrong, Becker, Lewandowski and Stewart led the Tigers to a 35-5 record this season, a second straight All "A" state title, two wins against St. Henry, their first recorded win over Notre Dame and a first regional final appearance since 2003. Over the last four years, their cumulative record was 118-33.They have the stats to back it up, too. O'Brien, a Bellarmine University commit, is the career record-holder for kills, digs and aces. Estep is second in assists and aces. Lewandowski owns the career blocks record and is fourth on the kills list. Armstrong, a Northern Kentucky University commit, is second in blocks and third in kills."The amount of energy and the amount of buy-in that they brought to the younger kids, it's just another reason why we're where we're at," Long said.Who will Notre Dame face in the first round of the 2026 KHSAA state tournament?The Pandas will host Bishop Brossart with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2.Behind 10th Region Player of the Year Callie Ritter and Coach of the Year Danielle French, the Lady 'Stangs have had little resistance in their postseason journey, not dropping a set against Campbell County and Calvary Christian in the 37th District tournament or Nicholas County, Paris and George Rogers Clark in the regional bracket.With a 36-3 record, an appearance in the All "A" state semifinals and its first regional title since 2022, Brossart is experiencing arguably the best season in school history. The Lady 'Stangs last played Notre Dame in 2003, a two-set win by the Pandas."Going to state itself is an amazing experience. Getting to host it with your own student section and your whole family can go, it's awesome," Kondik said.2026 Ninth Region all-tournament teamGrace Mumper, Newport Central Catholic; Bella Thomas, Highlands; Bridget Burns, Ryle; Peyton Bromley, Dixie Heights; Charlotte Patton, Conner; Kenadi Sieg, St. Henry; Isabel O'Brien, Beechwood; Macy Armstrong, Beechwood; Kaia Tilden, Notre Dame; Ellie Osterkamp, Notre Dame; Teagan Kondik (MVP), Notre DameThis article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Notre Dame completes comeback against Beechwood, Ninth Region 5-peat