HAMILTON — Courtney Weinheimer didn’t see much production — and energy — out of her Badin High School girls volleyball team at practice on Wednesday.
She was fooled on Thursday.
The Rams put together a solid net game to close out a 25-19, 14-25, 25-17, 25-17 victory over Greater Catholic League Coed rival Fenwick to remain unbeaten.
“It’s been a long week — first full week of school, second league match in a row, third match in a week,” Badin coach Courtney Weinheimer said. “These girls are tired. I wasn’t sure if they were up and ready for this one.
“We didn’t have the best practice on Wednesday,” Weinheimer added. “We ended with a nice, long chat about what we want to do and who is going to step up and be a leader on this court. It was nice to see a response from that.”
Badin (3-0) pushed its winning streak against Fenwick to four games and starts a seven-game road trip beginning with Lakota West on Monday.
“There was a lot of jawing between all of them because some play club with each other,” Weinheimer said. “A lot of back-and-forth, and we knew it was going to be an emotional game. We knew it was going to be a fight.”
Fenwick (2-1), which fields a youthful program with no seniors this year, hosts McNicholas on Tuesday.
“I was pleased with our effort,” Falcons coach Tyler Conley said. “I thought our three freshmen played well, and I thought our juniors played really well. But we’re still kind of meshing and learning.
“Hats off to Badin. They served a little better than we did,” Conley added. “They serve received better than we did, and that was the biggest difference.”
Badin junior outside hitter Luci Heid registered her 500th kill against Bellbrook on Monday, and she continued the momentum with 15 kills on Thursday.
“This was about proving ourselves,” said Heid, who made note of the Rams graduating six seniors from a team that reached the program’s first state semifinal appearance last season. “We thought about how we can rebuild our team, and I think we all knew we’d have to just bring it all together and reform as a team.
“We’ve been working on our communication and constantly talking on the court,” Heid added. “Everything goes with the flow when we do that.”
Senior Grace Glover (30 assists, 45 attacks, seven dogs) and junior Olivia Schmidt (six aces) helped propel Badin, especially down the stretch.
“It was high energy going into this,” said Badin senior Ellie Green, who is back at libero and added 10 digs. “Yelling at each other in the hallways, ‘It’s game day, it’s game day.’ We were getting each other hyped.
“I think we can only go up,” Green added. “It’s a newer team. When we build that trust and communicate better, it’s only up from here.”
The Falcons were led by junior Sophia Arends (14 digs), freshman Morgan Meiring (10 kills), freshman Sam Long (seven kills) and sophomore Caroline Hinker (six kills).
“I knew Fenwick was young, but they never died,” Weinheimer said. “They are going to get every ball up, and they’re going to shock you.”
