The Northview Volleyball team has posted an almost identical record in 2019 (14-7), as they did in 2018 (16-8) and the LadyKats were rewarded with the sixth seed, out of twenty team during Sunday’s Division 1 Northwest district tournament draw. The LadyKats open sectional play Oct. 19 by playing the number twenty seed, Sandusky at Notre Dame at 11:00 A.M. The winner of that match travels to Hopewell-Loudon to face the winner of Notre Dame vs. Findlay/Madison Comprehensive at 7:00 P.M. on Tuesday, October 22, 2019 for a spot in the district finals, as they did in 2018 when they played Notre Dame. “Our program is built on the foundation that we do not want to peak with our performance until the later part of the season, right before the tournament, and I feel like we are close, but not there yet” said head coach, Chad Rutkowski. “With one week of solid practice before we play our first tournament game, we will be able to fine tune our game plan and refine our style of play. We are fully prepared to play Notre Dame in the district semi finals with a chance to play either Clay or Perrysburg in the district final.” The top seeds in the district are Perrysburg, St. Ursula, Notre Dame and Anthony Wayne, four teams that Northview was 0-4 against in the regular season. “We are going to have to be our best when our best is needed in order to advance in the tournament. The only top seed we did not play was Notre Dame this season, so we are excited about the opportunity to see them in the semis considering the last time we saw them was the 2018 district final, where we lost in 3. The LadyKats are currently 14-7 overall and 9-4 in the Northern Lakes League, currently sitting in third place behind Anthony Wayne and Perrysburg. They close out the regular season Thursday at Anthony Wayne 10-3 NLL and could share the 2nd place finish in the league. “The bracket will be tough” Rutkowski said. “There are some good teams in it that have some good wins under their belt. We feel that we are as prepared as we can be given the talent we play each night. They just have to keep focus and continue to believe in themselves and their abilities and great things will happen.”