For the first time since 2015, the Christian County Lady Colonels are the District 8 Volleyball Tournament champions.
The Lady Colonels outlasted Heritage Christian Academy 3-0 (25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20) Thursday night at Lyle Dunbar Gym.
It wasn’t as easy as it appeared for Christian County (19-16), who played their final home volleyball match in school history.
The two teams battled back-and-forth in the first set before a late 5-2 run by the Lady Colonels pushed them into a 23-19 advantage. Kaidence Atwell had back-to-back kills to finish off the Lady Warriors (15-18).
The second set played out much like the first, except this time the defending district champion HCA squad, went on a 6-2 spurt late to grab a 21-17 lead. Christian County rallied to tie the match at 23-23, but a service error and a well-played point by HCA allowed the Lady Warriors to tie the match 1-1.
Taylor Cantrell had two kills and a block and Katie Cansler and Atwell each had a pair of kills to power Christian County to an 18-11 lead. However, HCA’s Emma Dalke served the Lady Warriors within 19-16 and eventually the Lady Warriors drew within 21-19.
The Lady Colonels grabbed the 2-1 lead by scoring six of the next seven points.
In the deciding set, Christian County jumped out to a commanding 18-6 advantage. But just when it looked like the Lady Colonels would roll to the victory, the scrappy HCA squad began a furious comeback.
The Lady Warriors cliced the lead to 23-20 as nervous Christian County fans looked on. But, the Lady Colonels were able to score the final two points to win the set and set off a huge celebration.
Atwell had 11 kills, three blocks, and six digs and Kiley Lambert added nine kills to lead the Lady Colonels.Taylor Cantrell had six kills and two blocks and Ashlea Russell had seven kills, three blocks, 30 assists and 14 digs. Cansler also had 12 kills and eight digs.
Defensively, Shiloh Baker had 27 digs for the Lady Colonels.
For HCA, Bralee Fowler had 13 kills, a block, and 20 digs and Hadlee Hayes added 12 kills, two aces, a block, and 23 digs. Makenzie McCarty had 28 assists, five kills, and 11 digs. Taylor Barbee provided four kills and eight digs and Charity Chambers had 13 digs and two aces.
Both teams advance to next week’s Region 2 Tournament, which is set for Hopkins County Central High School. The draw for the region tournament is scheduled for 9 a.m. today.
Photos by Joe Wilson