The Lady Aces were able to keep Apollo from grabbing the second set in the match, helping them secure a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 26-24, 25-15) and advance to the 9th District Championship game.
Owensboro Catholic got off to a strong start, grabbing the first three points before the E-gals got on the board after a kill by sophomore Olivia Castlen went long. The Lady Aces went on to make it 8-2, before grabbing a commanding 15-6 lead after some receiving issues for Apollo.
The E-gals did manage to work it back to 17-12 after a timeout later in the set, but Owensboro Catholic was able to overcome a number of serving errors to pull away with the first set 25-18.
The second set was an all-out battle, with it going back and forth from the jump. Neither team was able to build more than a two-point lead until Apollo broke an 18-18 tie, grabbing two straight on a missed kill and a receiving error by the Lady Aces.
Owensboro Catholic bounced right back out of the timeout though, immediately tying the game at 20-20. Apollo grabbed the lead a few points later at 23-22, but the Lady Aces locked back in afterwards.
Sophomore Tyranda Stuart got a powerful kill to make it 24-23, then the E-gals got one of their own to make it 24-24. But Stuart’s quickness came through again for another kill to make it 25-24, before junior Abigail Williams got one to close the door on a 26-24 win and 2-0 match lead.
This swung momentum Owensboro Catholic’s way, helping them jump out to a 10-5 lead to start the third set. The Lady Aces continued to build on their lead throughout the set, in total command all the way to a 25-15 win to close the door on a 9th District First Round sweep.
Head Coach Brian Hardison was frustrated that his team let up in the second set of the game, but was pleased with their response following a crucial timeout. He also tipped his cap to the E-gals, noting that they came to play and mixed some things up later in the season to be at their best.
“We kind of laid down the second game,” Hardison said. “But I think after the timeout and everyone in the gym heard me, it kind of gave them an eye opener… They’ve changed their lineup, but luckily I got the chance to watch them this past week so that kind of helped a lot.”
Hardison having the fall break off slowed Owensboro Catholic down a little bit, but playing last Friday against Muhlenberg County and having a number of good practices was key to the win. It showed in the Lady Aces balance offensive attack, as sophomore Jaiden Grant (9), Stuart (8), Williams (8), junior Blair Riney (7), Castlen (6) and Murphy (1)—along with her 35 assists and three serving aces—combined for all 39 of the team’s kills.
“We’ve got a lot of guns,” Hardison said. “We’re one of those teams. Last year, we had a huge gun. This year, we have five really good hitters and with Kennedy throwing the ball around everywhere it makes a big difference. It kind of keeps everybody unbalanced.”
It was also a team effort defensively as senior Emily Christian led the way with 19 digs, while Riney (17), junior Karson Tipmore (14) and junior Isabelle Reisz (9) followed suit. Hardison and the Lady Aces know they will need to match this complete effort in the 9th District Championship on Wednesday at 7 p.m., as they will have plenty to handle as they attempt to avenge their 2021 9th District Championship loss.
“As anybody knows as far as playing Daviess County, you’ve got to shut Josie down,” Hardison said. “Let me rephrase that. Not shut her down, contain her. You’re not going to shut her down. It’s that simple, but I think if you can limit her getting so many points that you can beat them. They have a lot of other really good players, but they feed off of Josie. We’re going to change some stuff as far as our defense goes and hopefully it works for us.”
On the other hand Apollo’s season comes to a close, as they finish the season with an overall record of 21-15. While they didn’t get the win, Head Coach MaryAnne Howard was proud of her girls willingness to battle for every single point.
“Catholic was super solid across the board,” Howard said. “Different areas we didn’t execute like we would like to tonight and that kind of kept us from making some runs when we needed to. But I couldn’t have been prouder of the girls and the way they fought.”
The 2022 campaign was a major jump forward for the Apollo volleyball program, eclipsing their 2021 record of 14-22 noticeably. For a team composed of mostly juniors and sophomores, Howard hopes this experience will help them in the near future.
“We won 21 games with an extremely young, young team with no seniors,” Howard said. “So what we talked about is they need to let this feeling of tonight fuel them in the offseason and next year. What they need to take away from here is being proud of what we’ve done, but there’s unfinished business to be continued.”
In order to ensure that the E-gals do continue to build on this year’s success, Howard made sure to encourage them to put in the work during the offseason. This also means that each player has to hold their teammate accountable and if they do Howard thinks this group can be an extremely special team in Apollo volleyball history.
“We talked about how this group has the potential to be one of the greatest team’s Apollo has ever had,” Howard said. “But we’re all dependent on each other in the offseason. If someone’s not working out whether they’re in the gym, hitting the weights or whatever it is, everyone is depending on each person. If there’s one weak link in the chain, you don’t have a chain. So we’re all [going to have to] motivate each other to push each other in the offseason, in order to come back and put it together as a team”
