The Lady Aces began their district tournament run with an impressive 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-11) win over Daviess County to advance to the championship game on Wednesday evening.
The Lady Panthers defense had no answer for Olivia Castlen, who finished with a team-high 14 kills and 10 digs. It was a milestone performance for Castlen, who picked up her 400th kill on the year – a new career high for kills in a season.
“I think we played very well,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Brian Hardison said. “We had a couple of hiccups, but we closed it out well.”
The Lady Aces dominated the first set, leaving little opportunity for Daviess County to find any momentum, but in the second set, the Lady Panthers bounced back.
Trailing 6-3 early, the Lady Panthers went on a 10-5 run to take a 13-11 lead. From there the two teams exchanged points with neither able to score twice in a row. Tied 19-19, the Lady Aces went on a 5-1 run to close out the set, seizing the momentum for the rest of the match.
In the third set, Owensboro Catholic pulled away early and never looked back, closing out the set in stride.
Mayme Howell and Reese Keller both finished with 19 assists, while Andi Davis recorded a team-high 17 digs.
Next up for the Lady Aces, they will be taking on the Lady Devils who pushed them to five sets in both of their regular season matches this year – though Owensboro Catholic came out on top.
“Owensboro is solid and can beat you at any time,” Hardison said. “My assistant coach and I need to sit down and put a game plan together.”
For the Lady Panthers, it was an up-and-down year, but head coach Tyla Bailey was pleased with the progress they made over the season.
“We have a lot of young talent coming up and great leadership in our senior Lily Farmer,” Bailey said. “We will continue to work hard in the off-season and come back strong in the 2025 season.”
Lady Devils finally got over the hump
Despite not taking a single set off of the E-Gals across their two regular season matches, the Lady Devils showed up when it mattered most – taking down Apollo 3-1 (25-21, 12-25, 26-24, 25-23) to advance to the district championship.
“Throughout the season we talked about growth,” Owensboro head coach Melissa Hibbs said. Every single week we saw growth in our team. We just believed in ourselves, and we knew that we had the talent to compete with the top of the region.”
In the first set, Apollo jumped out to an early 11-6 lead capped off by a massive block at the net for a point. Unfazed, Owensboro went on a 12-4 run to take a 18-15 lead before Apollo took a timeout. Coming out of the stoppage in play, the Lady Devils finished on a 7-6 run to close out the set.
Undeterred, the E-Gals dominated the second set, never giving Owensboro a chance back in it. In the third set, neither team was able to pull away, with the two exchanging blows. Tied 24-24 late, an Apollo error gave the Lady Devils the window to close it out.
Not wanting for their year to end, Apollo jumped out to a commanding 18-12 lead in the fourth set, but couldn’t find a way to close it out.
“We talked about one point at a team and that is exactly what those girls did,” Hibbs said. “They took it one point at a time and they had the fight in them tonight. They played with heart, and it allowed for us to come back and pull away.”
Addie Travis led the way for the Lady Devils, finishing with 24 digs, 15 kills, six blocks, and two service aces. Anna Travis added 24 assists, 14 digs, and seven kills.
For the E-Gals Abie Butterworth was the team’s driving force, finishing with a game-high 18 kills, and added 25 digs, seven service aces, and a block. Jessie Pate added 29 digs while Maddi Roberts recorded 24 assists.
“I’m so very proud of our girls,” Apollo head coach Mary Howard said. “They put in some much work this season to be the best team that we could possibly be. They raised the bar for Apollo volleyball this season. We had a great senior class that provided positive leadership that will have a lasting impact on this program. We also had a ton of young talent on the team this year that we will look forward to seeing develop for next season.”
