During the regular season, Apollo fell to Henderson County twice, with star Avery Gray being sidelined due to an injury in the second matchup. Last night, the junior showcased how she’s a difference maker when on the court, recording 19 kills, 12 digs, three service aces, and one block to power the E-Gals past the Lady Colonels 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 25-20) and advance to the second round of the State Tournament.
“With our youth, I thought we came out nervous,” Apollo Head Coach Mary Howard said. “I thought we settled in well, but Henderson put up a heck of a fight. They have a very good team, and it was a tremendous match.”
Henderson jumped out to an early 15-9 lead in the opening set, but after settling down, the E-Gals went on a 16-6 run to take a 1-0 lead. In the second set, Apollo led 7-6, but slowly started to fall behind. Leading 12-11, the Lady Colonels pushed the score to 21-14, forcing Apollo to call timeout. The break in play seemed to revitalize the E-Gals, but they wern’t able to fully comeback.
As had been the case over the last couple of weeks, Apollo once again started slow in the third set, trailing 6-2. A 6-2 run put Apollo in the driver’s seat, but Henderson County cut the lead to 13-12. Tied 22-22 late in the set, Apollo scored three straight to take a commanding 2-1 lead.
“It’s kind of a reset, and we have to get over these slow starts because we always do it,” Apollo’s Avery Gray said. “It’s kind of, now we know we can come back from anything, so we just keep building up on that.”
The fourth set saw Apollo fall behind 15-13, but after a timeout, they responded with a 7-3 run to go ahead 20-18. Trailing 21-19, Henderson County called timeout, but the E-Gals closed out the match on a 4-0 run.
“I am so thankful for my team, and I am speechless right now,” senior Jessica Lee said after the win. “All I am feeling is gratitude and just thankfulness to have the opportunity to play with this team. This team is amazing, and I am so grateful.”
Lee finished with a team-high 17 assists and added seven kills, while Jessie Pate recorded 24 digs. Keelan Wettstain had 14 digs, eight kills, two service aces, and one block, and Maddi Roberts added nine assists, eight digs, and one service ace.
Up next for the E-Gals, they will travel to George Rogers Clark for a quarterfinal’s matchup against North Oldham who according to Howard, run a very fast offense.
