Meade County ends Trinity’s run; Apollo advances

October 16, 2018 | 2:04 am

Updated October 16, 2018 | 2:04 am

Apollo won their Region 3 Tournament match to advance to the semifinals Wednesday. | File photo

The opening match of the volleyball Region 3 Tournament at Muhlenberg County couldn’t have ended in a much more narrow decision, while the second game Monday evening was a one-sided contest.

In game one, defending region champion Meade County (19-18) fought from behind twice to get a 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12) victory over Trinity (23-8). Game two went to Apollo (30-8) in an easy 3-0 (25-4, 25-4, 25-12) win over Muhlenberg County (11-23).

Meade County and Apollo will meet in the semifinal round Wednesday night.

MEADE COUNTY vs. TRINITY
The Lady Raiders entered the region tournament after beating Grayson County to win the district, and they continued their success in a first-set win. The Lady Waves won the second and had to play from behind after also losing the third set. They were able to pull out the win in the tiebreaker.

Trinity head coach Adam Huff was frustrated after the loss, but said that not even the end of the season could overshadow the accomplishments his team achieved in 2018.

“In the fourth and fifth sets, we backed ourselves into a wall,” Huff said. “When you do that, every single point matters, and we just couldn’t pull it out. People have asked us a lot if they think that we overachieved this year, and at times we did. At the same time though, after a while I just began to expect it. Winning district was a huge goal for us, and I couldn’t be more proud of the girls.”

This year’s Trinity squad relied heavily upon the senior leadership of both Savannah Aull and Nina Wathen. The duo played strong all year long, leading their team both on and off the court. In the final game of their high school careers, they once again showed up in a big way. Aull and Wathen both had nine kills and 11 assists. Morgan Kinsey turned in a solid performance as well, posting six kills.

APOLLO vs. MUHLENBERG COUNTY
The E-Gals (30-8) responded well to a surprise loss in the district championship by hitting the road and taking care of business against Muhlenberg County. Head Coach MaryAnne Howard was proud of the work that her players put in heading into the tournament and said she expects a tough road to the championship.

“We had a great week of practice,” Howard said. “Our intent was to improve on some areas we thought we needed to improve upon from the loss in the District finals and I feel like we were able to do that. We still have a long way to go. This tournament is going to be a step-by-step, point-by-point process, so our focus now is to go into the semifinals after another solid day of practice tomorrow and be ready to go.”

Coach Howard said she expects a good fight from Meade County.

“Meade County is a very good defensive and passing team,” Howard said. “They play very scrappy and they won’t give us any free points. It should be a great semifinal matchup.”

Leading Apollo in the match were Carlee Widmer (8 kills, 6 assists, 6 aces), Jenna McMillen (8 kills, 3 aces), Natalie Ewing (7 kills, 5 blocks), Taylor Blair (5 kills) and Brylee Rhodes (3 kills, 4 aces).

October 16, 2018 | 2:04 am

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