The Daviess County volleyball team was eager to prove themselves against Apollo, and they used a dominant start to earn a 3-1 (25-17, 25-14, 20-25, 25-19) victory at home Tuesday.
The Lady Panthers (14-6, 2-1 9th District) largely controlled the match from start to finish, combining a big presence up front with an up tempo and aggressive attack on offense.
“Tonight they came out and played their type of volleyball,” Daviess County head coach Tyla Bailey said of her players. “They fought, they battled and rose to the occasion to get the job done.”
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For a full photo gallery from the game, click here.
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Bailey said a strong chemistry helped them execute the game plan, and they weren’t going to let anything get in the way of a win.
“They were eager to win,” she said. “They didn’t want to take any plays off from the first ball to the last ball. They were clicking and everything was going well. They had the energy, they had the momentum, and they just kept rolling.”
After a bit of back-and-forth play in the opening set, DC stretched a 10-9 lead to 21-12 to seize control. Apollo (11-6, 1-2) closed the gap to six points, but they couldn’t get any closer.
The second set unfolded in similar fashion, as the Lady Panthers went on a big run to close out the frame with ease after the teams were tied at 8-8.
The E-Gals were able to avoid a sweep by edging out a tough third set. Neither side could gain an advantage early, but Apollo rattled off five consecutive points after taking a 20-19 lead to force a fourth frame.
With an 18-17 advantage in the fourth, DC won seven of the final nine points to cap off their victory.
Apollo head coach MaryAnne Howard said her team made too many mistakes, and the Lady Panthers took advantage.
“We made a lot of unforced errors tonight,” Howard said. “That made a big difference because Daviess County is a great team and you can’t do that against them. We knew coming in that they were going to have great net play. We talked about how we were going to have to be very aggressive to counter that, and we just weren’t able to do that.”
DC’s play up front was led by Elizabeth Moore (14 kills, 10 digs). Other major contributors were Jasmine Beasley (7 kills, 7 blocks), Hannah Axley (18 assists, 12 digs, 3 aces), Kloee Phelps (9 digs, 7 kills), Kendal Goetz (13 digs, 2 assists, 2 aces) and Ryann Keller (16 assists, 2 digs).
Also helping the Lady Panthers were Chea Bowers (10 digs), Ashton Johnson (8 digs, 8 kills), Kinsley Phelps (5 blocks, 7 kills, 3 digs), Kayla Clark (4 digs) and Delaney Evans (4 digs).
Apollo’s efforts were led by Hallie Wilson (25 digs), Anslee Hopewell (14 assists, 2 kills), Talasie Satterfield (11 assists, 4 kills, 2 digs), Whitley Chambers (7 kills, 2 digs), Brylee Rhodes (5 kills, 3 blocks), Aliyah Carwile (5 kills), Camryn Kerwick (5 digs) and Allie Fulkerson (4 kills).
DC will play again Thursday when they host Hancock County. Apollo is back in action Thursday at Meade County.
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