Apollo picked up steam midway through their match to top Ohio County, while defending champion Breckinridge County rolled past Trinity in pair of quarterfinal sweeps Monday in the 3rd Region volleyball tournament at Hancock County.
The E-Gals had to fend off a quick start by Ohio County, but a strong service game allowed Apollo to come out with a 25-22, 25-13, 25-17 victory.
The Lady Raiders were simply outmatched by a powerful Lady Tigers that have been region favorites all year long, and Breckinridge County got more dominant as the night wore on for a 25-13, 25-9, 25-7 win.
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For photos from both games, click here.
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Apollo and Breckinridge County will play at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals. The winner will advance to Thursday’s championship.
APOLLO SWEEPS OHIO COUNTY
Apollo (25-12) and Ohio County (17-11) battled back and forth through much of the first set, neither team leading by more than two points as they eventually fought to a 17-17 tie. Apollo then won three straight points — including a block by Brylee Rhodes and a soft touch by Maddi Boswell — and held on to win the first frame.
A few short rallies midway through the second set allowed the E-Gals to go up by as much as 20-9 to really take control of the match.
“I thought we started to get more aggressive attacking in the second set,” head coach Mary Howard said. “We have players that haven’t played varsity in the regional tournament before, and it took a little bit to get a feel for it and get some confidence. As we went on everybody started getting more comfortable and more settled down.”
Ohio County kept things close in the third set, trailing only 19-17 late. Apollo didn’t give up another point, though, as Rhodes led them to the win with a dominant service game — including back-to-back aces that closed out the match.
“As the game went along, I thought we got in a good rhythm with serving aggressively,” Howard said. “Brylee Rhodes at the end found a good rhythm, and that’s something we know we’re going to need here in the regional tournament.”
Howard also said their play at the net was pretty good, and they were able to counter the attack by the Lady Eagles.
“Ohio County was really aggressive and crafty at the net,” she said. “I thought our blocking stepped up and we got a lot tighter at the net as the game went along.”
Leading the way for Apollo were Rhodes (4 kills, 4 blocks, 4 aces), Boswell (8 kills, 2 blocks), Tallie Satterfield (23 assists, 3 blocks), Natalie Ewing (7 kills, 5 blocks), Hallie Wilson (12 digs) and Whitley Chambers (7 kills).
TRINITY FALLS TO LADY TIGERS
Breckinridge County (30-4) looked like the dominant team they’ve been all season, getting better each set as they rolled past the Lady Raiders (13-16). Trinity head coach Daniel Morris knew it was going to be a tough match.
“One thing we had to have was touches,” he said. “We had lots of them. Breck County is just phenomenal. They play everything great and they hit around our blocks. We had maybe 30 touches tonight, we just couldn’t get one to fall on the other side of the net.”
Morris was still proud to finish runner-up in the district and reach the region tournament with a young and inexperienced roster.
“Overall I feel like the season went well,” he said. “We were young to begin with, really didn’t have many kids that have that varsity experience that most of these teams had. With all the youth, I feel like it was good.”
Morris is hoping the returning players can carry the experience forward into future seasons.
“It gets my younger kids the experience they need to eventually make a run in the postseason, so I’m happy with the outcome,” he said.
The Lady Raiders were led Monday by Josie Aull (7 assists, 2 digs), Cassidy Morris (6 digs, 3 kills), Taylor Pedley (8 digs), Abby Payne (6 digs), Avery Barnett (3 digs), Morgan Kinsey (3 kills), Hannah Nash (3 kills) and Lexie Barnett (2 digs).
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