Local volleyball teams will begin their quest for a spot in the state tournament today as the 3rd Region tournament begins at Hancock County.
The tournament kicks off with a pair of quarterfinal matches Monday, starting with 9th District runner-up Apollo taking on 10th District winner Ohio County at 6 p.m.
Defending region champion and 11th District winner Breckinridge County enters as the tournament favorite and plays 12th District runner-up Trinity at 7:30 p.m. in the nightcap on day one.
Tuesday’s quarterfinals begins with 9th District winner Owensboro Catholic facing 11th District runner-up Meade County at 6 p.m., followed by 12th District winner Grayson County versus 10 District runner-up Muhlenberg County at 7:30 p.m.
The semifinals will be played Wednesday at 6 and 7:30 p.m, and the championship is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday.
Fresh off their third consecutive 9th District championship, Owensboro Catholic and head coach Brian Hardison are hoping to continue a dominant postseason stretch. He said they don’t know a lot about Meade County, but he’s confident in the Lady Aces.
“We’ve worked on speeding our offense up and covering the floor,” he said. “I don’t think Meade County has a really overpowering hitter, which is something we’re really blessed with. We’re working on serves and blocks and just finding the right lineup, trying to see who’s able to switch it up and who’s not.”
Key for Catholic’s success will be playing as a team and being aggressive.
“We need to focus on playing together,” Hardison said. “One of my favorite sayings is either all of you or none of you. If we move the ball around enough and they don’t know where the ball is coming from, they’ll have a hard time playing defense.”
Apollo head coach Mary Howard said the E-Gals aren’t looking past any opponent as they make a run for the title.
“We are 100 percent focused on Ohio County because they are the team we need to beat in order to make it to the semifinals,” she said.
The E-Gals battled injuries throughout the year but found success down the stretch, so Howard said it will be important to get and stay healthy.
“We’ve only had our complete roster for six matches this year,” Howard said. “I think we have come together this last part of the season and I’m really pleased with where we are as a team right now.”
For Trinity head coach Daniel Morris, he knows the Lady Raiders have a tall task ahead in round one.
“With Breckinridge County being the best team in the region, we are definitely going to have to play our best game,” he said. “They are an absolutely great team that has done great things this season.”
It took a while for Trinity to find their rhythm with an inexperienced roster, but Morris is happy with the growth they’ve shown over the season.
“We are playing well together at this point in time during the postseason,” he said. “We have the ability to keep pushing ourselves during each game, even if we are down. They all have worked hard and I can see the progress they have been making from each game.”
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