Even when things looked bleak, Owensboro Catholic never folded. And oh what a match it was as the Lady Aces upended Breckinridge County in an instant classic Thursday to claim the 3rd Region volleyball championship.
Every point mattered, and tensions both on the court and in the raucous stands rose until Isabelle Wright finally slammed home the game-winning kill that capped off a 3-2 (12-25, 28-26, 25-18, 23-25, 21-19) thriller that sent Catholic to their first state tournament since 2015.
It was the first loss to a region opponent all year by the Lady Tigers.
“It was obvious that everyone on that court wanted this game,” Wright said. “We were all crying after we won. Everyone wanted to go to state. No one else thought that we could be Breck, but we proved them wrong.”
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For a full photo gallery from the game, click here.
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The Lady Aces (26-10) couldn’t capitalize on their first five match points, but they finally knocked off the defending champion Lady Tigers (31-5) on the sixth attempt. Cecilia Clemens got her serve in, but the return came back over the net and Wright was there for the kill.
Breckinridge County had a match point of their own at 17-16 in the tiebreaker fifth set, but Cassidy Towery’s booming hit glanced off a blocker and fell in safely to keep the Lady Aces alive.
Towery said she never lost confidence Catholic would come away with a win.
“It’s surreal,” she said. “I don’t even have words to describe how happy and proud I am of my team. It was going back and forth, but I had no doubt in my mind that we could do this. I had faith in my team.”
It was a rough start for Catholic, though, and the heavily favored Lady Tigers looked well on their way to another championship after running away with the first set 25-13.
Catholic head coach Brian Hardison said his team made some adjustments to their lineup to counter the heavy hitters for Breckinridge County, but the Lady Aces reverted to a normal rotation for set two.
Moving Towery back to her normal spot on the left side of the floor was key in the recovery for Catholic.
“I wasn’t doing as effective (on the right side),” Towery said. “In the second set we came out with a lot more energy. We realized we wanted this so bad and nothing was going to stop us from winning.”
Wright echoed those sentiments, saying the team realized there was no room for error.
“I think it shook us to our core,” she said. “We just said it’s a new game and that set didn’t matter. We knew we could do it and we believed in ourselves.”
Neither team could gain much of an edge for most of set two until the Lady Tigers went ahead 21-17, though Catholic pulled even at 22-all. A kill by Wright and block by Allie Hamilton even the match at one set each.
The Lady Aces dominated set three early, rolling to a 9-0 lead at the service game of Towery. Wild swings in momentum eventually allowed the Lady Tigers to trim a 10-point deficit to two at 17-15, but Catholic was able to pull away to take the set.
A 5-0 run led by Wright’s service game in set four gave the Lady Aces an early advantage as they tried to close out the match. Breckinridge County slowed clawed their way back though, closing the set with a 6-0 run to force the tiebreaker.
It was almost point-for-point the rest of the way, as neither team led by more than two points in the fifth frame. Towery twice set the Lady Aces up with match points after kills from the left side, but they couldn’t close it out either time.
Tied 19-19, Catholic’s Clemens and Madeline Castlen went up together for a block to set up Wright’s final point.
“We’re usually not a team that is very good at finishing games,” Wright said of the final stretch. “We tend to give up. I’ve never been so proud of my team. We fought. We played every single point and kept it going.”
Clemens was emotional after the play, happy to finally make a trip to the state tournament.
“They were a tough team to beat,” she said. “I am ecstatic and overjoyed. I was crying no matter what.”
Clemens finished with 59 assists and four kills. Other leaders were Towery (19 kills, 3 digs), Wright (17 kills, 3 digs), Jenna Glenn (16 digs), Castlen (12 kills), Hamilton (5 kills, 4 blocks), Jayden Bickett (8 digs) and Cate Sights (6 kills).
Hardison had nothing but pride for his team, noting their resiliency over the last few weeks.
“You couldn’t ask for more fight than that,” he said. “They could have folded their tent a long time ago, but they didn’t. That’s the way we’ve been playing lately. We’re not ready to go home.”
Catholic will now prepare to take on Campbell County on Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. CST in the first round of the state tournament.
The following players were named to the 3rd Region All-Tournament team:
Cecilia Clemens – Owensboro Catholic
Isabelle Wright – Owensboro Catholic
Cassidy Towery – Owensboro Catholic
Jenna Glenn – Owensboro Catholic
Peyton Whitworth – Breckinridge County
Audrey Whitworth – Breckinridge County
Natalie Henning – Breckinridge County
Hallie Wilson – Apollo
Natalie Ewing – Apollo
Daisy Ritchie – Muhlenberg County
Stephanie Walker – Muhlenberg County
Taylor Pedley – Trinity
Anna Law – Ohio County
Ella Robinson – Grayson County
Meade County – Karlie Mattingly
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