It was all Daviess County on Tuesday night at Owensboro High School, as the Lady Panthers swept the host Lady Devils in the second 9th District Tournament semifinal.
Winning the match 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 28-26), the Lady Panthers now advance to the district final to face an Owensboro Catholic, a team they defeated in the regular season.
After winning the first five matchups of the year, the Lady Devils scuffled in the next four. Owensboro finished their 2020 campaign with an 8-7 record after COVID-19 canceled several games. This season marked the first time since 2014 that the Lady Devils finished above .500.
Daviess County hit its stride early Tuesday with a huge first set victory at 25-11.
Able to limit their mental and physical errors in the set, Daviess County’s confidence was at an all-time high heading into the second and third sets. On the opposite sideline, Owensboro head coach Melissa Hibbs managed to rally her troops to make the next two sets a little closer.
In the second set, Owensboro pushed Daviess County to the limit. With senior setter Krystell Pappas serving, the Lady Devils managed to briefly tie the score at 21-all after scoring four points in a row and forcing DC coach Tyla Bailey to call a timeout.
Moments later, an Adelyn Ayer kill gave the Lady Panthers the serve again, and Kloee Phelps helped to push her team to a second straight victorious set at 25-22.
The Lady Panthers took the third set 28-26 but Owensboro wasn’t going down without a fight.
Ayer once again came up huge in the waning moments of the set, this time managing to pull her team back from the brink of dropping the set. With Owensboro leading 26-25 and serving, Ayer took a perfectly placed set in the center of the court and pounded the ball through two Owensboro blockers for a kill.
After the game, Bailey said she was proud of her team’s effort on defense, something she said she’s been looking for from her girls all season.
“Tonight we were in the proper defensive placements more times than not,” Bailey said. “Props to Owensboro for the times they were able to catch us out of position because they played a really good game. It’s good to see that some of the scrappy practices where I’ve been really pushing the girls to communicate helped to make an impact on the way we played.”
When asked about what the goal for her team was heading into district play, Bailey cited the offensive aggression from Elizabeth Moore, Josie Newcom, Ayer and her stout offensive setup.
“The mission was to come out strong, to be aggressive, and to play our game,” Bailey said. “We set the tempo early, reached a lull in the middle, and managed to pull together when it counted. We practice managing the pressure and chaos almost every day, and I think our energy through the pressure from Owensboro helped bring us to victory tonight.
“We’ll be looking for more of the same against a great Owensboro Catholic team on Thursday, and ultimately the team who wants to win a district championship the most will get it.”
Though the loss brought Owensboro’s season to an end, Hibbs was proud of the way her girls fought back after a slow start early in the contest.
“It’s kind of been our identity all season, to start slow and finish strong,” Hibbs said. “Unfortunately when you play great teams like Daviess County slow starts will come back to bite you eventually. I have to hand it to my girls, though, because they really left it all on the court tonight.
“Playing for the first time in two weeks due to COVID-19 cancellations, we played a different lineup than what we had all year. The girls responded well, but tip your cap to Daviess because they played great tonight.”
For the Lady Panthers, Owensboro Catholic awaits in the district championship game on Thursday. That game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start time at OHS.
