Owensboro Catholic volleyball came away with a three-set sweep of Owensboro (25-18, 25-22, , as the Lady Aces back row shined.
The Lady Devils started off strong by taking an early 3-0 lead, but Owensboro Catholic quickly bounced back to make it a 4-4 tie.
The two teams began trading points back and forth from there on, with Owensboro Catholic taking the lead at 11-9.
The Lady Aces seemed to have the Lady Devils rattled at that point and went on a commanding 7-0 run to take control of the set.
Owensboro brought their deficit to 18-15, but the Lady Aces responded well and ultimately won the first set 25-18.
Determined to not fall down 2-0, the Lady Devils came into the second set playing with a fire under them, jumping out to a 7-2 lead.
Battling through long volleys Owensboro wouldn’t falter and extended its lead to 18-13. However, the Lady Aces put together another strong run and stunned the Lady Devils, taking the lead at 20-18 with an 8-0 run.
Owensboro tried to hang on forcing a 24-22 score, but the run was too much to overcome and put Owensboro Catholic up 2-0.
Junior Emily Christian had her hands all over the second set making phenomenal digs time and time again. She finished the game with 30 on the night.
Hardison asked Christian during the game if the floor was hers and when she responded yes, he told her that ‘nothing hits it,’ and she answered the call.
“That girl is amazing,” Hardison said. “I’ve been watching her since fifth grade and I was like ‘that’s going to be our libero some day.’ She showed [why] today… Emily can just flat cover the floor and she’s got a nasty jump-serve.”
She continued her solid play for the Lady Aces in the third set, but Owensboro wasn’t going down without a fight.
Both teams traded points back-and-forth to start the set, knotting things up at 6-6. Owensboro Catholic began to gain a slight edge towards the middle of the set, using digs to keep plays alive and take a 14-11 lead.
The Lady Aces had jumped out a 17-13 lead, but the Lady Devils weren’t backing down and as a 4-0 run—with three straight points coming via service aces from sophomore Addie McDaniel—forcing a 17-17 tie.
In a game of runs, it was Owensboro Catholic who put together another quick run to make it a 21-18 game. This run took the wind out of Owensboro’s sails, wrapping up the night by giving the Lady Aces a 25-21 win in the third set after the final kill from junior Abigail Williams.
While the score wasn’t on their side in this one, Lady Devils Head Coach Melissa Hibbs was proud of the team’s passionate play all night.
“I’m proud of the fight that they had in them,” Hibbs said. “Our team does not lack confidence. We believe that we can beat any team in the region, so they’re going to fight to the very end and they showed that tonight.”
Ultimately, Hibbs felt that their defense was solid and they did well attacking, but said that big runs cost them the match.
“I think they got a few serving rotations that got us,” Hibbs said. “Our serve-receive fell apart for a few points. That’s really what I think was our handicap at the end… Serve-receive, we let them get on some runs and we have to shut that down.”
Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Brian Hardison praised his team for their ability to keep the ball alive, saying that he was thrilled with the team’s effort and fight.
“I thought our back row did an outstanding job,” Hardison said. “They kept pushing this corner and we finally took it away, but I was pretty happy with our overall play.”
Senior Cate Sights also had another big night, proving to be crucial offensively with 19 kills. Sights also recorded five digs and four blocks for an all-around performance.
Hardison said Sights kept her foot on the gas offensively and that’s what made her so tough for Owensboro to stop.
Junior Paige Miles and sophomore Kennedy Murphy helped set Sights up for a lot of those kills, finishing with 23 and 19 assists respectively.
The win moves the Lady Aces to 6-3 overall, while they will have a big weekend ahead of them in the 3rd/4th Region All A Sectional, starting with their game against Edmonson County at 9:15 a.m.
Meanwhile, Owensboro moves to 11-6 overall and will have a week before their next matchup that will be at home against Madisonville North-Hopkins at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
