Lady Raiders volleyball topped Owensboro Catholic for the second time this season, upsetting the Lady Aces in the second round of the 3rd Region Volleyball Tournament 3-1 .
Trinity tried to jump out ahead early, grabbing the first two points of the match before Owensboro Catholic responded. Regardless, the Lady Raiders had the edge early and jumped out to a 12-8 lead.
Following a couple kills from junior Cate Sights and some good blocking, Owensboro Catholic rattled off a 4-0 run to tie things at 12-12.
The two teams then traded points back and forth, before the Lady Aces went on a 3-0 run to take an 18-15 lead later in the set.
The Lady Raiders continued to hang around, but Owensboro Catholic had just enough momentum and grabbed the set 25-18 to go up 1-0.
Trinity looked to bounce back in the second set, getting off to a hot start by taking a 9-5 lead. The Lady Aces went on a 4-0 run to tie it at 9-9, but the Lady Raiders responded swiftly to take a 14-11 with nice placement.
Owning a 17-13 lead later in the match, Trinity used a 4-0 run to take a 21-13 lead. While it seemed like the Lady Raiders were about to walk away with an easy second-set win, Owensboro Catholic wasn’t bowing down.
The Lady Aces used a 3-0 run to cut it 21-16, before later going on another 3-0 run to cut it to 22-19.
Down 24-21 Owensboro Catholic fought back to try and force extra points, but it was too little too late. A serve from Sights sailed out of bounds and Trinity grabbed the set 25-23 to knot things up at 1-1.
The Lady Raiders started to grab momentum in the match with this early, as Lady Aces Head Coach Brian Hardison said it was their relentless defense that flipped a switch.
“They kept the ball in play,” Hardison said. “It’s that simple. It was almost like we were on our heels instead of down and ready to play.”
The Lady Raiders stayed hot to start the third set, taking an early 5-0 lead. Owensboro Catholic responded on the ensuing point, but Trinity bounced back and pushed themselves out in front 8-2.
Owensboro Catholic continued to try and chip away, cutting it 9-5, but the Lady Raiders continued to place the ball well and get plenty of kills from senior Cassidy Morris to take a 13-6 lead. Despite this, the Lady Aces forced its way back into the match with a 5-0 run to make it 13-11.
Trinity responded with a 3-0 run to jump out in front 16-11. They continued to find holes in the defense with their student section behind them as well, going up 19-13.
The Lady Aces continued to battle back, but each time the Lady Raiders had a response. This resilience paired with great blocking and good placement on offense gave them a 2-1 lead after they won the set 25-17.
Blatantly frustrated and down 2-1 to open the fourth set, Owensboro Catholic took a timeout. They came out of the timeout seeming more determined and communicative, working to tie it at 3-3 before using a 3-0 run to make it 6-3.
The Lady Raiders kept chipping away, but the Lady Aces were staying strong and held an 11-7 lead. However, another push from Trinity evened things up at 12-12.
Tied at 13-13, Owensboro Catholic got some separation with a 3-0 run to make it 16-13. The Lady Raiders wouldn’t go down though, later trailing 19-16.
Trinity took a timeout and tried to regroup trailing 21-16 and was able to string together some short runs to make it 23-21 following a bad serve and return from the Lady Aces.
Morris came through once again with a kill to make it 23-22, before a missed kill from Owensboro Catholic senior Hadley Latham tied things up at 23 all.
Two points later tied at 24-24, Sights went for a kill and was blocked and found an empty space on the floor to give the Lady Raiders a 25-24 lead.
On the ensuing point a trio of Lady Aces tried to block a kill from Trinity sophomore Hannah Nash, but they weren’t able to keep it inbounds and the Lady Raiders won the set 26-24 to upset Owensboro Catholic 3-1.
The way Trinity scored its final point was something they had prepared for in practice and Head Coach Daniel Morris said that his girls executed well.
“Catholic triple blocks extremely well,” Morris said. “We’ve gone over that constantly about trying to find the empty holes over the block, on the side of the block and that’s an easier way to score off of that.”
Owensboro Catholic seemed to have Trinity a little rattled in the first set, but Morris said once the nerves disappeared they were locked in.
“We finally got the nerves out after the first set and we started to play,” Head Coach Daniel Morris said. “Hats off to Catholic. Catholic’s one of the best teams in here and we’ve worked hard to get where we’re at now, so that’s a big win for us.”
Getting ahead early was a focal point for the Lady Raiders all night, as they did so in every single set in the match. Morris said that’s always key, but even more so in the postseason.
“It’s huge,” Morris said. “Especially right now. If you can get ahead two, three, four points in a row, you’re pulling momentum your way and momentum especially in the region tournament is huge.”
Nash (14) and Morris (11) led the way offensively for Trinity, combining for a total of 25 kills in the match. Junior Josie Aull set up her teammates all night, recording a whopping 39 assists.
It was a team effort defensively, as senior Taylor Pedley (29), junior Abby Payne (15) and sophomore Georgia Howard all finished in double figures in digs.
After going 1-2 against Owensboro Catholic in the regular season, Trinity evened up the season series when it mattered most as the underdog.
“Some people see the Catholic and Trinity matchup as a David and Goliath matchup,” Morris said. “That’s kind of always been our backstory with it. The way we did the first win the first time we played them was we came out aggressive. So we’ve told our girls constantly ‘come out aggressive. The more aggressive you are, the better we’ll play.’”
Hardison said it seemed like the Lady Aces weren’t going 100% on the night and that not being aggressive enough and mistakes piling up led to the loss.
“They came out to play and we played about maybe half-way to three-quarters,” Hardison said. “When you’re up in the fourth set and you know you gotta have that game, you don’t lay back and we laid back. We should’ve put that game away 10 minutes ago, but we made way too many unforced errors.”
Owensboro Catholic ends the season owning a record of 25-12. Hardison said that he’s loved coaching this team and that their camaraderie was unmatched.
“Before the game tonight they all went to somebody’s house and ate dinner…” Hardison said. “That’s how it’s been all season. They have sleepovers [and hang out a lot]. They’re just a really good unit of girls.”
Meanwhile Trinity will face off with Meade County at 5 p.m., looking to secure its spot in the 3rd Region Championship.
“The more aggressive we can come out against Meade County [the better]…” Morris said. “We gave them a run for their money… We’re going to use every ounce of energy we have tomorrow to pull that one out. We just gotta play clean. The more touches off the block we can get the better we can play.”
