After losing 3-0 to UHA in early August, the Christian County volleyball team flipped the script with a 3-0 win over the Lady Blazers on Thursday night in Colonel Gym. The victory carries district tournament ramifications as well, as the Lady Colonels give themselves a shot of the top seed in the 8th District. They stand at 3-1 in district play with matches remaining against Hopkinsville and Fort Campbell, while the Lady Blazers are 4-1 with a match with Fort Campbell left to play. County improves its record to 9-14, while UHA suffers its first loss against 2nd Region teams to slip to 14-6 overall.
With UHA up 9-8 in the first set, Christian County finished off a long rally to tie it at 9. A Lindsie Oden ace capped a County rally, forcing a UHA timeout with a 12-9 County lead. The Lady Blazers came back to tie it at 15, before pushing into the lead at 17-16 with the Lady Colonels calling a timeout. Up 20-18, Haley Scott served out the last 5 points to give County a 25-18 win.
In the second set, UHA quickly found themselves down 7-2 after County’s Ariyonna Johnson scored at the net. Back-to-back kills by UHA’s Meghan Adams cut the margin to 9-4, but County surged ahead and the Lady Blazers had to take a timeout down 13-5. The Lady Colonels took a double-digit lead at 16-6 and never looked back, winning 25-12.
Down 4-2 in the third, Averie Turner came up with a kill, followed by what appeared to be a kill by Evelyn Morales to tie the game for the Lady Blazers. However, it was called out and the Lady Colonels went on a run to take a 9-5 lead and force a timeout. The Lady Blazers wouldn’t go quietly, and back-to-back kills by Aisha Pantiere tied it at 10. County’s Macy Baker responded with a kill and an ace to take back the lead, but it was soon knotted again at 14. With Morales serving, UHA looked to have taken control at 20-16, followed by a serve into the net by County. The Lady Colonels battled back to within 2 at 22-20 and UHA called a timeout, but momentum had swung to County and they scored 2 points out of the break. Pantiere scored at the net for the lead, but Sinatra Orgas answered for the first of 3-straight points to close out the set and the match.
Christian County plays the first of two-straight 8th District match-ups with a trip to Tiger Gym to face Hopkinsville. UHA will play its final regular-season district match on Monday when Fort Campbell visits.
