It looked like the Caldwell County Lady Tigers were going to sweep Henderson County out of the regional tournament after the first two sets. But, they don’t play best of three in the region, they play best of five, and Henderson County pulled off a rally for the ages to come from 2-0 behind to end Caldwell County’s season with an improbable 3-2 win at Madisonville-North Hopkins. The Henderson rally and finish of the match left many of the Lady Tigers in tears after a fantastic season that came up just short of their ultimate goal.
It was the 5th year in a row that the Caldwell County Lady Tigers and the Henderson County Lady Colonels have met in the 2nd Region volleyball tournament, and the second straight year they met in the semifinal round with a berth in the championship game on the line. And, despite an impressive regular season win over the Lady Colonels in the regular season, the postseason result again favored the team in maroon.
In the opening set, the Lady Tigers bolted out to a quick 6-2 lead, prompting a Henderson County timeout. Behind the play of Savanna Tays and Olivia Mitchell, Caldwell County continued to extend the lead on out to 12-5, prompting a second timeout call by Henderson County in the opening set. The lead would grow to 16-7 before the Lady Colonels began a rally. Henderson County would get as close as 18-14, but three unforced errors prevented them from getting any closer. Caldwell County would go on to claim the set 25-17 to go up 1-0 in the match. Olivia Mitchell had seven kills in the set, while Savanna Tays added six assists.
The second set early on looked like Caldwell County was going to run away and hide from the Lady Colonels. Caldwell County jumped out to a 13-7 lead, only to see Henderson County come back to cut it down to 13-11. The Lady Tigers then ripped off five in a row to seemingly take control of the set at 18-11. Henderson fought back and got the set tied at 23-23. Caldwell County then managed to score the final two points to take the set 25-23 and go up in the match 2-0. The story for Henderson County in the set was mistakes, as the Lady Colonels committed seven errors and two service errors. They did get a big set from Brooke Springer, who had three kills and two blocks in the set.
For Caldwell County, Olivia Mitchell had six kills in the set. Savanna Tays added four assists. The Lady Tigers also got big plays from Kendyll Prowell.
With their backs and their season up against the wall, Henderson County opened quick in the third set, jumping out to a 13-7 lead. Caldwell County roared back to cut it to one at 13-12, but then the Lady Colonels scored a quick four points to go up 17-12, leading to a Caldwell County timeout. Henderson County would push the lead out to 21-14. The Lady Tigers closed the gap to one at 24-23, but the Lady Colonels were able to come up with the point to seal the 25-23 win. Henderson got a huge set from Asha Nalley and Brooke Springer to pull the match within two sets to one.
It was another big set for Olivia Mitchell and Savanna Tays. Mitchell had seven kills, while Tays added seven more assists.
The fourth set began with Henderson’s Brooke Springer trying to take over the show. Springer began the set with three kills, three blocks, and an ace, as the Lady Colonels jumped out to a 10-4 lead. Caldwell County would get as close as two at 18-16, but could not complete the rally, as Henderson took the set 25-20 to even the match at 2-2. In addition to Springer, Henderson had big sets from Jordan Troutman and Kaylee Stott.
The momentum the Lady Colonels had built during the rally then became too much for the Lady Tigers to overcome in the deciding 5th set. Behind the efforts of Brooke Springer, Henderson jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Caldwell would get no closer than three points the rest of the set as the Lady Colonels completed their “miracle” rally taking the set 15-8 and the match 3-2.
Henderson moves on to the regional title game Thursday evening.
Caldwell County sees their season end with a record of 22-14, which included the 2nd Region All A Classic championship.
