Make it four straight for the University Heights Academy Lady Blazers. After seeing Christian County take the third set to cut their lead to 2-1, the Lady Blazers finished strong with an impressive fourth set to claim the 8th District volleyball championship Thursday night at Christian County High School. The Lady Blazers secured another title with a sophomore-laden lineup leading the way.
UHA opened the fourth set with a 6-1 run and was never seriously threatened in the set as they rolled out to the 25-14 win to close out the 3-1 match win. Julia Thomas and Olivia Oakley had big sets to help the Lady Blazers secure the title. Thomas had six kills in the final set, while Oakley added two of her own.
The night began with Christian County giving the Lady Blazers early notice that they were there for the duration. The Lady Colonels opened the first set by jumping out to a 9-4 lead. Skylar Kirby and Camryn Armstrong helped Christian County get off to the quick start.
That lead would not last long for the Lady Colonels. Ignited by the play of sophomore Margaret Rinehart, the Lady Blazers fought their way back. Rinehart had three kills out of six points played and that appeared to get UHA rolling. The Lady Blazers would outscore Christian County 11-3 to take a 15-12 lead. The Lady Colonels would get no closer than three points the rest of the set as UHA took a 25-17 win to go up 1-0 in the match.
The second set started out tightly contested with the teams going back and forth early. Back-to-back kills from Julia Thomas got the Lady Blazers going. The UHA lead went from 9-7 to 18-11 in what felt like just a matter of seconds. The Lady Blazers went on to win the set 25-18 and take a two sets to none lead. Thomas finished the set with three kills to lead the UHA attack. The Lady Blazers also took advantage of four service errors by the Lady Colonels.
Just about the time it appeared that the Lady Blazers were going to roll their way to a championship sweep, the Lady Colonels said “not so fast.” Led by the play of Hailey Sparks, Queinasia Henry, and NeVaeh Day, Christian County jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the third set. UHA could get no closer than four points for the rest of the set as the Lady Colonels took the third 25-20 to cut the UHA lead to two sets to one.
Henry had five kills during the set. Sparks and Day added three kills each.
UHA improves to 20-13 with the win and picks up their 4th straight district championship. Christian County falls to 11-13.
Julia Thomas had a big night for the Lady Blazers, finishing with 12 kills and 3 blocks. Claire Chewning added seven kills. Sarah Peebles ended up with 32 assists and 13 digs.
Both teams will advance to the 2nd Region tournament. UHA will host an opening-round match against Caldwell County, Webster County, or Livingston Central.
Christian County will go on the road to open the region tourney, taking on Henderson County, Madisonville, or Crittenden County.
The regional semifinals and championship match will be played at Crittenden County High School.
