Looking for their first win in the 2nd Region tournament since 2015, the Christian County Lady Colonels started strong but succumbed to 5th-District champions Crittenden County 3-2 on Monday at Henderson.
Christian County posted a 3-1 victory over the Lady Rockets just over a month ago, and it looked like the Lady Colonels were on their way to another win when they took the opening set 25-18. It was tied for the ninth time at 14-14 before Christian County used a 6-1 run to take control.
The Lady Colonels jumped out 3-0 in the 2nd, but six kills from Carly Porter fueled a 10-3 spurt to give Crittenden a 10-6 advantage. The Lady Rockets built the lead to double digits at 19-9 and took the set 25-15 to even the match.
After a 25-22 Christian County win in the 3rd to put Crittenden County’s season in the balance, the Lady Rockets responded to take a 20-15 lead in the 4th set. However, the Lady Colonels roared back with a 7-2 surge to tie it up, and took their first lead at 25-24 after a kill by Hailey Sparks. But after a Christian County serve into the net, Porter and Katie Perryman’s back-to-back kills gave the Lady Rockets a 27-25 victory.
Neither team led by more than a point in the 5th until a block and a kill by Perryman gave Crittenden some breathing room at 10-7. Another kill by Perryman made it 13-8 and forced a Lady Colonel timeout before the Lady Rockets finished the match on a pair of Christian County errors.
Sparks finished with ten kills, 13 digs, and a pair of aces in her final high school match. Skylar Kirby also had ten kills and served up three aces.
Also for the Lady Colonels, Rylee Owens had 24 digs, Peyton Owens provided 25 assists, and Camryn Armstrong finished with seven kills.
Porter was a force at the net with 21 kills for Crittenden, followed by Perryman with 12 kills and a pair of aces. Brooke Winstead finished with 44 assists, and Riley Smith chipped in 17 digs.
The Lady Rockets advance to a semifinal matchup with Madisonville-North Hopkins on Wednesday. The Lady Maroons were 3-0 winners over Webster County earlier on Monday.
Christian County’s season comes to an end with a record of 11-24.
