Heritage Christian Academy got a tune-up win for the KCAA State Volleyball Tournament on an emotional night Tuesday at Warrior Gym.
HCA defeated Northside Baptist of Mayfield 25-6, 25-10, 25-9 in what was the final home game at Warrior Gym for seniors Bailey Craft, Macy Lake, Elle Heltsley, and Kailyn Stanley. It was also the final game of the season for Head Coach Grace Stewart, who is recovering from delivering her first child last week.
Stewart popped in during the contest but will not be able to make the trip to Nicholasville this weekend as the Lady Warriors look to defend its KCAA state title. She was giving hugs to her players in the final seconds of the contest. Assistant Mallory Dawson has been coaching the Lady Warriors in Stewart’s absence.
HCA used a 15-0 run in the first set to take a commanding 22-2 lead and used its dominance at the net to win its 32nd game in 39 tries this season.
Heltsley had 11 kills and four aces, while Cora Hale and Katie Cansler each had eight kills. Mya Goodwin put together her normal strong stat sheet with six kills, four aces, 13 assists, and five digs.
Craft had a team-high 18 assists and Lake had five digs.
HCA is the top seed in this weekend’s state tournament and will play two games Friday. A pair of wins put them into Saturday’s semifinal.
