First it looked like Caldwell County would run away with its season-opening volleyball match on Thursday.
Then it looked like the Lady Tigers had let one get away from them.
But Caldwell turned around a 9-7 deficit to Union County in the fifth set with six straight points, and went on to take a 17-15 decision in the set and a 3-2 victory in the match at the CAB gym.
Down 13-9 in the deciding set, Union (1-1) made a rally attempt of its own. The Bravettes tied the set at 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15 before Caldwell won the final two points to finish off the night.
That gave the Lady Tigers a 25-21, 25-19, 10-25, 19-25, 17-15 triumph in the five-set marathon that took over 2 hours to complete.
Brylee Butts had nine kills and a block while Benashka Thomas recorded six kills and a block in the win.
Morgan Aikins added five kills and five digs. Chevy McGowan also had five kills.
Ellie Ramey totaled four kills, seven digs and three aces. Rylee Thompson had three kills to go with a team-high 25 digs.
T.J. Goodwin recorded 19 digs while Anna Giltz had 12 digs.
Kylee White had 19 assists to go with three digs and three aces. Med Thomas had 11 assists, two kills and four digs.
Caldwell has taken four straight matches from Union and now leads the all-time series 16-3. However, the two teams had not met since the 2011 2nd Region tournament.
The Lady Tigers next go to Mayfield on Tuesday. The Lady Cardinals are off to a 3-0 start this season.
