It would have been a tough match in the semifinals against Presentation regardless, but you do have to wonder if the pace of the schedule Saturday and two tough three-set matches Saturday morning took their toll on the University Heights Academy Lady Blazers. UHA saw its bid for a state All A volleyball championship come to an end in the semifinals Saturday with a straight-set loss to Presentation.
The All A Classic volleyball tournament operates on a ‘brisk’ schedule to say the least, completing the tournament in less than 24 hours from the time it starts. Saturday, the Lady Blazers felt like they were running from court to court.
Their first match of the day was slated for a 9:15 start, followed by the beginning of the championship bracket at 11:00, with a little break in between. But with their match against Paintsville going three tough sets, the Lady Blazers had just 15 minutes to change locations and get ready for their quarterfinal match against Sayre.
The match against Sayre was another knock-down affair, that went three long and emotional sets. Once again, taking away the break time the Lady Blazers were hoping to have before the semifinals and giving them just about 15-20 minutes instead of the full hour.
All of that said, to point out, that when the match with Presentation began, the Lady Blazers looked just a little bit leg-weary. With Presentation up 8-6 in the first set, the Toppers went on a 15-2 run to effectively put the set away. The Lady Blazers just seemed out of rhythm in the set as Presentation went on to take a 25-10 win to go up one set to none.
UHA looked a bit more in sync in the second set. Led by Julia Thomas, Olivia Oakley, and Chayse Gilliland, the Lady Blazers went toe-to-toe with the Toppers, with the match tied at 10-10. A quick 4-0 run for Presentation changed the momentum of the set and the Lady Blazers could not quite get it back. A key moment came on a point the Lady Blazers appeared to have won that would have cut the lead to 21-18, but the head official ruled that a sideline official had impeded the progress of a Presentation player in attempting to make a play on the ball and ordered a replay of the point. Presentation then got the point on a Lady Blazer service error and instead of being 21-18 it was now 22-17 and that sealed the chances of any comeback to force a third set as the Toppers went on to close out the match 25-20.
The semifinal appearance marked the first ever for the University Heights program. Two Lady Blazers were named to the All A Classic All-Tournament team, those two players being seniors Julia Thomas and Sarah Peebles.
The day began with the Lady Blazers finishing off pool play, taking on the defending All A Classic champions, the Paintsville Lady Tigers. Paintsville came into the morning at 1-1, having beaten Wolfe County and lost a three-set battle to Somerset Christian.
UHA entered the morning coming off straight-set wins over both Somerset Christian and Wolfe County.
The Lady Blazers had their struggles at the service line in the opening set against Paintsville. UHA would end up with six service errors in the set but they found a way to push through. Behind a big set from Julia Thomas and Olivia Oakley at the net, and some timely serves from Suzie Comperry, the Lady Blazers were able to pull out to a four-point lead at 14-10 and then fend off a comeback effort from the Lady Tigers, as UHA won the set 25-22. Thomas had four kills, a block, and an ace in the set. Suzie Comperry had two very timely aces for the Lady Blazers.
The service issues continued to bother the Lady Blazers in the second set. Still, UHA was able to run out to a 15-8 lead behind the play of Sarah Peebles, Chayse Gilliland, and Olivia Oakley. But the defending All A champs would not go away just that quietly. The Lady Tigers rallied with a 7-1 run to close to within one point at 16-15 and the battle began. Paintsville would fight off two match points and ended up winning the set 27-25 to even the match at one set each, setting up the deciding third set.
After dropping their first set in nearly a month, the Lady Blazers opened quickly in the third set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead prompting a time-out from the Paintsville coach. Big plays from Chayse Gilliland and Julia Thomas got things up and running. The timeout did not immediately help the defending champs as the lead grew to 9-1. With big plays at the net from Julia Thomas and key serves from Suzie Comperry, the Lady Blazers ran the score on out to 17-5, and from there it was just a matter of the final score as UHA closed out the set, the match, and pool play with a 25-16 win. Julia Thomas had five kills and a block in the set. Suzie Comperry had two aces.
As the champions of Pool C, that set up a quarterfinal match with the runners-up of Pool D, Lexington Sayre. This one turned out to be one of the best matches of the tournament.
Julia Thomas opened the match with a dominating effort, coming up with a kill, three aces, and a block in the first 11 points as UHA bolted out to a 9-2 lead. Sayre would rally to get as close as three points at 16-13, but that would be it for a rally in the opening set. Julia Thomas added two more aces and another kill in the second half of the set as UHA won 25-17.
The second set was a battle from the very beginning. The lead changed hands four times during the set before Sayre finally pulled it out 25-23. Reese Collins and Anna Mullikan came up huge for the Lady Spartans as they evened things up at one set each, forcing a nail-biting third set.
Behind a great start from Julia Thomas, Chayse Gilliland, and Sarah Peebles, UHA bolted out to a 10-4 lead. But Sayre was not going anywhere. Reese Collins took over a stretch of the match as Sayre battled all the way back to even the score at 15-15. Fans of both sides and others watching along the crowded sidelines braced themselves for a palpitating finish.
UHA took a three-point lead at 19-16, only to see Sayre come back and tie the match at 20-20. Then the Lady Blazers did what great teams have to do in those moments, they got big ‘step-up’ plays from Chayse Gilliland and Claire Chewning as they scored five of the final six points to close out the set and the match with a 25-21 and move on to their first-ever semifinal appearance.
