For a moment, late in the opening set of their district semifinal match against Christian County, there appeared to be a door opening that just might allow the Heritage Christian Academy Lady Warriors to make something special happen against the favored Lady Colonels. However, to the Lady Colonels’ credit, they were able to shut that door and then roll on to a straight-set win and advance to Thursday night’s district championship match.
After battling back-and-forth with Christian County in the first half of the opening set, Heritage Christian fell behind 18-12. The Lady Warriors got big plays from Hadlee Hayes and Katie Cansler and came battling back with a 9-1 run to take a 21-19 lead. But then the Lady Colonels shut that door on the moment of opportunity for HCA.
Christian County scored the final six points of the set to take a 25-21 win and go up one set to none in the match. Kaidence Atwell, Ashlea Russell, and Anaysia Bagwell had big moments coming down to the end of the set. The Lady Colonels came up big at the service line, finishing the set with nine aces.
After turning back the Lady Warriors in the opening set, the rest of the match belonged to the Lady Colonels.
Leading 9-5 early in the second set, Christian County went on a 7-1 run to extend the lead out to 16-6. The Lady Colonels would go on to take the set 25-11. Camryn Armstrong had a strong set for Christian County with two kills, three aces, and a block. Anaysia Bagwell added three kills for the Lady Colonels.
The third set played out much like the second. Leading 9-4 early in the set, Christian County ripped off another 7-1 run to go up 16-5. The Lady Warriors were not able to recover from the blow and the Lady Colonels went on to take the set 25-11 to close out the match three sets to none. Camryn Armstrong ended the net with four kills while Kaidence Atwell added three of her own.
For the match, Camryn Armstrong led the way for the Lady Colonels with 7 kills, 4 aces, and one block. Skylar Kirby had six kills and five aces for Christian County. Kaidence Atwell added six kills.
Bralee Fowler had four kills and a block for HCA. Katie Cansler chipped in with two kills and an assist.
Heritage Christian finishes their first full season in the KHSAA with a record of 12-19.
Christian County improves to 19-10 and will move on to Thursday night’s championship match to face University Heights Academy.
