After a two-year absence, Caldwell County volleyball is back in the 7th District’s winner’s circle.
The Lady Tigers scored the final six points of the night to outlast Hopkins County Central in a five-set thriller in the district championship match Tuesday night in Mortons Gap.
Down 12-9 in the fifth set, Caldwell used its game-ending run to finish off a 25-19, 19-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-12 victory.
Hopkins Central (9-16) appeared to have all the momentum after taking the second set 25-19 then running out to a big lead in the third set. The Lady Storm led 10-1 on the way to winning the set and going up 2-1 in the match.
However, Caldwell (15-17) got things turned around in the fourth set. The Lady Tigers never trailed in the set and built a 21-10 lead on the way to tying the match and setting up the decisive fifth set.
Caldwell overcame a 9-6 deficit in the final set to tie things 9-9. But Hopkins Central scored the next three points to go up 12-9 and, again, seemed to have the momentum.
But the Lady Tigers were able to swing things one final time, scoring six straight points to end the match.
Brylee Butts had 11 kills and three digs while Ellie Ramey recorded eight kills and 15 digs in the district title match.
Rylee Thompson had six kills, 14 digs, three aces and two assists. Benashka Thomas recorded five kills and three digs.
Kylee White totaled 24 assists, two kills, four aces and four digs. T.J. Goodwin had a team-high 26 digs.
Morgan Aikins added two kills and five digs. Anna Giltz had five digs and a kill. Tink Clark had 10 digs.
Medeline Thomas had one kill and one dig. Maddie Cooper and Mycah Riddle each had three aces and one dig.
Caldwell had won 14 straight district championships before watching Madisonville-North Hopkins take the last two titles. The Lady Tigers’ district title string predated even their arrival in the 7th District.
Caldwell, as the No. 1 seed, drew a bye into the district championship match.
Hopkins Central took out defending 7th District and 2nd Region champion Madisonville 19-25, 26-24, 26-24, 23-25, 15-6 on Monday.
Tuesday’s match was the 50th meeting all-time between the Lady Tigers and the Lady Storm on the volleyball court. Caldwell has now taken 49 of those — including the last 25 in a row. Hopkins Central’s only win came in the 2013 season.
Both Caldwell and Hopkins Central advance to next week’s 2nd Region tournament — which Caldwell will host starting on Monday. The draw for the regional tournament will be held Friday morning.
