Caldwell County and Christian County were the main event of the first round of the 2nd Region volleyball tournament.
The two teams did not disappoint Tuesday night in Princeton, battling for five sets before a winner was determined.
For the second time in 12 days, Christian County claimed a 15-11 victory in the fifth set to outlast Caldwell County, with this win moving the Lady Colonels into Wednesday’s regional semifinal round.
The Lady Tigers led two sets to one and held a 6-4 lead in the final set before Christian rallied for a 25-15, 22-25, 22-25, 25-19, 15-11 triumph.
The other three first-round matches all ended in 3-0 scores.
Christian, now 20-11, overwhelmed Caldwell early in the match, opening the night with a 12-1 run on the way to a first set win.
Caldwell (15-18) rallied from behind in the second set, eventually catching Christian at 17-17 and surging ahead for the win.
The Lady Tigers then seemed to grab all the momentum in the third set. Down 17-7 at one point, Caldwell came back to tie things at 21-21 before winning four of the final five points to gain the upper hand.
Christian settled things down, though, with an 8-0 run to start the fourth set. Caldwell got to within three points three times — the last at 19-16 — before the Lady Colonels tied the match and forced a deciding fifth set.
The final set was tied 9-9 before Christian grabbed the lead for good in the regional rematch.
When the two teams met less than two weeks ago, the scores were 24-26, 17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-11.
Caldwell had beaten Christian 10 straight times before the last two setbacks. The Lady Tigers still lead the all-time series 33-10-1.
Skylar Kirby paced the Lady Colonel attack with 17 kills. Kirby also had six digs and three aces.
Camryn Armstrong added eight kills and five total blocks while Anaysia Bagwell had eight kills as well along with 19 digs.
Rylee Owens had a team-high 32 digs, with three kills and eight assists. Peyton Owens had 19 assists, 20 digs, a kill and three aces for the Lady Colonels. Ashlea Russell recorded 17 assists and five digs, along with two kills and two blocks.
Kaidence Atwell, Emma Webster and Aaliyah Bacon each had three kills. Atwell added four blocks. Shiloh Baker had 11 digs and two aces. Alaina Lee had 10 digs.
Caldwell’s stat sheet on Tuesday showed nine kills, a block, 22 digs and two aces by Rylee Thompson. Benashka Thomas had seven kills, two blocks and two digs while Ellie Ramey had five kills, 16 digs and five aces. Brylee Butts added five kills, three blocks and four digs.
The Lady Tigers also got 21 assists, 11 digs, two kills and four aces from Kylee White. T.J. Goodwin had 21 digs, Anna Giltz had 19 digs, Maddie Cooper recorded 13 digs and Morgan Aikins had three digs.
Christian, the 8th District runner-up, will next face 5th District champion Crittenden County (16-13) in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. semifinal in Princeton.
The Lady Rockets rolled past Union County in straight sets, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23, in Tuesday’s opener.
University Heights Academy (34-2) and Henderson County (12-23) will play Wednesday’s first semifinal at 5:30.
