The University Heights Academy volleyball team returned to the 2nd Region title match for the first time in four years and exorcised some demons along the way with a 3-0 victory over Henderson County on Wednesday at Caldwell County High School.
The Lady Blazers made back-to-back finals appearances in 2018 and 2019, falling to Henderson on both occasions, the last of five-straight titles for the Lady Colonels.
With a pair of regular-season wins over Henderson, the Lady Blazers made it clear from the start that, contrary to the adage, the third win wouldn’t be the most difficult.
A Sarah Peebles ace gave UHA an early 5-1 advantage in the first set, and the Lady Blazers led 15-5 after a Claire Chewning kill. Henderson pulled to within nine points at 19-10 before UHA closed on a 6-3 run to take the opener.
After kills by Ava Stott and Kylee Lyons gave Henderson its first lead of the night at 4-3 in the second set, the Lady Blazers answered with a 13-1 spurt to take control. The Lady Colonels clawed their way back to trail 18-9, but Susie Tatum reeled off three straight aces to restore a double-digit cushion on the way to a 25-10 victory.
With their backs against the wall, the Lady Colonels led through much of the first half of the third set. After a Julia Thomas block gave UHA a narrow 13-12 lead, Henderson’s Margaret Rinehart delivered a kill to force the seventh tie of the set.
Determined not to surrender a first set in six matches, the Lady Blazers scored 12 of the following 17 points to end the match and win for the 15th straight time, dating back to a 2-0 loss to Presentation on September 16.
Thomas led the way at the net with nine kills and two blocks, followed by Olivia Oakley with six kills, and Claire Chewning with five. Sarah Peebles finished with 21 assists and eight digs, Evelyn Cotthoff also dug out eight balls, and Chayse Gilliland added seven.
UHA will return to the floor on Thursday to face Crittenden County. The Lady Rockets upset Christian County 3-1 in the other semifinal to set up a fourth meeting with the Lady Blazers. UHA won the first two matchups 2-0 before dropping the season’s only set to regional competition in a 3-1 victory on October 2.
One Response
Those wins wouldn’t have came so easy if our kills leader Keianna Alexander #20 (the one who put 19 kills down on you last year) didn’t tare her ACL and minicus the first game of the season. Our loss was definitely your gain. On top of that we have had 6 players injured throughout the season. You have some amazing players but it’s a fact the outcome could’ve been completely different. What happened to us could happen to any team