After Fort Campbell took the first set against University Heights Academy in its district volleyball match on Thursday, Lady Blazer coach Faye Hendricks was curious to see how her young team would respond.
The answer was UHA taking the final three sets to claim the 3-1 (14-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-23) win to move to 2-0 in district play.
For Hendricks, the comeback was about more than falling into a 1-0 hole.
It’s been a rough 48 hours for both the school and the community following the unexpected death of UHA middle school student Hensley Hunt last weekend. The school hosted a visitation on Tuesday and his funeral was also held at the school on Wednesday.
“Our girls took the chairs down after the funeral (in the gym),” Hendricks said. “I’ve got middle schoolers on the team and that kind of hits hard for us. I’m proud of them and proud of the growth they are making in general.”
It was Fort Campbell that came out strong in the first set, turning an 8-7 lead into a 16-7 advantage. Emma Kolmerton had four aces for the Lady Falcons during their 8-0 run.
UHA would get as close as 17-12 before a pair of kills by Megan Long highlighted an 8-2 run to end the set.
“We were communicating. We were moving to every single ball. We were hustling on every rotation, every play, and for whatever reason in the second set, we slowed down the pace a little bit and came in a little bit weaker,” said Fort Campbell coach Ashley Galvez.
UHA jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second set behind the strong serving of Gretchen Durham. Fort Campbell got as close as two points on several occasions, the last time at 11-9.
Olivia Oakley closed the second set with three kills and a block for the 25-15 UHA win.
In the third set, Oakley and Taylor Cantrell teamed at the net to help the Lady Blazers lead wire to wire for the 25-14 win. Cantrell had five of her 10 kills in the set while Oakley added four kills.
There were four ties in the fourth set, the last time at 16-16. Oakley keyed a 5-1 run with three kills. However, Fort Campbell wouldn’t go away as Baylee Backes and Emma Haynes teamed at the net to get the Lady Falcons to within 23-22.
Up 24-23, Oakley’s 16th kill ended the match to give the Lady Blazers their 32nd straight win over Fort Campbell.
“That’s the second time this year we fell behind 0-1 because we weren’t playing our brand of volleyball,” Hendricks said. “I am pleased that in both cases we had the composure to get back to what we work on – pass, set, swing.”
The Lady Blazers improved to 4-7 overall ahead of district matches next week with Heritage Christian Academy on Monday and Christian County on Tuesday.
“I really think we’re going to be a contender (in the district) when it comes down to it and we are just going to use every match that we can, every set, as a learning experience and see where we grow,” Hendricks said.
Meanwhile, Fort Campbell (3-4) fell to 1-3 in the district, but Galvez liked what she saw from her team.
“Our confidence was through the roof, and we knew UHA would be the team to beat this year in the district. We will be working on our defense and communication, but our confidence right now is high because this is the closest we’ve come to UHA over the past couple of years,” Galvez said.
Fort Campbell will play at Trigg County on Monday.
UNOFFICIAL STATS
FORT CAMPBELL
Baylee Backes – 6 kills, 1 block
D’Lyla Melton – 5 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist
Amanda Kalili-Liusa – 5 kills, 5, assists, 3 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks
Emma Kolmerton – 5 digs, 4 aces
Olivia Voelkel – 12 digs
Makayla Galvez– 3 kills, 1 dig
Emma Haynes – 3 kills, 3 digs
Emily Ramsey – 5 assists, 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace
Kayla Maslonka – 1 kill, 1 dig
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS ACADEMY
Olivia Oakley – 16 kills, 7 digs, 1 block
Taylor Cantrell – 10 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig
Kiley Lambert – 5 kills, 3 digs, 2 aces
Gretchen Durham – 1 ace, 19 digs, 23 assists
Niyati Patel – 1 kill, 1 dig
Megan Long – 4 digs, 2 kills, 1 block
Audrey Lovell – 2 digs, 1 assist
Kenady Quarles – 2 digs
Katherine Wood – 17 digs, 1 assist
