Trigg County volleyball coach Madison Rogers could see a recent player rotation switch was making a difference in practice. That carried over to a four-set loss to Fort Campbell on Monday.
However, things fell into place Tuesday as the Lady Wildcats took a five-set victory over Hopkinsville at Wildcat Gym. It was Trigg’s first win of the season and first five-set win since Sept. 23, 2021.
“We’ve changed up some rotations and started trying some new things. These girls have put in so much work and have been able to truly fine-tune some things in practices, which I really think benefited us through this game,” Rogers said.
It showed early as the Lady Wildcats won the first two sets.
The first set featured eight ties and the teams never strayed outside of three points of the other. Trigg’s Grace Carver opened with five kills in the opening set with Carmen Boyd adding three. They had the final two points as Trigg took a 26-24 win.
There were six ties in the second set as Trigg’s serve game was on point with eight aces – three each by Boyd and Trinity Perkins.
Tied at 17, Trigg closed the match on an 8-2 run for the 25-19 win.
Trigg County appeared headed for the straight-set win as they jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the third set.
However, Hopkinsville came back to tie the match at 12 as Madysen Taggart started to take the match into her hands. The Lady Tiger sophomore had five kills and two aces in the set as Hoptown closed with a 12-1 run for the 25-15 win.
Her play carried over into the fourth set as she staked the Lady Tigers to a quick 11-3 lead with five aces during a 9-0 run.
“She definitely made an impact in the game tonight with her serves. I believe she got like six in a row on them and she was spot serving,” Peek said.
Taggart finished the match with 11 kills and 13 aces as the Lady Tigers took the fourth set 25-23.
“Our attitudes changed individually. As a team, we came together a little more and we started playing calm and we started playing our game,” Peek said of Hoptown’s turnaround.
However, Trigg jumped ahead in the fifth set and nearly led wire to wire. Tied at 10-10, Trigg closed on a 5-2 run to take the match.
“One thing we have always struggled with going back to last season is the head game. When we got to that fifth set, I was like, ‘Girls, you’ve got to dig. You’ve got to fight,’” Rogers said “In the fifth set, they talked. They started communicating again. They started lifting each other up. And the positivity overall is what carried us through the end.”
Carver finished with 18 kills and seven aces for the Lady Wildcats, while Boyd added six kills and seven aces. Perkins had five kills and five aces as Trigg totaled 25 aces in the match.
While Hoptown had 21 aces in the match, Rogers was pleased with her team’s improvement in the serve-receive game.
“That is one thing we have focused so much on, serve, receive, and coverage. We have missed so many points in serve, receive, and coverage,” Rogers said. “We have the talent, but sometimes we need confidence in ourselves to get there.”
The win was Trigg County’s first in nine matches this season and the first over a Second Region opponent in three years. The Lady Wildcats will host St. Mary on Thursday and welcome in Crittenden County to Wildcat Gym next Tuesday.
Sierra Williams had nine assists, and Chloe Adams added seven.
Saralynn Major had four kills and three aces for Hoptown, and Brooke Stewart had 11 assists and three kills. Kyleigh Weber also had 11 assists.
Hopkinsville dropped to 1-8, with Peek knowing her squad still needs to bring their hard hats and lunch pails to practice with a month left in the regular season.
“We just have to keep fighting and keep pushing and hopefully everything will come together,” she said.
