Three of Crittenden County’s four volleyball losses this season came during the All A Classic State Tournament weekend a month ago.
Since taking that dose of reality with a sour spoon, the Lady Rockets haven’t dropped a set, winning six straight matches. The latest came on Tuesday when Crittenden County dispatched Livingston Central 3-0 (25-9, 25-6, 25-13) to claim its seventh straight district championship.
Lady Rocket coach Savanna Tays Harper said the All A state experience was a good measuring stick for what they want to accomplish in the postseason.
“All A was a different set of competition, so we were able to look at other teams and build from that and just work on ourselves,” she said, adding, “I think that that made us better as a group, and we’ve been able to use that in our region. Losing (those three games) really helped us learn and grow as a team.”
Crittenden County (19-4) improved to 17-1 against region competition and has won 39 straight games against district competition dating back to a 2017 loss to Trigg County.
The Lady Rockets never trailed in the first two sets, jumping out to a 15-2 lead in the first set and 15-3 in the second set.
District player of the year Carly Porter had eight of her 15 kills in the opening set, while Hannah Mott added three.
Livingston Central, who had defeated Trigg County in straight sets in Tuesday’s semifinal match, scored the first point of the third set for its only lead in the match. The Lady Rockets then took a commanding 15-5 lead as Crittenden’s front line controlled the match.
Livingston would bounce back briefly to get to within 16-10 but would get no closer.
Lacey Boone had six kills and Mott and Brooke Winstead each added four. Porter had three aces, and Lilah Sherer had 31 assists.
Victoria Joiner had five kills for the Lady Cardinals (4-17) while Abigail Erickson and Kaylee Williams had two each.
Both teams will advance to next week’s region tournament at Hopkinsville High School. Crittenden County will face either Madisonville, Henderson County, Christian County, or Heritage Christian Academy in the first round—teams it has a 5-1 record against.
Union County and Caldwell County are a pair of teams they could see in the semifinals.
Tays Harper feels that familiarity with the field is a benefit.
“We know the defenses that they run and we will know who we’re going up against, so we use that in our practices,” she said. “I think we’re focused and this has been a goal for a long time so I believe that they have the skill set and everything to go out there and win the region, but we’ve got to work for it.”
The region tourney draw will be on Friday morning. Heritage Christian Academy and Christian County will play for the 8th District championship on Thursday.
