In only their second season of KHSAA volleyball, the Heritage Christian Academy Lady Warriors will play for an 8th-District title after vanquishing six-time defending champions University Heights Academy 3-1 in Tuesday’s semifinal matchup.
With a raucous student section cheering their every move, the Lady Warriors raced out to a 10-3 lead to start the first set. Taylor Cantrell’s kill pulled UHA to within two points at 20-18, but HCA closed on a 5-1 spurt to take a 1-0 lead.
A kill by Olivia Oakley gave the Lady Blazers a 12-11 edge in the second, and they never trailed on the way to a 25-18 win to even the match.
Mya Goodwin’s kill and an ace broke a 15-15 tie in the third set, and she closed the set with a pair of kills to give the Lady Warriors a 25-19 victory.
With the season on the line, the Lady Blazers built a 12-6 lead to start the fourth before HCA rallied to take a 17-16 advantage. UHA tied it three times, with the last at 23-23 to force an HCA timeout, but the Lady Warriors wouldn’t be denied in a two-point win.
Mya Goodwin led the Lady Warriors with 18 kills and 19 digs, followed by Katie Cansler with seven kills and 14 digs.
Makenzie McCarty finished with 22 assists and nine digs, Hadlee Hayes added 12 assists and three aces, and Grace Conley had eight kills.
Hadley Hayes chipped in 12 assists with three aces, Allie Craft had 16 digs, and Bralee Fowler served up three aces.
UHA ended the season at 8-22. Oakley had 13 kills and 34 digs to finish with over 1,000 for her career. Gretchen Durham finished with 36 assists and eight digs, Katherine Wood had 12 digs, and Taylor Cantrell and Kiley Lambert combined for 14 kills.
HCA improved to 20-5 with its seventh straight victory to move on to Thursday’s championship match. The Lady Warriors split a pair of regular-season meetings with Christian County, including a 3-0 victory in late September.
