The Union County Bravettes came into the 2nd Region volleyball tournament as one of the two ‘hottest’ teams in the region having won 11 of their last 13 matches, including two wins over traditional region power Henderson County, including the 6th District championship match. The Bravettes did not cool down during Monday night’s opening quarterfinal match against the Madisonville-North Hopkins Lady Maroons at Hopkinsville High School.
The Bravettes used a run in the middle of the opening set to get the advantage and kept rolling from there on their way to a straight-set win over the Lady Maroons to advance on to Wednesday night’s first semifinal match.
For the first part of the opening set, the teams traded points back and forth. The Lady Maroons got big starts from Morgan Buntin and Leah Moody on the way to a 10-9 lead.
The Bravettes then found their stride and scored eight straight points to take a 17-10 lead and take control, not just of the set, but it felt like the match at that point. Dana Curry had two big kills in that stretch for Union County. Curry added two more over the remainder of the set as the Bravettes did not allow the Lady Maroons to get any closer than seven points and took the opener 25-16 to go up one set to none.
Union County used the momentum from the finish of the opening set and stunned the Lady Maroons with a 15-3 start in the second set. With some strong play from Keira Williams, Myla Hughes, and Morgan Buntin, Madisonville-North Hopkins fought to try and get back in the set but the Lady Maroons could get no closer than seven points as the Bravettes won the set 25-17 to go up two sets to none.
Another big run in the third set for Union County would turn out to be the final nail for the Lady Maroons. Madisonville-North Hopkins trailed only 6-5 and was battling to try and stay alive in the match. Williams and Hughes had some big early plays that kept the Bravettes within sight early in the set.
But then Dana Curry and Serena Oba took over for the Bravettes and ignited an 11–0 run that blew the set wide open as Union County ran out to a 17-5 lead. The Bravettes would then close out the match by winning the third set 25-12.
Mackenzie Stoltz ended up with seven kills and an ace for the Lady Maroons. Leah Moody added six kills while Myla Hughes finished with five.
Dana Curry paced the Bravettes with 7 kills. Serena Oba had six kills and an ace. Rosella Greenwell added six kills for Union County.
Madisonville-North Hopkins ends the season with a record of 9-24.
Union County improves to 15-7 and moves on to the first regional semifinal match Wednesday evening where the Bravettes will face Christian County, who upended Crittenden County Monday night in three sets.
