The University Heights Lady Blazers and the Hopkinsville Lady Tigers faced off on Monday evening in the quarterfinal round of the 8th District Volleyball Tournament. It was UHA that was able to get the win in three sets, which means that this was Hopkinsville volleyball’s last game ever.
The Lady Tigers have not beat the Lady Blazers since October of 2017, as UHA had won the last 25 meetings between the two teams entering their game in the district tourney.
The first set was all UHA, and it saw them getting out to a very early 9-3 lead at the first timeout. They were able to go on a big streak with Niyati Patel serving that went all the way until they were up 15-3. Hopkinsville was able to put together a handful of points, but UHA eventually took the first set 25-11.
The second set started very differently, as Hopkinsville was able to get off to an 8-1 start. The Lady Blazers came back, and the set started going back and forth until the two teams were tied at 19. UHA then went on a run to make it 24-19, and a Hopkinsville kill attempt that went out of bounds won it for the Lady Blazers.
University Heights was back to getting an early lead in the third and final set, and that lead was 8-4 at the first time out. It had extended to 19-11 at the next break in action, and it just kept going until a kill from UHA’s Gretchen Durham sealed the deal.
She lead the team in set assists with 18, while the leader on the Lady Blazers in digs was Cassidy Keller with eight.
As for the Lady Tigers, Alayna King led in assists with 15, and then Madysen Taggert led in both kills and digs with 13 and eight, respectively.
This was the final game in Hopkinsville volleyball history, and the Lady Tigers can say that they went out to a great team in the Lady Blazers.
UHA will play in the semifinals on Tuesday, October 21, against the Christian County Lady Colonels. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Christian County High School.
