Hopkins County Central’s volleyball squad may not have come out on top Monday evening against Crittenden in Mortons Gap, but head coach, Evelyn Morales, saw her team heading in the right direction.
“We faced Crittenden a couple of weeks ago back in the (Western Kentucky Smackdown) in Hopkinsville,” Morales said. “I think my girls came out and competed a lot better (Monday). This is the first time we’ve seen consistency scoring overall and the first time we made it to 20 points in a match.”
The Lady Storm reached 20 points in all three sets Monday night as Central had Crittenden against the ropes, but the Lady Rockets took all three sets 25-20 to complete the sweep.
“I know I saw a lot of long faces after the game and I know that they really want it,” Morales said. “But they don’t realize that they’re improving in each game that they play. I tell them to not even worry about the score right now, it’s all about what we can build on our side of the court and encouraging them.”
Central kept the energy up throughout the match even when they were down. It paid off in the third set when the Lady Storm started out the frame with a lead.
“I love seeing them keep the energy up and the bench cheering for them from the sidelines,” Morales said. “It’s huge to see them support each other and not speak negatively or pick other players apart. Everybody is bought in.”
Morales was also glad to see her setters improve with Central’s inexperience in the position on the team. Notably, Anija Couch recorded six sets. Offensively, Izabella Elliot led the Lady Storm with six kills.
Central hopes the upward trend continues as they’ll travel down to Fort Campbell Tuesday to face the Lady Falcons for the second time in five days.
“I told them to reset and look at Fort Campbell as a new opportunity,” Morales said.
Meanwhile, Crittenden will also be in action on Tuesday as the Lady Rockets will be at Livingston Central.
