The Christian County Lady Tigers appear to be getting on a roll on the volleyball court at just the right time. With the postseason set to get underway in just three weeks, the Lady Tigers have now won 8 matches in a row and 12 of their last 13 with Monday night’s straight-set win over University Heights Academy in Hopkinsville Rotary Arena.
The win also gave the Lady Tigers a sweep of the Lady Blazers in the regular season and a clean run through 8th District play.
Christian County had control of the opening set for most of the set. Getting strong play from Taylor Cantrell, Bailey Brown, and Peyton Owens, the Lady Tigers took a 25-18 win to go up one set to none in the match.
The second set saw University Heights Academy, behind the play of Niyona Brown, Ava Gray Crawford, and Cassidy Keller, run out to the early lead. Christian County battled back midway through the set with Brown, Cantrell, and Kiley Lambert leading the charge back into the lead.
The Lady Blazers closed to within a point at 17-16 before the Lady Tigers ran back out to a 22-16 lead. Christian County got a couple of big kills late in the set as he Lady Tigers won the set 25-17 to go up two sets to none. Freshman Samyriah Walker hit a laser for the final point of the set for Christian County.
The third set opened with the two teams trading the lead back and forth. UHA scored the first three, Christian County the next four. The Lady Blazers answered with a run of their own to take an 11-6 lead. The Lady Tigers came right back with four straight to draw within 11-10.
The two continued to battle back-and-forth with Christian County getting plays from Rheagan Bozell and Kyleigh Weber, while the Lady Blazers got some big moments from Lilly Kem and Ava Gray Crawford.
A pair of big plays from Kiley Lambert as the set started to get late put Christian County up 17-15 and led to a timeout from UHA coach Fay Hendricks. Out of the timeout, Lambert immediately struck again to make it 18-15. A big block from Madysen Taggart took that to 19-15.
Lambert took a two-hander kill across court to run to 20-15. A UHA mishit and a service ace from Bailey Brown that bent the tape on the way over and Christian County was up 22-16 and on the verge of completing the sweep.
Kills by Kiley Lambert and Samyriah Walker closed out a 25-19 win and the sweep for the Lady Tigers.
A balanced effort on the attack for Christian County. Taylor Cantrell had 8 kills, while Kiley Lambert, Carly Armstrong, and Madysen Taggart added 6 each. Taggart had 6 blocks and Cantrell finished with three.
Bailey Brown set the table with 26 assists. Brown, along with Peyton Owens, and Avery Cook had four aces each.
Niyona Brown led the attack for the Lady Blazers with six kills. Ava Crawford added five.
Bailee Chesnut topped the assist column for UHA, ending up with 16 for the night.
Cassidy Keller had 41 digs. Ava Crawford added 15, while Niyati Patel chipped in with 14.
Christian County (17-7) gets ready to take on Logan County Tuesday night at Rotary Arena.
University Heights Academy (10-17) hits the road Tuesday night to take on Webster County.
