donbrown00@alltel.net

Staff writer

LEITCHFIELD -- The Cougars had a good night on the volleyball court last Tuesday, as the freshman, JV and varsity teams scored straight-set wins against Ohio County.

The frosh team won for the first time this season, 21-16, 21-13.

"It was pleasing to see them have some success," said Head Coach Kelli Harris. "Our main focus has been on the JV and varsity."

That focus has been paying off for the Cougars. The varsity now stands at 4-4-1 on the season after winning two, losing three and tying one at last weekend's Apollo Invitational. Grayson County beat Allen County and Hopkinsville, but lost to Franklin-Simpson, Owensboro Catholic and Barren County. They split two games with Henderson County for the tie.

"We should have beaten Barren County and we were actually ahead of Catholic, but couldn't hold the lead," Harris said.

On Tuesday, the Cougars were the clearly superior team as they whipped Ohio County 25-19, 25-15. The JV squad moved to 2-1 on the season with an easy 21-6, 21-11 win over the Eagles.

VARSITY

The first game stayed close, with first the Cougars grabbing a short lead, then the Eagles coming back. With the game tied at 16-16, Grayson County scored four straight points, including an ace from senior Lee Ann Wood, to take their largest lead of the game.

The Eagles were able to pull to within 21-19, but sophomore Rebecca Meredith put away a kill to give the serve back to the Cougars at 22-19.Senior Amy Satterfield had back-to-back kills to take it to game point, and the Eagles hit into the net on the next volley and the Cougars took the first game.

Grayson County grabbed a lead at the start of the second game and kept increasing it, going up by five at 10-5. The eagles closed to within three, 11-8, when Wood came up with a big block at the net to stop an Eagle run and make it 12-8. Wood then had kills on the next two volleys and the Cougars led by six, 14-8.

Satterfield served match point at 24-15 and came up with the winning kill from the back line to give the game to the Cougars.

JV

The Cougars trailed only once in the entire match, 0-1 after an Eagle ace on the first serve. Rebecca Meredith served two aces and got two kills from Krista Fulkerson as Grayson County went in front 7-1.

The Eagles got to within three at 7-4, but the Cougars put on another run that put the game out of reach. Andrea Mantooth served four aces and Fulkerson had a block at the net as the Cougars ran out to a 15-4 lead.

At game point, Fulkerson served an ace to put the game in the win column.

With Laura Dennis serving to open the second game, Grayson County scored the first six points to take control early. The Eagles were never closer than four points the rest of the way.

FROSH

The Cougars started slowly in the first game, but an eight-point run put them in control for good.

Trailing 7-9, Stephanie Clark had a kill to earn a point and give the serve to Amber Thomas.

Thomas quickly served three straight aces to give the Cougars an 11-9 lead and force the Eagles to call a timeout. The Cougars scored three more points on Ohio County errors, then got another kill from Clark to make it 15-9 and the Cougars were solidly in command.

In the second game, the teams stayed within a point or two of each other until the Cougars grabbed the serve leading 15-12. Seventh-grader Katie Lampton then served three perfectly-placed, underhand serves for aces to make it 18-12. Thomas had a kill to make it 19-12, then Lampton served an ace to take the game to match-point.

The Eagles prolonged things by taking the next point, but Megan Mullins put away the next ball for a kill and the young Cougars had their first win.