The middle-school volleyball traveled to Ohio County on Monday and came home with a sweep of the three games played, all of them in straight sets.
In all three games, it was plainly evident that the Lady Cougar program at the middle school level had a big edge over the Lady Eagles, especially at the youngest level. Ohio’s sixth-grader seemed far behind in the fundamentals as Grayson County won easily, 15-5, 15-4.
The Lady Cougar seventh-graders had to overcome and early six-point deficit to take the first set 21-18, but they dominated in the second 21-13.
The eighth-grade game stayed close in the first set before a 6-0 Lady Cougar run put them in charge. They went on to take that first set 21-15, before running away in the third to win 21-11.
SIXTH-GRADE GAME
Tied at 1-1, Grayson County’s Maggie Clark served four aces in a 5-0 Lady Cougar run that put them in charge to stay.
Two more aces by Megan Duvall fueled another 6-0 run that put the Lady Cougars ahead 12-2. On set-point, Chloe Thornberry served another ace to give the Lady Cougars the first-set win.
The second set was closer, with the Lady Eagles trailing by just a point, 6-5 before Kylee Plemens served a ball wide.
That gave the serve to Grayson County’s Clark, who then served out for the win. Clark served six straight aces to make it 13-5 before the Cougars won on the next volley to bring it to match-point at 14-5. Clark then served one final ace to give the Lady Cougar sixth-graders the straight set win.
SEVENTH-GRADE GAME
With the first set tied at 5-5, Ohio’s Calee Whittaker served six straight points, including an ace, to give the Lady Eagles an 11-5 lead.
The Lady Cougars still trailed by five, 8-13, when McKenzie Coates took the serve. The Lady Eagles were guilty of a lift, then hit two straight balls wide and suddenly the lead was down to two, 11-13 and Ohio Called a timeout.
The Lady Cougars took the next volley to pull to within a point before Coates put a ball into the net, giving it back to the Lady Eagles.
With Tomarah Young serving, Ohio took the next three points to push the lead back to five points, 17-12. But the Lady Cougars earned a sideout on a kill from Emma Wilder.
Wilder then took the serve and helped put the Lady Cougars in the lead for the first time. Two kills by Meredith Pawley and four Wilder aces led a 6-0 Lady Cougar run that brought it to 19-17 before Wilder sent a serve wide.
Serving at set-point, 20-18, Julie Carroll put a ball on the floor for an ace to give the Lady Cougars the comeback win.
The final set was all Lady Cougars from the start. A pair of Wilder aces and a kill from Pawley fed a 5-0 Grayson County run that put them up six, 7-1.
Two Pawley aces and a Lady Eagle hitting error later increased the Grayson County lead to eight points, 13-5. Wilder later took the serve leading 19-13, and added two more aces to give the Lady Cougar seventh-graders the win.
EIGHTH-GRADE GAME
The first set was tight before Mallory Thomas took the serve with the Lady Cougars in front 6-4. Two straight Thomas aces and a kill from Miranda Boaz made it 9-4. Two Ohio hitting errors made it 11-4 and forced Ohio to call a timeout.
The Lady Eagles earned a sideout on the next volley, but the Lady Cougars were in charge to stay. Ohio County closed to within four points, 16-12, but they would never be closer. Leading 19-14, Coates served an ace to bring it to set-point, before Thomas put away a kill to give the Lady Cougars the first-set win.
In the second set, the Lady Cougars took an early 6-2 lead, only to see the Lady Eagles come back to tie the game 7-7. The two teams then exchanged rally points until Boaz took over the serve with the Lady Cougars up by a point, 10-9. Boaz served three aces in a 5-0 Lady Cougar run that put them in charge 15-9.
Still leading by six, 17-11, Wilder served the last four points for the win. At match-point, Thomas put away a kill to give the Lady Cougars the win.
On Thursday, February 28, the middle school volleyball program will host a Volley for the Cure Night to help raise funds to fight colon cancer. There will be a silent auction and representatives from the American Cancer Society and the Kentucky Cancer Program will be on hand.
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