The Lady Cougar volleyball team improved its record to 7-5 last Tuesday with a win in straight sets over visiting Breckinridge County, 25-20, 25-18.

In earlier games, the freshman girls won their first match of the season, 22-20, 21-13 over the Lady Tigers, but the JV lost, 11-21, 15-21.

The Lady Cougars trailed in the early going of the varsity match, but tied things 6-6 with a rally point. A kill by senior Andrea Pauley and an ace from senior Becca Crawford made it 8-6. Grayson County added one more point in the rally and they never trailed again in the first set.

Leading by two points, 19-17, the Lady Cougars put together a run of of five straight points to earn a set-point at 24-17. Crawford had two more aces during the run, but a kill from Breck’s captain, Samantha Smiley, halted things and gave the Lady Tigers one more chance.

Breck earned two more points, but Pauley came up with a kill to give the set to the Lady Cougars 25-20.

In the second set, Breck moved out to a big early lead before the Lady Cougars came storming back. The Lady Tigers used three Grayson County hitting errors and another Smiley kill to put together a 5-0 run to go up by seven points, 5-12.

Still trailing by five points, 8-13, Shea Boone took the serve and the Lady Cougars put together a run to get back in it. Three aces from Boone and kills from Jessika Young and Amber Smith tied the score at 13-13.

Another kill by Smith gave the Lady Cougars their first lead of the second set at 16-15. With Smith serving the next point, the Lady Tigers were unable to get the ball over in three hits, then Smith served an ace to make it 18-15 and Grayson County never trailed again.

Crawford took the serve with Grayson County leading 22-18, and when Pauley ripped a kill to make it 23-18, Breck called a timeout.

Back on the floor, Crawford came up with a kill from the back row to bring it to match-point, 24-18. The Lady Tigers then had an untimely lack of communication as a set ball landed between two players for the final point, giving the match to the Lady Cougars.