Despite losing to Crittenden County twice in 2024 and seeing the Lady Rockets end their season the last two years, the Christian County Lady Colonels would not be denied in the first round of the Region 2 Volleyball Tournament.
Christian County shocked the Lady Rockets 3-0 Monday night at Hopkinsville High School and will advance to Wednesday night’s semifinals to take on Union County. The Bravettes easily defeated Madisonville-North Hopkins 3-0 in the first quarterfinal matchup Monday.
The Lady Colonels improved to 13-18 on the season. Junior Kaidence Atwell said her team was excited to be moving on.
Christian County won the opening set 25-23 but had to rally from an early 9-5 deficit to take a 13-11 advantage. The two teams traded leads and were tied 21-21 after an Atwell kill. The Lady Colonels finished off the set with two kills by Skylar Kirby and an ace by Peyton Owens.
Christian County jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the second set before Crittenden took a 9-6 advantage. The two teams stayed within two points the remainder of the set. Christian County called a timeout, trailing 24-23.
After the timeout, Atwell had two kills and a key block as the Lady Colonels won the set 26-24.
Like the first two sets, the third set was close throughout. Crittenden led by as much as 9-4 and took its last lead at 18-18. The Lady Colonels then won seven of the final nine points to win the set and claim the match, 25-20.
Kirby led the way for Christian County with nine kills, a block and an ace. Atwell had five kills and an ace and Jazzy Tejada had seven kills and two blocks. Emma Webster provided four blocks and two kills.
Crittenden, one of the tournament favorites, saw its season end at 19-5.
Tonight, Heritage Christian Academy (20-5) takes the floor at 7 p.m. against District 5 runner-up Livingston Central (5-17). The first game is at 5:30 p.m. with Caldwell County (18-9) taking on Henderson County (15-16).
The semifinals are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday with the region championship match scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.
Photos by Joe Wilson