The Lady Cougar volleyball team opened its season Monday evening in Owensboro and came home with a 3-1 victory over Owensboro Senior High.
Things looked bleak for the Lady Cougars in the first set as Owensboro raced out to a 9-0 lead behind the serving of junior Krystell Pappas, who served four aces in the run.
The Lady Cougars then turned the game around, outscoring the Lady Devils 25-12 the rest of the way to take the first set 25-21.
Trailing by six points, 10-16, junior Kenzie Skaggs took the serve and the Lady Cougars reeled off seven straight points, including a Skaggs ace, to take their first lead of the game. At set-point and with Owensboro serving, a Lady Devil hitting error gave the Lady Cougars the win.
The situation was reversed in the second set, with Grayson County opening a 9-1 lead at the start, only to see the Lady Devils come back to tie things at 23-23. The Lady Devils then had to stave off five set-points before finally gaining a set-point of their own at 30-29. Eighth-grader Chase Mather then served an ace to tie the match at a set apiece.
The Lady Cougars trailed just once in the third set, 0-1. They expanded their lead to 12 points at 23-11, before finally winning the set 25-20. At set-point, and with Owensboro serving, senior Maddie Duvall’s ace gave the win to the Lady Cougars.
The Lady Devils held the lead for much of the early going of the fourth set. Grayson County trailed by one, 9-10, before Duvall served three points to give her team a lead they would not give back, 12-10.
The Lady Cougars led by seven points, 20-13, when Skaggs took the serve and served out for the match. A Skaggs ace took it to match-point when an Owensboro hitting error gave the Lady Cougars the match.
Junior Ella Robinson led the Grayson County attack with 21 kills, while junior Chloe Cox added six. Senior setter Alexis Hart led the team with 33 assists, while Skaggs led the serving with 10 aces.
The Lady Cougars are on the road again today with a match at Ohio County before they return home on Thursday with their home-opener against District rival Edmonson County. That match is set to begin at 5 p.m.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
