The Grayson County Lady Cougar volleyball team moved to 16-1 for the season with a pair of wins in the Cougar Den on Saturday.
In the morning they defeated Apollo in five sets, 25-23, 25-18, 24-26, 19-25, 15-11. In the afternoon, they defeated the Muhlenberg County Lady Mustangs in straight sets, 25-15, 25-10, 25-21.
Senior Chloe Cox led the Lady Cougars with 16 kills against Apollo, and she added 10 digs. Senior Ella Robinson had 15 kills and 18 digs, while senior libero Bailey Richardson led the team with 22 digs. Senior setter Brieanna Boll led the team with 29 assists. Sophomore Lillie Payne led with four blocks.
The Lady Cougars trailed by as many as four points in the opening set at 14-18, but trailing 19-20 Cox had a pair of kills and Payne had a block at the net to lead 22-20.
The E-Gals tied the set at 22-22 before Cox put away a kill to give the serve back to the Lady Cougars. Payne had another block to give the Lady Cougars a set point at 24-22, but the E-Gals earned a side-out at 24-23, Payne then ended the set with a kill on Apollo’s next serve.
The Lady Cougars trailed just once in the second set, at 0-1. They led by two points, 11-9, when three straight points pushed the lead to five points. Boll first served an ace, then, following a long and exciting volley, senior Kelsey Skaggs hit a winner to make it 13-9. An Apollo hitting error followed and the Lady Cougars led by five.
They still led by five, 22-17 when Boll took the serve. Cox scored a kill on an overpass before Boll served an ace, giving the Lady Cougars a set point at 24-17.
The E-gals staved off the loss with a side-out, but on the next serve, an Apollo error gave the win the the Lady Cougars for a 2-0 lead.
The Lady Cougars were in charge in the third set until Apollo senior Brylee Rhodes took the serve with Grayson ahead by seven points, 20-13. Rhodes reeled off seven straight, including four aces, to tie the score at 20-20 before a Boll kill gave the ball back to the Lady Cougars.
The Lady Cougars had the serve at match point, 24-23 before senior Talasie Satterfield recorded a kill. Satterfiekld then served two straight aces to take the third set, 24-26.
The Lady Cougars trailed by seven points early on in the fourth set, 1-8, but fought back to within two of the lead at 16-18.
Apollo’s Camryn Kerwick served an ace to take it to a set point at 18-24, but then served one long, giving the ball back to Grayson County. But on Richardson’s first serve, Apollo’s Madalyn Boswell had a kill to even the match at two sets apiece.
That took it to a 15-point, fifth set, in which the Lady Cougars trailed in the early going. Richardson took the serve trailing 3-4 and served an ace to tie it, then Cox had a kill to put the Lady Cougars on top for the first time, 5-4.
Grayson County led by two, 11-9 when there was something of a controversy. It appeared as though Robinson had tried for a kill and hit the ball long, which would have made it a one-point lead at 11-10. But the referee called an Apollo touch on the ball, giving the point to Grayson County.
Apollo objected to the call, and the referee called over the line judge on that side and asked her what she saw. The line judge confirmed the touch call and the point went to the Lady Cougars.
Grayson County had a match point at 14-11, but Apollo’s Courtney Hagan won a duel at the net to stave off elimination. But then Cox put away a kill to give the Lady Cougars the hard-fought win.
Against Muhlenberg, Robinson led the team with 17 kills and she added six digs. Cox added 11 kills and four digs. Boll had 37 assists and seven digs, while Richardson led the team with 13 digs.
By Don Brown, Local Sports
Reach Don at donbrown@k105.com
