The McCracken County Lady Mustangs played their final game in Strawberry Hills Pharmacy Arena for the 2024 season on Tuesday night. And, for two Lady Mustangs, Tuesday’s match would be the last they ever play on their home floor.
Seniors Addison Hart and Elizabeth Gilbert were honored as the teams senior duo and the Lady Mustangs added to the celebration by sweeping Community Christian Academy 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-17).
“It’s really bittersweet,” Gilbert said on playing her last game at home as a Lady Mustang. “But, we are just really excited for what’s next with district and regional play. And obviously we are very hopeful to go to state.”
The win over CCA marks the third to last for the regular season for the Lady Mustangs. They will take an extended break and finish the regular season on Saturday, October 12 at North Oldham.
Despite those games still needing to be played, the Lady Mustangs are focused on those postseason tournaments, starting with district.
“It was awesome to get a good team win tonight,” Hart said. “I’m just super excited to go into districts strong and try to go with regionals once again.”
The Lady Mustangs made quick work of their Second District opponent in CCA, but the Lady Warriors make things easy. As the No. 10 team in the state, McCracken County has faced their fair share of competition across the state and beyond, but CCA was their first First Region opponent to post double-digits against them in all three sets.
A back-and-forth early start made for a promising night, but a service ace from Hart would make it 6-4 as the Lady Mustangs started to pull away. A pair of aces from Gilbert down the stretch would make it 17-7 and they would quickly run away to a 25-11 win set win.
CCA would claim the first point of the second set but a quick kill from Reagan Hill would take it away. An ace from Taylor Dugan moments later made it 4-2 and the Lady Mustangs would start to walk away yet again. An ace from CCA’s Hadley Carroll would make it a 10-7 score and the set would stay within just a few points for much of the middle portion. McCracken went on a 6-0 streak to go up 18-11 and after another two aces from Gilbert, Hart would put away the set 25-15 with a kill to end it.
The third set would start much like the second, with a back-and-forth battle. CCA freshman Riley Arnett had a pair of service aces to give the Lady Warriors a slight 6-4 advantage. McCracken would retake the lead 7-6, but wouldn’t start to walk away with the night until the 19-13 mark. From there, steady points, with a few CCA points sprinkled in, would lead to the final 25-17 score.
With McCracken taking a short break, CCA will get back to action on Thursday night to take on a different Second District opponent in Paducah Tilghman where the Lady Warriors will honor their own seniors.