On Monday night, the First Region volleyball tournament got underway at Ballard Memorial, when the McCracken County Mustangs took on the Mayfield Lady Cardinals in an opening round matchup.
The first meeting between the two since last year’s regional tournament, the Lady Mustangs would advance to the next round in a dominant showing, sweeping the evening with 25-14, 25-12 and 25-9 finals to move on in the region.
“I think we played well tonight, there were some lapses in focus, but for the most part I thought we held it together pretty well,” McCracken County head coach Chancie Coleman said. “We’ve been working on some new plays and got to show some of that tonight, and I think we really found our rhythm tonight.”
The Lady Mustangs were led by solid performances from junior Emily Hatfield and senior Addison Hart, who recorded 12 and 11 kills, respectively. More key contributors for McCracken include Reagan Hill with eight kills and Elizabeth Gilbert with seven, while Taylor Dugan recorded four aces.
To open up the match, the Lady Cardinals and Lady Mustangs would split the opening four rallies, sitting tied at two. However, McCracken quickly found their next gear, pulling away from Mayfield as they built up a healthy lead, eventually forcing Mayfield to call a timeout with a score of 13-5. The momentum would stay on the side of the top-seeded Mustangs through the remainder of the first set, as they comfortably took the first set by a final score of 25-12.
Carrying over their momentum from the first set, the Lady Mustangs opened the second on the front foot, jumping out to a 7-1 advantage early. After the initial flurry from McCracken, the Lady Cardinals would surge, stringing together some point to cut the lead down, trailing only 8-6. Two points would be as slim as the margin would get, though, as McCracken regained their hold on the set, rebuilding their lead as quickly as it shrunk, drawing a timeout from Mayfield with a score of 18-9. A rally would not be on the cards for Mayfield, as McCracken again go on to take the set by double digits, 25-14.
Looking to close things out, the Lady Mustangs opened the third set with a purpose, opening up an early 7-1 lead once again. However, unlike the second set, Mayfield were unable to bounce back, as McCracken continued to dominate the set, pulling away to a 17-2 lead. While the Lady Cardinals would put up some points late, the Lady Mustangs would close out the set, and the match, by a final score of 25-9
With the win, the Lady Mustangs advance to the regional semifinals, where they will take on the Murray Lady Tigers, who took down Carlisle County later on in the night.
“We just need to make sure we’re focused, stay focused and do what we came here to do,” Coleman concluded. “We’re taking things one game at a time, going day-by-day and seeing how far we can go this year.”