LADY COLONELS ON A ROLL

 The Whitley County Lady Colonels volleyball team achieved something no other team in school history had done before Monday night. Coach David Halcomb’s team defeated South Laurel, defending 13^th region champions, 20-25, 25-17, 25-17 in London.

“This is the first time I can ever recall a Whitley County varsity team beating South Laurel,” Halcomb said.

In the first set of the night it looked as if Whitley County wasn’t ready to tackle the Lady Cardinals as they came out flat, allowing South Laurel a 4-0 lead. The Lady Colonels rallied behind freshman server Briana Maynes. She scored five straight points to pull Whitley County within 10-9, forcing coach Fawn Greer, to call a timeout. However, South Laurel pushed the lead back out to five (15-10) and never trailed.

“They keyed on some areas of our defense that hurt us a lot,” Halcomb said. “We had to make some adjustments the second game and did some things a little different in our defensive alignment. Their middle did a good job tipping to our open spot and we did a good job sealing that in the next two games.”

South Laurel (14-18) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set, but the Lady Colonels woke up and stormed back to take a 7-3 lead as senior Alyssa Monhollen had a couple of kills in the series.

It was South Laurel who rallied from behind and tied the game at 10-10 before Maynes went back to the line and served three straight points and pushed Whitley County ahead, 14-10 before South Laurel scored on a rally point.  Senior Ashley Lindsay served five unanswered points and the lead was eight (20-12). Whitley County went on to win, 25-17.

The Lady Colonels (16-10) came out of the gate on fire in the third and final set, scoring the first three points on Summer Gray’s serves. Whitley County never gave up the lead and the Lady Cardinals never got any closer than three points (20-17) late in the game.

South Laurel trailed 20-14 when the Lady Cardinals cut the lead to three, forcing Halcomb to call a timeout. The South Laurel server hit into the net, giving Whitley County a 21-17 lead and the service to Maynes. She scored the final five points including an ace as the Lady Colonels celebrated the win, their sixth in a row dating back to a Sept. 13 win against Jellico.

During the streak, the Lady Colonels have beaten North Laurel, Lynn Camp, Knox Central, Corbin and South Laurel. The win over the Lady Redhounds allowed Whitley County to sweep the series for the first time in five years. Whitley County won that thriller, 25-16, 23-25, 25-23.

“These kids have battled and battled all year long and never quit,” Halcomb said. “They didn’t tonight either.”

“This win allows us to see how far our program has come over the years,” Halcomb said. “The program started with Rachelle Rice then Derek Lowrie then me. It has come a long way. I am really proud of our kids, this is a huge win.”

“South Laurel has been the epitome of the 13^th region and it is a team that we have talked about over the course of the last few years, especially over the summer and first part of this year. To reach your goal that we have set forth to do, it is a big win,” added Halcomb.

Halcomb praised his team’s defense. “When they broke our service they didn’t string too many points together, so that meant our passing was better the second and third game.”

The Lady Colonels had another big game set for Tuesday night against the Harlan County Black Bears. “They are the only team in the region to beat us this year and we want that one back,” Halcomb added.

They will close out the regular season Thursday night on the road at Bell County before meeting the winner of the Lynn Camp-Knox Central game in next week’s district tournament at Lynn Camp.