Lady Colonels win weekend First Priority Classic

Despite the abrupt departure from the team of 2013 13^th Region Player of the Year Briana Maynes Saturday morning, the Whitley County Lady Colonels pulled together and won this year’s First Priority Lady Colonels Volleyball Classic in thrilling fashion.

The Colonels defeated Lincoln County and Clay County in pool play to earn the number four seed in the “gold” bracket, where they squared off with six seed North Laurel. The first set went to Whitley 25-20, thanks in largepart to senior Taylor Dingess, who came up big with some crucial kills late in the set. The host team won the second set more convincingly, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and eventually extending the lead to 20-8 before going on to win by a final score of 25-13.

That victory put them in the semifinals, where they would face the Corbin Lady Redhounds, who recorded wins over Knox Central, Somerset and Middlesboro to earn a first round bye, and to say that these two teams havedeveloped a heated rivalry this season would be quite the understatement.

Back in August, Whitley topped the Hounds 2-1 in the Champions of the Mountains Classic at UPike. Corbin was able to get even a couple of weeks later, however, defeating the Colonels 3-0 at home in a game where each set was about as close as it gets.

As you might expect, the matchup between these two teams in the First Priority Classic was a nailbiter, with the Lady Hounds taking a commanding 6-1 lead to begin the first set. That prompted Whitley County Head Coach David Halcomb to take a time out in an attempt to regroup. Coming out of that time out, every attempt by the Lady Colonels to rally was stopped short by Corbin, and they went on to win 25-18.

In set two it was Whitley who jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. After extending that lead to 11-5, Corbin Head Coach Liberty Roberts took a time out of her own. The Lady Hounds settled down and played better, but the Colonels would not relinquish the lead, eventually evening things up at 1-1 with a 25-14 victory.

The game’s third and deciding set was really something special. The crowd was hot as these two teams were neck-and-neck leading up to a 10-10 tie. Two points scored by Whitley County gave them the 12-10 advantage, but Corbin came back to tie it up again at 12-12.

Whitley hit the ball out of play, but junior Taryn Hickey scored a point to keep their hopes alive. Another point by Hickey gave the Colonels the 14-13 lead, leading up to tournament MVP Lauren Elliott hitting the game-winning kill that sent the entire gym into a frenzy.

After the game, Roberts said that she felt like her team may have gotten a little over-confident after winning the first set. “They’re only human,” she said. “Sometimes when they get up like that they can forget the basics.”

Roberts gave credit to Whitley County, saying they are a great team, and she said that she feels like the ultra-competitive rivalry between the Hounds and the Colonels is really helping the sport of volleyball in the area.

As for what lies ahead, Roberts sees a “bright future” for Corbin volleyball. “I feel like this is one of those years where we could do some awesome things,” she said. “I think it all boils down to learning from our mistakes, and we just have to keep working in order to get to the level that I know we’re capable of.”

After the emotional win over Corbin, the championship game against South Floyd was almost an afterthought, but the Lady Colonels had to prepare themselves for what would end up being an even more challenging battle.

Set one was tied at 24-24 before Whitley smacked the ball out of play and the Raiders scored a point to take the 26-24 win. The Colonels came from behind in set two to tie things up at 19-19, thanks to three straight ace serves by senior Kelsey Osborne. Another ace serve a few plays later by fellow senior Chelsea Bozeman tied it up again, this time at 21-21. Later, after another tie at 26-26, the Colonel ladies scored twice in a row to pick up the 28-26 win and force a decisive third set.

Dingess led a charge for Whitley County that tied up the contest at 9-9, and later in the set South Floyd took a timeout after falling behind 16-12.After the time out the Colonels continued to play inspired, and with a 21-15 lead everyone could feel that the tournament championship was just a few serves away. Sure enough, the Whitley County Lady Colonels became the champions of the 2014 First Priority Classic with a 25-16 win.

“This is awesome,” said Bozeman, who was an All-Tournament selection, after the championship win. “Our team played so wonderfully, and I am so proud of each and every one of our girls, especially Lauren Elliott, who really stepped up and helped push us through today. I just can’t express how proud I am of this team.”

Dingess, who was also selected to the All-Tourney team, said, “I’m on cloud nine right now. I want to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us, and I also want to brag on Lauren Elliott, because she really stepped up big time today.”

As for Elliott, she said the feeling of winning MVP honors was “awesome,” as she was wasn’t expecting to play as large of a role in the tournament as she did. “I want to thank my coaches and teammates for helping me,” she added. “And I thank God for giving me the talent and ability to contribute to this team.”

Halcomb was nearly at a loss for words after the championship win, but said that it was a “surreal” feeling to win the tournament after being on what he called a “roller coaster ride” since earlier that morning. “Just to see the kids band together and get the job done is a great feeling,” he said. “”I’m so proud of this team. They all did their jobs, and they did it well.”

As for the exciting semifinal match with Corbin, Halcomb said that the Lady Redhounds are a “great team,” and he knows that it is always going to be competitive when they get together. “We just came out and played really well against them today,” he said. “Our girls answered the call.”

Chances are good that both camps immediately circled Monday, September 29 on the respective schedules after the tournament, as that is the date when Corbin will travel back down to Whitley County High School to face the LadyColonels for the fourth time this season. The Lady Hounds will hope to even up the score at two victories apiece on that day, but fans can expect these two teams to see each other again in the postseason, with each squad making very strong, very convincing arguments for themselves that they are the top team to beat in the 13^th Region. 

 Charlotte Hampl sets it up…

 And Becca Swafford spikes it down!

 Most Valuable Player Lauren Elliott

 Junior Taryn Hickey impressed in the weekend Classic.

 Senior Colonel Kelsey Osborne

 Left to right: All-Tourney selection Chelsea Bozeman, MVP Lauren Elliott and All-Tourney selection Taylor Dingess

Photos by TREVOR SHERMAN