NEW LOOK IN DISTRICT

The Corbin volleyball team is steadily making improvement. Coach Alecia Elwell has been without her lone senior and the all underclassmen lineup defeated Lynn Camp and Lincoln County, but lost to Harlan County.

Monday night they faced South Laurel for the first time in a district game that will count in the seeding process. The Lady Cardinals of Kaye Smith had dominated the 12^th region for years and now reside in the 13^th with three-time defending champion, Corbin.

South Laurel came into the game with 17 games already under their belts while Corbin had played three. “They had a big advantage already playing in two big tournaments,” said Elwell.

With a young team, Elwell knew it was going to be an uphill battle. “We had some really good moments were we played excellent,” said Elwell. “We still have a little bit of inexperience at that one position and we didn’t have the best passing game tonight. We are a better passing team than we showed tonight.”

“We had a lot of jitters tonight,” said Elwell. “We were very anxious about this match. We know we have South Laurel twice this year and they are in our district. I think we could have done a lot better than we did.”

In the first game of the match, South Laurel showed their strength in serving and hitting. After scoring the first point off a kill by Erika Burchett, South Laurel took a 3-0 lead before Corbin scored its first point of the game. It was a short-lived serve for freshman Vanessa Wiseman as South Laurel scored the point. Breanna Allen then served six straight points as the Lady Cardinals pushed the lead out to nine, 10-1.

The Lady Redhounds were down 17-7 when they went on a 6-1 run led by three Wiseman blocks. They were within 18-13 when South Laurel called a timeout to regroup. Corbin failed to score on the next serve by Morgan Brock. Gaines then took South Laurel to the finish with six unanswered points and a 25-13 victory.

The second game was a real battle as the Lady Redhounds took a 7-3 lead and forced South Laurel to come from behind. The Lady Cardinals pulled within 8-5 before Corbin scored a point off a South Laurel serve. Tori Osborne then added two points and the Lady ‘Hounds had their biggest lead of the game, 11-5.

Of course South Laurel mounted a come back and eventually tied the game at 14-14. The contest was tied three more times before a Jamie King serve was returned for a South Laurel point giving the Lady Cardinals a 19-18 lead. South Laurel took control and pushed the lead to five, 23-18 before Corbin scored on a Brock kill. South Laurel went on to take a 25-19 win.

“We missed way too many serves,” said Elwell.

“I believe that we are going to continue to get better this whole year,” Elwell predicted. “Every time we play I think we are getting a little bit better. We are starting to get chemistry on the team.”

“I think Kayla (Kuhl) is doing a good job in Melanie’s place and I understand we get Melanie back tomorrow,” said Elwell of her senior hitter. “I am excited to get her back because I think it will help the next time around.”

The Lady Redhounds were scheduled to play a district game at Knox Central Tuesday night before going to Rockcastle County Thursday. Rockcastle County has been moved to the 12^th region.

Corbin will play in the Marion County Invitational Saturday against the likes of Meade County, John Hardin, Garrard County, Southwestern, Washington County and Marion County.

“I’m looking forward to this tournament this weekend so we can play a whole bunch in a short amount of time and get more experience,” said Elwell. “It will get us some experience in places that we need.”

“They have had two tournaments and a lot more time to jell as a team,” said Elwell. “They are South Laurel, they are always going to be good. They will always be tough, they will serve tough and hit tough and I think they did tonight.”

“I thought Vanessa played well,” Elwell said. “She’s a freshman and has never played this game before and if she keeps getting better we will look like that. I am really excited and I was really excited about the JV match. We played much better in that game than we did last year.

Corbin took South Laurel to three games before falling 21-18 in the third set.

“If we can do that in every level of our play, I will really be satisfied,” said Elwell.