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The Corbin Lady Redhounds will play for their fourth straight KHSAA State High School Volleyball appearance tonight when they face the South Laurel Lady Cardinals in the finals of the 13^th Region Tournament at North Laurel.

The Lady Redhounds turned back the Middlesboro Lady Jackets Tuesday night in two close games. Corbin won game one 27-25 and took the second game 25-20 to advance to the tournament finals.

Corbin moved into the semifinals Monday night with a 25-3, 25-20 win over the Jackson County Lady Generals at North Laurel High School.

“We came out ready to take care of business,” said Corbin Coach Alecia Elwell. “I got to play everybody and it was nice to see everyone actually contribute. Everybody did something right whether it was a hit, a pass or a serve. When you can do that it is a perfect match for a coach.”

On the other hand, Jackson County looked like a deer in the headlights. They could do no right. The Lady Generals had three serves in the game. Two hit the net and the other sailed out of bounds.

Torri Osborne got the Lady Redhounds off to a quick start. She went to the serve with Corbin ahead 2-1. The junior Libero scored 10 unanswered points, taking a 12-1 lead in the match. She had two aces along the way.

After a misfire by Jackson County’s Kelli Huff, Morgan Brock scored three points for a 16-2 score. The third Jackson County server hit the ball out of bounds and Corbin took advantage. Exchange student Petra Kover served eight points in a row to close out the 25-3 win. Kover had four aces in the series.

“We came out on our heels in the second one,” said Elwell. “We were expecting them to make all the mistakes, but made them all. We didn’t have the passes or the hits we had in the first game. We really kind of struggled through but took care of business in the end.”

Chelsea Nipper put Corbin ahead 2-0 only to see Jackson County relax and tie the game. The Lady Generals held their own in the second match. The game was tied seven times. Corbin pushed its lead to 13-10 but Jackson County fought back and tied the game at 16-16. It was tied at 18’s before Melanie Sutton gave the Lady Redhounds a 21-19 lead.

A miscue by the Lady Redhounds allowed Jackson County to pull within 21-20 but the serve went over the Corbin defenders and Brock finished the game with three straight points and the right to meet Middlesboro in the semifinals.

“We had so many mental lapses they started to stack up,” Elwell. “We had just enough to win.

“They would not give up and I give them a lot of credit for fighting back,” said Elwell. “This was their first appearance in the regional and it was a big thing for them. I remember our first appearance.”

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