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Whitley County volleyball wins second straight 13th Region title
Posted On 24 Oct 2023
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With their fifth victory over the Corbin Lady Hounds this season, the Whitley County Lady Colonels improved to 34-2 on the year and won their second straight 13th Region championship title.
Tuesday’s regional final was contested inside the gym at Lynn Camp High School, which was standing room only as Corbin and Whitley County fans filled the stands to see their teams go at it one more time in 2023.
Staying true to form, this latest encounter between the Colonels and the Hounds was ultra-competitive, but in the end the defending region champs were able to secure the 3-1 victory and earn a return trip to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s state championship tournament.
“We played our guts out,” said Whitley County senior Jaelyn Brackett after the game. “We are a hard-working team, and this is the reward.”
When asked to describe the feeling of being a repeat region champ, senior Kaytlynn Collier said, “It’s really indescribable. This is a feeling that we will never forget. The nerves had built up all day, but it’s good to see everyone out here excited and happy.”
“We’ve played them five times this season,” senior Kylee Brown said of Corbin, who ended their season Tuesday with an overall record of 19-9. “When you play someone so many times it can kind of make you nervous. You wonder if this might be the time that you don’t win, but you just have to put that thought out of your head.”
“Our mindset was to never give up,” added senior Marissa Douglas. “We just wanted to focus, hit the ball as hard as we could and stop them at the things that they do best.”
The Lady Colonels jumped out to an early lead in set one of Tuesday’s championship contest, but Corbin would fight back to tie things up at 11-11. The Lady Hounds eventually took the lead, but they allowed Whitley to rally late in the set, ultimately falling, 25-17.
Corbin continued to fight in set two, managing to get out ahead of the Colonels late and hold on for a 25-18 win that tied the game up at one set apiece.
Another close set followed, but this time it was Whitley County who was able to establish a lead and go on to win, 25-15.
It looked as if the Lady Hounds would force a fifth set, going up 7-2 in set four, but after the score was later tied at 17-17 the Lady Colonels took advantage of one final shift in momentum, going on to win, 25-22, and punching their collective tickets back to the KHSAA state tournament.
Whitley will face the champions of Region 14 in their first round game at state early next week. The 14th Region title game is scheduled to take place Wednesday evening, and will be between defending champions Wolfe County (24-11) and Breathitt County (21-13).
The Lady Colonels defeated Wolfe County in the first round of last year’s state volleyball tournament. Should they advance to the Elite Eight again this year, they will face the winner of Region 8 versus Region 7 in the tournament quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 3, at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester.
To read more about the events that led up to this year’s 13th Region volleyball championship game between Whitley County and Corbin, look inside the Oct. 25 print edition of the News Journal. Additional details on the state tournament will appear in the Nov. 1 edition.
2023 13th Region Volleyball All-Tournament Selections
From Corbin: Caroline Combs, Brook Mills, Ava Maguet and Darcie Anderson
From Whitley County: Marissa Douglas, Kaytlynn Collier, Jaelyn Brackett, Megan Gibbs, Emily Gaylor and Kylee Brown
Tournament MVP: Addison Siler, Whitley County
