Southwestern sweeps Taylor County
Sep. 13—After a long weekend of volleyball for the Warriors, in which they went 3-1 at the Capital City Classic, Southwestern was once again in action on Monday night at the Wig Wam, where they welcomed in the Taylor County Cardinals. In a close game throughout, the Warriors would eventually defeat the Cardinals in straight sets 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-15).
Southwestern seemed lethargic throughout the first and part of the second sets, and head coach Mitzi Jones contributed that to how much volleyball they played over the weekend. However, she was still proud of her team for their effort.
"We played a lot of volleyball in the last few days, so I knew they would come out a bit lethargic today. They came in, first set was a little bit slow, second set started a little bit slow, but we finally got going. We told them tomorrow would be a bit tough as well because its a back-to-back," she explained.
Taylor County would start off the first set on an 8-3 spree, with the first kill of the game coming from sophomore Hidey Ingram and the first ace coming from senior Makenzie Barr. Southwestern would trail for most of the first set, including falling behind 22-19 late.
It seemed as if the Warriors would lose the set, before coming alive out of nowhere with a 6-1 run to clinch the first set 25-23. Southwestern got three kills late from sophomore Chloe Mabe, as well as a kill from senior Baylee Collingsworth. The final point of the set would come off of a Taylor County error.
The second set would be a complete flip from the first, as Southwestern rode their momentum to an 8-3 lead early. Early kills would come from junior Payton Acey, as well as seniors Kylee Tucker and Kaylee Young. The Cardinals would be the team making the comeback this time, tying up the game at 16-16 halfway through the set, following kills from sophomores Samantha Akridge, Harper Johnson, and Emily Melton.
Southwestern would once again take control late in the set, however, outscoring Taylor County 9-5 through the rest of the second set to take the set 25-21. Kills were scored by Kaylee Young, Collingsworth, and Tucker, and the set-winning block was scored by Tucker and Kaylee Young.
It was all Warriors in the third set early, as they went up 9-3 following a kill from Kaylee Young, as well as three aces from sophomore Halle Norvell and another ace from senior Kamryn Young. The Cardinals would fight back and tie the game up at 10-10 following a 7-1 run following this, with eighth grader Madelynn Yates contributing three kills.
The Warriors decided it was time to wake up after this, as they closed the set on a 15-5 run to take set three and thus the game 25-15. Norvell would contribute five kills and an ace, Mabe would have two kills, and Collingsworth would have an ace on this run. Tucker would then score the set and game-winning kill to seal it for Southwestern.
Next up for the Warriors is a big one, as they play cross-town foe Somerset for the first time in the regular season since 2011, and coach Jones knows her players are ready.
"They are just ready to play. Somerset is ready to play us and we are ready to play them, my kids are just ready to go," she explained.
Southwestern, now 12-5 on the season, will travel to the Briar Patch Tuesday night to take on Somerset, with the game scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m.
Jacob Pratt is the Sports Editor of the Commonwealth Journal and can be reached at jpratt@somerset-kentucky.com. You can follow him on Twitter @PrattTheNation
