DRAFFENVILLE – It’s been a great rivalry from across the street for many years, and Thursday’s Marshall County versus Christian Fellowship district volleyball game, once again did not disappoint.
A marathon of a 1st set saw 16 ties and too many to count lead changes before the Lady Eagles pulled out the 32-30 win. Marshall’s Hannah Langhi and CFS’s Abigail Cima exchanged hits down the stretch with both team not able to put the game away due to service errors at the end of the set. A kill by Langhi tied the game at 30-30 but CFS went on to get the two-point 1st set win.
The back and forth scoring continued into set two with 10 ties before the Lady Marshals took the lead at 16-15 and stretched it out to 19-15 before the Lady Eagles squared the set again at 19-19. Langhi and Lady Eagle Sarah Muller put down nice kills to tie 21-21. Still locked up at 24-24, the Lady Marshals took a one point lead then put the game away 26-24 on a kill by Ragan Harris.
The Lady Marshals jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the 3rd set but it wasn’t long before CFS would close the gap to 11-7 following a service ace by Cima. Through many sustained back and forth volleys between the two squads, the Lady Marshals held onto their 3rd set lead to take the win, 25-15, and lead the match 2-1.
After a 5-5 tie, the Lady Marshals took the lead in the 4th set, taking the 24-13 win on a serve by Alexis Hines and match winning point when CFS was called for four hits.
“It was a great win”, Head Coach Dan Langhi said. “We know when we play them we’re going to get their best effort. They’re one of the scrappiest teams we play all year.”
Langhi credited CFS with coming out ready and putting his team on their heals.
“We were’t passing very good”, Langhi said. “If we are going to get in a passing contest with them, we’re going to get beat 9 out of 10 times and that’s a credit to how well they pass the ball. If we want to get in a hitting contest with them we’re going to win 9 out of 10 times.”
Langhi was pleased with his team’s passing as the game went on and eliminating some of the first set hitting and service errors.
Langhi led in kills with 23 followed by Harris with 10. Paige Henson had 5 blocks and 23 assists. Kirsten Walker led in digs with 13, Clara Bradley had 11 and Alexis Hines 9.
The loss was the first for Christian Fellowship who are 4-1 with wins over Hickman County 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18), Paducah Tilghman 3-2 (19-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-18, 15-11) and Community Christian 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 26-24, 25-23).
The Lady Marshals beat Calloway County Tuesday 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 21-25, 25-16). Langhi had 4 aces, Henson 25 assists, digs from Hines with 8, Walker 7 and Langhi 6. Langhi also had 18 kills and Harris had 12.
The Lady Marshals record is 3-1 and they play this weekend in the Kentucky Bluegrass Invitational.