For the third straight year, Marshall County and Christian Fellowship met in the 4th District Championship game. Marshall County won last year but it was the Lady Eagles who took the title this time Tuesday evening at Murray High in a 3-1 win.
A friendly inner-county rivalry, the two squads always rise to the occasion when they meet on the court.
“It was a good match and that’s always fun”, CFS Head Coach Suzie Burnett said. The win was Burnett’s 150th in her eighth season as the Lady Eagles head coach.
The Lady Eagles took the first set 25-22, setting the tone for a great, competitive 4th District title game. Tied 6-6 in the second set, the Lady Marshals scored the next six points behind the serves of Halle Langhi. They continued to lead in the set, going up by as many as eight points before CFS closed to within three points at 21-18. The Lady Marshals scored the next four points to win 25-18 and tie the match 1-1.
The Lady Eagles wasted no time jumping out to a 6-1 lead in the third set behind kills from Abigail Cima and Maggie Wagner and getting a service ace from Sarah Muller. Long rallies dominated the set with great net play by Marshall County’s Jessica Hicks and Bailey Parker with some key blocks and kills.
Cima was huge in the set for CFS with her hard-hitting kills that kept the Lady Eagles in the lead after the Lady Marshals tied it 14-14. CFS stretched their lead back out to five before Marshall County closed again to within two points at 22-20.
Tied up again at 23 all, CFS scored the final two points for the 25-23 third set win and 2-1 advantage in the match.
The fourth set was close throughout with several lead changes and ties with the advantage to the Lady Marshals at 17-15 before the set was knotted up again at 17 all. Tied up again at 20, CFS went on to out-score the Lady Marshals 5-1 to win the set 25-21 for the 3-1 win and district title.
Burnett said she was happy with her players, not getting down when they fell behind and kept on playing hard.
“It’s always a good match up”, Marshall Head Coach Dan Langhi said. “Both teams have improved and they’re scrappy and don’t give up. Inexperience hurts us at times but it was a good, exciting match to watch.”
Langhi said pressure games like this only benefit his young team saying, “This team from the start of the season to now, has improved more than any team I’ve ever coached. That’s a testament to them working hard, being coachable and competing.”
Cima had 24 kills in the win, 10 digs and a block for Christian Fellowship. Wagner had 11 kills, six blocks and 12 digs. Muller led in aces with four, had five kills, six blocks and one dig. Emma Alexander led in assists with 34, had seven digs and also served up an ace. Emma Fletcher led in digs with 18 and had eight kills. Lexie Hovekamp had eight digs, four assists, three kills and two blocks. Jaycie Jackson came up with eight digs.
For the Lady Marshals, Parker led in kills with nine with five each by Clara Bradley and Langhi. Emily Smith had 15 digs, Riley Haines 11 and Bradley 10 while Haines led in assists with 11 and 10 assists by Langhi.
Both teams advance to next week’s regional tournament at Graves County.
