Marshall County opened play in the First Region volleyball tournament on Tuesday with a 3-1 (25-11, 25-15, 20-25, 25-18) win over Graves County. They advance to Wednesday’s semi-final against McCracken County, a 3-0 (25-9, 25-9, 25-6) winner over Hickman County in the first game on Tuesday at McCracken County High School.
The Lady Mustangs have won the last seven First Region titles and until their district title game last week against Paducah Tilghman, had never lost a single set to a regional opponent. The Lady Tornados won the second set to tie the match 1-1 before falling 3-1.
Wednesday’s first semi-final will be between Paducah Tilghman and Calloway County. Tilghman won 3-2 in a stunner over Ballard Memorial to advance and Calloway County defeated Carlisle County 3-0.
In set one against the Lady Eagles, Marshall County’s early 8-2 lead was fueled by kills from Halle Langhi, Tori McCracken and Alyssa McClain. The lead stretched to 10 points at 20-10 and they finished out with a 5-1 run getting the final point on a kill by Langhi for a 25-11 first set win.
Graves County took their first lead of the match at 2-1 in set two and the set was tied at 4-4 before an 11-1 run by Marshall County stretched the lead to 10 points. The Lady Eagles hung in and closed the gap to 19-12 on a kill by Emily Oliver but it was answered with a kill by Langhi and set two went to the Lady Marshals 25-15.
A 4-3 Marshall County lead vanished into a 6-4 Graves County lead in set three, the Lady Eagles gaining momentum on an ace by Anna Fowler. A kill by Langhi, block from Ashley Bremmerkamp and ace by McClain tied the game at 9-9 but the lead swung back the way of the Lady Eagles who took the lead at 13-12 and held it the rest of the way to take set three 25-20.
A 5-4 Lady Marshals lead in set four grew to 9-4 on a kill by Clara Bradley while Langhi picked up the four straight points at the service line. Two straight kills by Langhi put them up 18-11 before a 4-0 run by the Lady Eagles cut the lead down to three points at 18-15 but they finished out the fourth set 25-18 for the 3-1 win.
“Our girls came out strong and played with a lot of heart tonight”, Head Coach Laura Kinder said. “We got comfortable in the third set and you just can’t do that against a team like Graves. But, they regrouped and made adjustments and were able to come back strong and win it in the fourth set. We know we have a big challenge against McCracken, but we are prepared.”
Langhi led in kills with 21, Bradley 18, McCracken five and McClain four. Laney Evans had 11 digs, Bradley and Bremmerkamp with 10 digs each, Langhi with eight, McClain seven and McCracken with five. Peyton Gresham recorded 43 assists. As a team, they had 18 aces in the win, led by Langhi with six, Bremmerkamp five, McClain three and two each by Bradley and McCracken.
Ashley Bremmerkamp digs up a hit from the Lady Eagles in the third set of their First Region quarter-final at McCracken County High School.
