Marshall County and Ballard Memorial split their regular season games, both battles going the full five sets. Tuesday in the Region 1 semi-finals, the Lady Bombers earned a 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-14) win over the Lady Marshals whose season comes to an end.
“We just fell apart…I don’t know what got to us…they match up well with us”, Head Coach Alyssa Finnegan said of the three-set loss.
Ballard jumped out 6-0 early on six straight service points from Allison Enfinger. Long volleys followed for several points before an enthusiastic home crowd for the Lady Bombers. Two big kills by Isabella Myers gave Ballard a 13-8 lead and they held it to take set one 25-16.
The Lady Marshals turned the tables in set two. After trailing 1-0, they took the lead and held it until Ballard tied it up a 19 and took their first lead of the set at 20-19. They finished out the set two 25-21 win behind a kill from Bailey Lee and a perfectly placed ball by Myers.
Langhi opened set three with a kill and followed it up with a second to put the Lady Marshals up 3-2. A kill from Alyssa McClain held the lead at 4-3 before a 5-0 run by Ballard stretched their lead to 9-4. With momentum clearly in favor of the Lady Bombers, despite a few more lengthy volleys, they took the set three win 25-14 to sweep the match.
Langhi led in kills with nine, Sarah Bremmerkamp had five and four from McClain. Annie Beard had 18 assists. Ashley Bremmerkamp led in digs with 16, Maddie Irvan had 14, Sarah Bremmerkamp 13 and eight by Langhi. McClain and Langhi had two aces a piece.
Seniors Ashley Bremmerkamp, Laney Evans, Macy Inglish, Halle Langhi, Alyssa McClain, Neely Northcott and Hannah Smith played their final game for the Lady Marshals.
“They’re a great group”, an emotional Finnegan said of her seven seniors. “I didn’t get to coach them a whole lot…I wish I could have started when they were freshman because they had all the potential in the world to go as far as we possibly could and we just didn’t make it.”
Finishing with a record of 21-6, it’s the most wins recorded since the 2016 season. Ballard Memorial (32-5) will play McCracken County (27-11) in tonight’s Region 1 Championship.
