CAMPTON — The Whitley County Lady Colonel volleyball team advantaged to their second straight Elite Eight after upending homestanding Wolfe County in four sets during first round action of Monday’s KHSAA State Volleyball Tournament.
The win improved the Lady Colonels to 35-2 while extending their win streak to an impressive 18 games.
“Awesome match — wow these girls continue to amaze me,” Whitley County coach David Halcomb said. “Great atmosphere tonight and our fans showed up and packed the gym. Our girls fed off their energy. The first set was huge for us, we dug in and came back from a 14-7 deficit. Our girls didn’t get down and just kept battling — showed so much heart.
“Wolfe County has two of the best outside hitters we’ve seen this season and I thought they played really well,” he added. “We thought we could do some damage offensively with our middles and we started making that happen in third and fourth set. Our team defense was incredible. I think our blocking kind took them out of their game a little, which was huge for us. Our serving was solid down the stretch too. Every one of our kids stepped and made big plays. I’m so proud of them. Wolfe County has a lot of tradition over here in the mountains and they have a great program — work hard all year.”
Whitley County will play again on Friday at George Rogers Clark at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of Assumption and Oldham County.
The Lady Colonels held on to beat the Lady Wolves in the first set, 27-25, before seeing Wolfe County rally and tie things at one apiece with a 25-22 victory in the second set.
The Lady Colonels took a 2-1 advantage in the third set with a 25-17 victory and sealed the win with a 25-20 victory in the fourth set.
“For us to come in here and get back-to-back wins to advance to the Elite Eight again — it’s just huge for our program,” Halcomb said. “I’m just ecstatic for my girls. They’ve worked so hard — success like this doesn’t come easy. It’s earned and this team has definitely earned it. Go Colonels.”
