Owensboro Catholic came out on top 3-1 in their electric match against Trinity. The Lady Raiders and Lady Aces both came ready to play hard in front of a loud and vocal crowd who fed into the already intense atmosphere.
The first set started with both teams playing with high intensity early on. Neither team let the other ahead by much as Trinity eventually had a 12-9 lead. The Lady Aces fought hard and brought the score within two points at 18-16, but the Lady Raiders pulled away to win the first set 25-17.
A key part of the offense for Trinity all season has been Hannah Nash. OCHS head coach Brian Hardison knew they would have to find a way to shut her down, so he adjusted their formation in an attempt to contain her, he said.
“We had a lineup in respect for Hannah,” he said. “We made a lineup to try and stop her. Did we? No, but I felt like we at least contained her.”
Despite THS making big digs on defense, OCHS held an 11-7 lead early in the second set. Trinity went on a run and tied the score back up at 12-12. After a 15-15 score line, the Lady Aces offense took the advantage with some non-returnable hits to take the second set 25-17 and tie the series at 1-1.
After Owensboro Catholic began to build up some momentum on offense, Hardison said his girls began to get more aggressive on their attacks and forced THS to make more errors.
“I felt like our hitting got more aggressive,” he said. “We started going around the block, and if they did get a block it would just be a tip. I just thought we started to pick them apart from that point.”
Both teams continued to battle it out as the third set started evenly with a tied score of 12-12. The lead never strayed too far from each team, but the Lady Aces offense began to gain ground on THS with a three point lead, but the Lady Raiders brought the score back to a tie at 20-20. OCHS broke the deadlock and won the set 25-21 to take the lead in the series 2-1.
Owensboro Catholic had superiority to start the fourth set, but the Lady Raiders weren’t far behind at 12-9. OCHS began to mount pressure on THS to go on a scoring run or risk losing the match as the Lady Aces held a 20-15 lead moving towards the end of the set. The Lady Raiders brought it to a three point match at 23-20, but a mistake on match point won OCHS their final set at 25-20.
Leading the scoring for the Lady Aces was Olivia Castlen with 20 kills, five blocks and three digs. Karsen Tipmore led the team on defense with 28 digs, one block and four aces. Kennedy Murphy set the offense up with an impressive 51 assists along with eight kills, six digs and two aces.
For the Lady Raiders, Nash led in scoring with 18 kills, one assist, 10 digs and one block. On defense, Caroline Hall led with 21 digs and six assists. Kenzie McDowell ran the offense with 33 assists as well as 12 digs, five kills and one block.
Trinity won the first set, but couldn’t finish out sets late into the series to fight their way back. Head coach Daniel Morris felt that was because the team began to let off the gas after they secured the first set.
“We’ve had that obstacle all year long,” he said. “We love to give everything out on the first set. We give it everything we have and then we kind of let off the gas a little bit. After that it’s just hard to cover against a team like Owensboro Catholic.”
This game ended the Lady Raiders’ season with a record of . Despite their early exit in regionals, Morris said this season was one of the most successful in the program’s history.
“This was one of the most successful seasons we’ve had,” he said. “With the top four finish in All “A” State and the 27-9 record, this game is nothing for us to be ashamed of.”
