Elizabethtown and Bowling Green: Round 1 of State

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Monday, November 1st, Elizabethtown and Bowling Green faced off in the first round of state at Bowling Green High School, and wow, was it a good one! Talk about a five set thriller. What you might not know is that in Bowling Green's near-perfect record of 38-2, they had one loss to Elizabethtown earlier in the season where it was also a five set battle, 15-13. Isn't it just wonderful how the bracket always finds a way to make it interesting? However, the outcome was a little different here, where Bowling Green stepped up and beat Elizabethtown in five sets (25-16, 27-25, 15-25, 19-25, 15-10). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In Elizabethtown's final game of the season, I must say there were two players that impressed me the most. #7, senior, [player_tooltip player_id='127195' first='Sarah' last='Clark'], was one of the best athletes in the gym last night. Elizabethtown was down 14-18 in the fourth set and came back to win 25-19 with four straight blocks from [player_tooltip player_id='127195' first='Sarah' last='Clark']. Her numbers only prove it where she had 14 kills, 14 blocks, 11 assists, 28 digs, and 1 service ace. So.... would we consider this a quadruple-double here or what? Clark could simply do it all and do it well. In her senior campaign, she finished with 365 kills, 137 blocks, 549 assists, 300 digs, and 72 service aces. Congratulations to [player_tooltip player_id='127195' first='Sarah' last='Clark'] on an incredible senior year but also an even better finish to her career. Clark put everything she had in this game, and it definitely showed. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As for the future in Elizabethtown, you can leave that to freshman, [player_tooltip player_id='212253' first='Jessica' last='Smallwood'] who also killed it last night in the match. Smallwood helped the team in every angle with 9 kills, 8 blocks, 10 digs, and 3 service aces. As a middle blocker, it was interesting to see her excel in the back row, and then as a freshman, it was just impressive to watch her leadership on the court. Smallwood stands at a nice 6'4 and moves so well with being extremely young. In her freshman year alone, Jessica finished with 432 kills which averaged 3.93 kills a game, 253 blocks, 170 digs, and 48 service aces. Trust me, this kid is one to watch for the next few years. [player_tooltip player_id='212253' first='Jessica' last='Smallwood'] is going places! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For Bowling Green, their lineup was a bit of a change where senior libero, [player_tooltip player_id='68141' first='Mackenzie' last='Austin'], was on the bench with flu-like symptoms, so sophomore, [player_tooltip player_id='477191' first='Claire' last='Lawless'], started for the Purples in the different colored jersey. Lawless performed like she was a starter all season where she did her job in serve receive and pursued balls defensively. It's a scary thought coming in as a sophomore to the first round of state and taking on [player_tooltip player_id='68141' first='Mackenzie' last='Austin']'s job, but she flew around and totaled 20 digs that truly helped Bowling Green with their victory. Bowling Green is in good hands with Lawless next year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Then, per usual, besides Austin, you have your three stud seniors for Bowling Green that just know how to get the job done. [player_tooltip player_id='170940' first='Kaia' last='Barnett'], put on a SHOW for everyone in the gym. Not only did she rack up 24 assists from solely setting in the back row but added 13 kills, 11 digs, and a whopping 6 service aces, one being to end the five set match. I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm going to miss watching [player_tooltip player_id='170940' first='Kaia' last='Barnett'] play. Also, the outsides for Bowling Green performed at their best where [player_tooltip player_id='207242' first='Lily-Kate' last='Carver'] led the team with 17 kills and added 12 digs. Carver went on a spurt in the beginning of the fifth set where she had 4 kills out of the Lady Purples total 8 points which severely helped Bowling Green pull away. [player_tooltip player_id='207243' first='Elizabeth' last='Maglinger'] scored 10 kills, 12 digs, and 2 service aces. Her work is silent but so pivotal for the team's success. Plus, freshman middle star, [player_tooltip player_id='212192' first='Amirra' last='Bailey']'s hot 16 kills and 2 blocks. I need to know what Tim Sharp is feeding these kids before their matches. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bowling Green faces McCracken County November 3rd, 2022 at 12 PM in the Elite Eight. The Lady Purples played McCracken early this year and won in five sets, so this match will be a great one. If Bowling Green wins this match, it'll be their first time ever going to the state semi-finals. Making history then, you say? Then, they'll probably be as happy as senior, [player_tooltip player_id='207242' first='Lily-Kate' last='Carver'] hugging her father and coach, Keith Carver in our featured picture. Don't miss this epic showdown..... </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->