Halloween Smash at Lafayette Day 1 Impressions

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Attend the Top 250 Expo 12/1 in Wilder, KY! Use coupon code "GrahamExpo2024" at checkout for $10 off registration fee!</strong> Here's the&nbsp;link to the event page:&nbsp;<a href="https://events.prepdig.com/e/1299/register/kentucky-top-250-expo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://events.prepdig.com/e/1299/register/kentucky-top-250-expo</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first day of the Halloween Smash saw six evenly-matched teams take the court at Lafayette in Lexington for some hard-fought battles. All but one of those six games went the full three sets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The host Generals and Greenup County wound up winning both games to take the top seeds in pool play for the second day at Lafayette. Tates Creek did the same thing winning both pool play games on the home court. Lafayette plays again at 10 a.m. against either John Hardin or Conner. Greenup County takes on either Ashland or Calvary Christian at 11 a.m. with Tates Creek facing either Montgomery County or Highlands at the same time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lafayette (16-9) has a young and passionate first-year head coach in Taylor La Mantia and the team is catching onto that excitement. The Generals have one of the top sophomore hitters in the state in [player_tooltip player_id='484422' first='Audrey' last='Gossett'] and the pieces around her are coming together. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='253865' first='Emma' last='Sorensen'] and [player_tooltip player_id='477205' first='Emma' last='Pittman'] do a great job leading on the court and starting the attack with setter [player_tooltip player_id='397717' first='Elise' last='Trimble'] distributing the ball well to various hitters including [player_tooltip player_id='269865' first='Madelyn' last='Blakey'], Elena Butler and [player_tooltip player_id='741500' first='Lilly' last='Grant'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenup County (18-7) earned two wins rallying after losing the first sets against Conner and Montgomery County. The Musketeers are trying to be balanced and they have a number of playmakers. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='484428' first='Lucy' last='Roy'] was especially big down the stretch against the Indians.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All three northern Kentucky teams left 1-1 on the day. Highlands (22-8) has continued to improve in Jim DeLong's second season. The Bluebirds pulled out the win over Ashland. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='276170' first='Hayden' last='Gessner'] is not only a sound passer, she's also turned into a great leader trying to keep everyone up whether the play turned out in their favor or not. [player_tooltip player_id='486914' first='Sydney' last='Schomaker'] finished with 19 kills in the two games with [player_tooltip player_id='590644' first='Alexis' last='Steinhauser'] contributing 13 and [player_tooltip player_id='590640' first='Liz' last='Perkins'] 12. [player_tooltip player_id='486907' first='Lyla' last='Bottom'] had a big second game against Ashland on her way to 10 kills for the day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Conner (17-12) may be dealing with some injuries now, but the young players are figuring some things out. Kudos to sophomore Makena Marks for filling in at libero for an injured teammate.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ashland (23-5) is still having a great season despite dropping both games. The Kittens battled until the end in both games led by [player_tooltip player_id='159393' first='Grace' last='Clark'] and [player_tooltip player_id='477129' first='Sadie' last='Chaffins']. The same can be said for Montgomery County (18-11) led by [player_tooltip player_id='477089' first='Sara' last='Zink'] and [player_tooltip player_id='594516' first='Alexis' last='White'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Notable Performances</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["741500"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-670a4bf886598"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Grant is showing a lot of potential for the Generals, especially at the net. Lafayette head coach Taylor La Mantia is trying to get more consistency out of Grant and Grant showed she is ready to take those steps. Grant uses her size to read hitters' tendencies and set up blocks to take away those strengths. She forces opponents to hit over her making it easier on the Lafayette defensive specialists. She had some nice follow-throughs and motivates her teammates with her excitement after the Generals score points. Grant said she's trying to improve at hitting balls off any kind of set, especially ones out of system.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["484428"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-670a5362ad19c"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Roy (pictured) said she has been focused on improving her angles and blocking and it showed this day, especially in that third game against Montgomery County. Roy takes hard swings and puts nice touches to the front middle to find the floor. Roy does a great job using her size to force high spikes thus helping out the defensive specialists. Roy also has some nice line drive serves to throw off defenders.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["608333"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":702979,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-670a568e20d07"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Thomas showed she is starting to get down the rhythm of the varsity level. She does a good job teaming up with teammates to form solid combination blocks. Thomas had a soft touch to the front middle for a big kill in the second game against Ashland. Thomas credited her teammates and coaches for helping her with her skills. Thomas agreed she's trying to become a more consistent hitter. She had four kills and four blocks in the two games Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Sophie Fouch","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2027","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"5'3u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"32561","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Montgomery County","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-670a57eddd630"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Fouch is doing a good job running the 5-1 Indians offense. She dives after balls and has quick feet trying to put the most power into her sets. She puts her hitters in position to put balls down. Defensively, she dives hard after balls and provides sound net coverage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["159393"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-670a59453a7a2"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Clark can do a number of sets for the Kittens including the back sets keeping defenders guessing. She serves balls hard and finds ways to keep balls off after caroming down off the net. The University of Pikeville commit had 671 assists entering the weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->