Five teams making monumental region appearances

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Editor's Notes: Do you want to get in front of Prep Dig Scouts? This is one big way to do it. The annual Kentucky Exposure Tour in Wilder is Nov. 28. Click on this link to register:</em> <a href="https://events.prepdig.com/e/2489/register/prep-dig-exposure-tour-kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://events.prepdig.com/e/2489/register/prep-dig-exposure-tour-kentucky</a>. <em>For 25 percent off, type</em> ET26Mike25OFF <em>at checkout.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are a number of teams that make the region tournament on a regular basis, so it's not a huge deal for them.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>However, some smaller schools often struggle to make it to district championship games against the bigger schools in the district. That is especially the case for some of the state's smaller of 51 independent school districts. Counties are responsible for schooling children. However, if families live in towns like Somerset, they have the option of attending that city school system that operates separate from the county system. These five schools making the region tournaments is a huge breakthrough for them. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Paris (15-10)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Hounds not only recorded their first winning season in their fifth season as a program, but also made the 10th Region Tournament with a huge 3-2 (18-25, 25-14, 25-15, 21-25, 15-13) win over Montgomery County in the district semifinals. They also took George Rogers Clark to five sets in a 3-2 defeat in the district championship game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Paris has size in the front row with two sophomores in 6-4 [player_tooltip player_id='946052' first='Emmalyn' last='Ogden'] and 6-2 Gabrielle Gardner. Sisters [player_tooltip player_id='850571' first='Mia' last='Mason'] and [player_tooltip player_id='603211' first='Molly' last='Mason'] split the sets and take a number of swings. Gardner and [player_tooltip player_id='960873' first='Rose' last='Hayden'] leads the Hounds in kills. Ogden and Anaiya Hayden give the Hounds balance. [player_tooltip player_id='960865' first='Angie' last='Roque-Romero'] and [player_tooltip player_id='960871' first='Emma' last='Morris'] give Paris a nice defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Paris takes on Bracken County at 5:30 p.m. EST Monday at Bishop Brossart in the 10th Region Quarterfinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Paducah Tilghman (16-4)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Blue Tornado are back in the region tournament for the first time since 2021 and for the first time since Gwen Duncan took over the program. Tilghman made the in-season Class 2A state tournament and went 1-1 in it. Tilghman has won 10 more games than last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1056291' first='Hailyn' last='Hughes'] and [player_tooltip player_id='835574' first='Ma'Kel' last='Ridgeway'] lead things offensively for Tilghman with Maria Amador Elvira setting them up. Lily Coomer leads the team in digs and aces with Amelia Birdsong, [player_tooltip player_id='791636' first='Aniyah' last='Newell'] and Maria Amador Elvira helping Tilghman form a nice defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tilghman hosts Hickman County at 5:30 p.m. CST Monday in the 1st Region Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lyon County (9-23)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lyons made it to the 2nd Region Tournament in their first season as a program led by dynamic sophomore outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id='1023797' first='Lily' last='Coffman']. Courtney Collins and Brooklyn Tackett split the sets for Lyon County. Coffman and Ansley Herran lead Lyon County in aces with Courtney Collins and freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1056309' first='Maddie' last='Perry'] helping the Lyons form a nice defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lyon County plays Caldwell County at 6 p.m. CST on Monday at Trigg County in the 2nd Region quarterfinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Clay County (15-16)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Tigers have seen their fortunes change in the last two seasons. Not only did Clay County win two more games this season, the Tigers also made the 13th Region Tournament for the first time since 2015 before losing in the quarterfinals to Bell County on Saturday at South Laurel.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The two seniors in [player_tooltip player_id='816492' first='Madison' last='Pendland'] and [player_tooltip player_id='812108' first='Cambria' last='Forman'] lead the way. The team listed eight sophomores on the team led by Blakely Hooker, Abigail Garrard and Roberta Sizemore.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>McCreary Central (14-12)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Raiders had not been to the 12th Region Tournament since winning the old 47th District championship in 2011. However, they stunned Southwestern, 3-2 in the 48th District semifinals to make it back to the region tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='888256' first='Layla' last='Silcox'], [player_tooltip player_id='612011' first='Kahlei' last='Clark'], [player_tooltip player_id='811598' first='Bailey' last='Terry'] and Alice Richardson lead the Raiders offensively with Gabrielle Gaertner and Kyndal Wilson taking the majority of the sets. [player_tooltip player_id='830192' first='Bailey' last='Jones'] and [player_tooltip player_id='783569' first='Madison' last='Ryan'] lead McCreary Central on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McCreary Central faces Somerset at 8 p.m. EST at Boyle County in the 12th Region quarterfinals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players from Each Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["603211"],"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6adf78d60bad4"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Mason brings a lot of diversity to the Hounds. She works well with her sister Mia to run the offense, putting hitters in position to succeed. Mason takes advantage of the size in the Paris front row consistently putting balls in their power zones. Mason throws off opponents putting second touches over on setter dumps. She also delivers big swings for the Hounds. Mason has 271 assists, 123 kills, 23 aces, 274 digs and 27 total blocks on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1056291"],"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6adf7df9b0e65"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Hughes has an incredible wrist snap for the Blue Tornado which leads to a tremendous downward trajectory on her hits. Hughes uses her size and athleticism to control the net. Hughes quickly goes up for blocks then gets into her attack position to pound ones to different zones all over the court. Hughes attacks seams with precision and rainbows roll shots to deep corners. Hughes is also a sound blocker for Tilghman. Hughes has 237 kills, 25 aces and 91 total blocks on the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1023797"],"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6adf82977c575"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Coffman (pictured) helped Lyon County to the 2nd Region Tournament with an astounding 49 kills against Livingston Central in the 5th District semifinals. Coffman takes strong swings on pipe plays and makes nice adjustments after teams block her. Coffman sends sizzlers to the back row with a strong wrist snap and curls balls to the side lines from the back row. Her progress is something to watch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["812108"],"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6adf8b705dd37"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Forman gives the Tigers nice height in the middle. She takes nice off shots to the middle on go routes and sends sizzling line drive serves to the back row for quick points. Forman also does a good job tooling blocks and hustles hard after balls trying to keep plays alive and win big points for Clay County.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["888256"],"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6adf9562e8650"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Silcox tools blocks and sends powerful off shots to the back row. Silcox makes a lot of things happen out of system for the Raiders. Silcox has nice cut shots and crosses and also produces quality line shots. Silcox is also valuable to McCreary Central on defense and is an aggressive server. Silcox has 216 kills, 246 digs and 57 aces on the season for McCreary Central.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Note from Writer</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mike Graham has been writing for Prep Dig for two and a half years and has enjoyed getting to know the volleyball scenes in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. If you liked the story, please copy and paste to X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. You may also follow us at @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigkentucky/#">prepdigkentucky</a>, @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigtennessee/#">prepdigtennessee</a> or @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prepdigoh/#">prepdigoh</a> on Instagram in addition to @PrepDigKy, @PrepDigTN or @PrepDigOH on X. If you feel someone in Kentucky, Tennessee or Ohio needs coverage or even have feedback on the Kentucky or Tennessee rankings, please email Mike at michaelgraham@prepdig.com. You may also follow him on X @GMCgrah or Instagram @g.michaelgraham. Subscriptions give you access to exclusive content. For a 30% discount on yearly subscriptions, enter code graham30 at checkout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->