Huge Playmakers in 16th District Tournament Semifinals

<!-- 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>This is one of those districts where a top seed does not almost automatically make it to the region tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As second-year Russell County Lakers and former player Kailey Coffey said in the preseason, the first through fourth seeds are evenly matched and it more than proved to be the case Monday in the semifinals at Cumberland County. Both the lower seeds won the semifinal games and will meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. CST back at Cumberland County.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This marks the third straight season the top seed has been bounced from the semifinals. Metcalfe County (27-6 overall) earned that top seed going 7-1 in district seed play and hoped to bring home the first district championship in program history. However, the Lakers (15-19) came in excited with an experienced team and used their size to their advantage particularly with 5-11 [player_tooltip player_id='935768' first='Cadence' last='Rager'] and 5-10 Claire Holmes to knock off the Hornets, 3-1 (25-16, 15-25, 25-19, 25-14), Experienced setter [player_tooltip player_id='778285' first='Madelyn' last='Roy'] put balls on target. [player_tooltip player_id='930336' first='Kaelyn' last='Campbell'] displayed tremendous hustle with [player_tooltip player_id='935774' first='Piper' last='Garmon'] giving the Hornets trouble with her left-handed swings on the opposite side. [player_tooltip player_id='812171' first='Carigann' last='Carpenter'] and Olivia Robertson also took some nice rips for the Lakers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"They have great hitters. There's no question about it," Coffey said. "But I think controlling the net was a huge part of our win. So props to our girls up front. It was making our back row players' jobs easier. I think the difference in the game was the energy. I told them all season long we got to do three Es. We got to do energy, effort and execution. When we win those three things, the score's going to reflect it."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Metcalfe County settled in the second set and [player_tooltip player_id='932839' first='Lily' last='Horton'] gave the Hornets a nice lead with her big swings. [player_tooltip player_id='778592' first='Amelia' last='Slinker'] set things up nicely in the back row so [player_tooltip player_id='760764' first='Harper' last='Hurt'] and [player_tooltip player_id='882581' first='Ellie' last='Landrum'] could distribute balls to the likes of [player_tooltip player_id='535198' first='Mollie' last='Devore'], Abby Shirley, Camdyn Dubree and Alivia Acree. It did not help the Hornets missed a number of serves. Metcalfe County still set the school record for most wins in program history and won another All "A" 4th Region crown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second set saw third seeded Monroe County Falcons (13-11) outlast the second seeded Clinton County Bulldogs (17-12), 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 32-30). The Falcons pulled away in the first set then overcame some defensive and serve reception issues later in the game to make it to the district championship game with the hopes of repeating as district tournament champions. Libero [player_tooltip player_id='802096' first='Jaylee' last='Bartley'] made a number of sound saves with [player_tooltip player_id='843755' first='Mattie' last='Woods'] giving the Bulldogs problems with her lefthanded swings. [player_tooltip player_id='603826' first='Sarah' last='Thompson'] and Kyley Craighead then set up the hitters nicely. [player_tooltip player_id='838890' first='Tahlia' last='Sheffield'] and Cloey Hawkins also made some big plays offensively with Kimber Turner making contributions defensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"That's what I told the girls afterwards. I said, 'I'm so proud of you all.' They play with a lot of heart. They're pretty scrappy and Russell County told us that earlier. When they are on, they are really on and it's hard to get stuff past them," Monroe County head coach Krista Harlan said. "We went five sets with them every single game last year. It's always a four or five-set game with. We played with a lot of grit and a lot of heart. I told them I need you to give me three good sets and leave it all on the court and that's exactly what they did."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clinton County tried to take advantage of mismatches at the net particularly with [player_tooltip player_id='930491' first='Isabella' last='Oesterreicher']. However, they could not give her enough touches. Breeli Fitzgerald and Kinsley Rogers made some nice passes to [player_tooltip player_id='879613' first='Adalyn' last='Duvall'] and [player_tooltip player_id='930490' first='Amiya' last='Duvall'] with [player_tooltip player_id='930488' first='Alexis' last='Groce'] taking powerful swings. [player_tooltip player_id='930487' first='Abby' last='Davis'] also made some nice swings. The good news for the Bulldogs is they have no seniors so everyone returns next season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last time a top seed won the district championship came in 2023 when Russell County did it. The Lakers ran the table that year going 8-0 in district seed play when the current seniors were freshmen.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Players</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["935774"],"_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":1053804,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ad6f453391fb"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Garmon (pictured) uses unique angles to attack seams and give opponents fits with her high attack point. She puts across solid crosses and does a great job tooling blocks. Garmon mixes in tip shots trying to keep opponents guessing. Garmon worked well with teammates at the net to record some key blocks throughout the game. Garmon said the closeness of the team and tough schedule helped the Lakers prevail in the win or go home battle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["802096"],"_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":1053811,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ad6f6d924e4a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Bartley shows outstanding leadership on the court. Bartley steps into balls and makes sound first contacts. Bartley uses her range to track down a number of balls under control. Bartley is consistent on both defense and serve receive. Bartley said she tries to stay even with balls, watch where they are going and try to get to them as best as she can. She added the passes don't need to be perfect as long as they are up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["843755"],"_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":1053812,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ad6f6d924e82"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Woods gets on top of balls and sends hard balls down lines on nines taking advantage of her left-handed power. Woods also put across some nice crosses. She angles her body one direction then quickly adjusts at the last second to send balls to open areas of the court. Woods said her mindset is over and in when she takes swings.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["932839"],"_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":1053815,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ad6f9973d784"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Horton laid everything on the line trying to lift the Hornets into that elusive district championship game. Horton uses a nice vertical jump to mix in nice attacks. She tools blocks and nicely deposits ones to the side lines. Horton does not hesitate to use her off (left) hand to surprise opponents. Horton puts a lot of zip on her line swings. She got on top of balls better from the second set on. Horton places overpassed balls away from opponents and takes solid swings from the back row. Horton makes clean first touches and sends free balls over with a purpose.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["930488"],"_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":1053819,"_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"},"alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6ad6f9973d7b7"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Groce is a sound six-rotation player for the Bulldogs. Groce tools blocks and takes a number of solid swings on go routes. Groce does a great job hustling on defense forming walls around balls to make precise two to three-point passes and provides Clinton County with quality net backup.</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 -->