In a season where they have laid waste to most of the county’s volleyball records, the Harlan County Lady Bears find themselves in position to make another fall Monday.
Harlan County (26-6) became the ninth volleyball team in the county to win a game in the 13th Region Tournament with a 25-20, 25-15, 25-22 victory Saturday afternoon over Jackson County at Harlan High School. The previous eight all lost in the semifinals, beginning with Evarts in 2003, then Cumberland in 2007, then HCHS in 2012, 2013 and 2014, then Harlan in 2015 and 2016 and finally HCHS again last fall.
The Lady Bears will face a stiff test Monday at 6 p.m. against Corbin, the 13th Region’s top-ranked team. The Lady Hounds rolled past Barbourville in three sets in the first match Saturday.
Harlan County took a 5-2 lead in the first set and maintained a three- or four-point advantage until scoring the final three points with Savannah Hill serving. Sophie Day had a block in the run with Hill closing the set with an ace.
Ashton Evans and Kylee Hoiska dominated the early part of the second set before Kalista Dunn sparked a 5-0 with three kills to push the lead to 15-7. Hoiska, Madilynn Nolan and Dunn each had points in a 4-0 run to close the set.
Jackson County went on a 10-2 run in the third set and led 16-13 when HCHS called a timeout. The Lady Bears responded with six straight points with Hill serving and Hoiska taking over at the net. Evans and Dunn each had kills as Harlan County closed out the set and match.