The first county middle school volleyball tournament will be remembered for the route that the Harlan County Combined team took to a championship on Saturday at Harlan County High School.
Harlan County Combined, which includes players from James A. Cawood, Wallins, Cawood and Green Hills, knocked off second seed Rosspoint 21-11, 24-22 in the semifinals, then defeated top-seeded Cumberland 21-12, 11-21, 15-9 in the chanpionship game.
“Going into this season as a first-year coach my goal was to teach these girls the skills of volleyball, and I just wished that they fall in love with the sport like I did. I didn’t expect my goal to change into guiding these girls in winning a championship,” said coach Chelsey Noe, who played at HCHS. “These girls have come a long way from the beginning of the season, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Noe said teamwork played a big role in the win over Rosspoint.
“The girls did wonderful by calling the ball and listening to each other. I felt that the teamwork was in that game, and it boosted their confidence,” she said. “Brylie Wilson made a huge impact with her serves in the first set with many aces. Overall, I believe the girls worked at the net very well, and the back row did a great job backing up the front row.”
Noe said adjustments helped the Lady Bears bounce back from a loss in the second set of the championship match,.
“Brooke Epperson and the Wilson twins worked great together around the net today, making sure the ball was getting over no matter what,” she said. “Lia-Kate made an impact with her serves today as well. We sort of lost our momentum in the second set, but we made adjustments which helped us claim the title in the final set. Campbell Thompson did awesome going for everything and hustling for the ball. Addy Cochran did great with digging for the ball as well.”