Down 10-1 in the opening set.
Down one set to none.
Down two sets to one.
The Harlan County Lady Bears had plenty of chances to allow their season to slip away Tuesday in a 52nd District Tournament finals showdown against Bell County in the sixth straight meeting between the two arch rivals with a district championship on the line.
With several seniors leading the way who have been in the same pressure situation many times before, the Lady Bears were not going to watch it get away on this night at Harlan High School.
The Lady Bears battled back to within 24-22 in the first set before losing, then bounced back in the second to win 25-21. Bell recaptured the momentum to win 25-16 in the third set, but again the Lady Bears rallied to win 25-20 to force a fifth and deciding set. HCHS scored the first seven points before holding off a Bell comeback to win 15-10.
“It’s such a special group,” Harlan County assistant coach Gregory York said. “We’ve got to work with and coach this group since they were eighth graders and freshmen. It’s going to be sad seeing them leave and it’s been a special ride. We want to see what we can do at the regional.”
Bell County senior Kairi Lamb, a 6-3 senior, dominated at the net while Reece Jasick served as the Lady Cats scored 10 of the first 11 points. Bell led 22-10 before the Lady Bears started to battle back with Karli Shoupe serving and Kylee Hoiska at the net. HCHS cut the deficit to 24-22 on an Ashlynn Williamson ace before Bell scored the final point.
“We tried to be as positive and give them as much encouragement as we could,” York said. “We started our comeback and when the first set got close it kind of helped give us momentum for the later sets.”
Bell grabbed a 5-1 lead in the second set but HC rallied again with Madi Nolan and Kalista Dunn pulling the Lady Bears even at 12-12. Bell led 21-19 before Harlan County closed with six straight points with Savannah Hill serving and Nolan pounding home the final two points.
The Lady Cats bounced back as Alexis Brown reeled off eight straight points serving to build a 15-3 lead for Bell. Lamb took over down the stretch for the 25-16 win.
A change in strategy going into the fourth set helped free up both Hoiska and Dunn to start scoring more at the net, forcing a fifth set with five straight points to break a 20-20 tie.
“Early in the year we made the decision to match Kylee and Lamb up and let them battle,” York said. “It worked the first game (an HC win at home), but it didn’t work as well at Bell and it started the same way tonight. We made a change going into the fourth and put Kalista on her and let Kylee kind of tee off on them. It worked out. I think both of them got more comfortable and it showed in the fourth and fifth sets.”
With Hoiska serving and Dunn adding two kills at the net, HCHS grabbed a 7-0 lead in the final set. Bell slowly battled back behind Lamb to get as close as two at 12-10. An Abbie Blackburn kill and Shoupe ace closed out the set and match.
“I thought we came into the game focused with a good plan and we started well. We were able to execute what we wanted to do at times. I feel like we had some really great moments throughout the game that really displayed my girls’ abilities with lots of high moments,” Bell County coach Shan Fultz said. “Unfortunately, the low moments outweighed the high moments this time and we didn’t get the win. All credit to Harlan County. Their experience shined through the adversity and they got a well deserved win. “
Both teams advance to the 13th Region Tournament opening Saturday at Clay County High School.