Harlan County rolled into the 13th Region Tournament final four for the third straight year by coasting to a 25-9, 25-12, 25-14 win Saturday over Jackson County in the opening match at Clay County High School.
“At this point in the regional tournament, every team here has earned their spot, so we always have to be on our ‘A’ game. We came out and faced a good Jackson County team today, and I’m proud of how we stuck to our plan and capitalized on the opportunity to get the game over in three sets,” Harlan County assistant coach Gregory York said. “It was also incredible to honor our senior, Kylee Hoiska, who notched her 1,000th career dig in this match. We’re excited to be back in the final four of the region once again, and we look forward to playing Corbin on Monday.”
Harlan County became the 10th volleyball team in the county to win a game in the 13th Region Tournament. The previous nine 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 in 2023 and 2024.
Kylee Hoiska, Kalista Dunn and Madi Nolan had kills and Savannah Hill added an ace as HCHS took an 8-4 lead in the first set. Jackson County stayed within striking distance, down 15-9 before the Lady Bears reeled off 10 straight points with Hoiska contributing two aces to end the match after Dunn and Abbie Blackburn had two kills each.
Ashlynn Williamson closed the second set with an ace after two Nolan kills helped the Lady Bears pull away.
Jackson County took an early lead in the third set at 2-0 before Hoiska and Blackburn led a 6-2 run. Jackson was down by only four, at 17-13, when Nolan and Hoiska teamed on a block to start 7-0 a run that all but sealed the win.
No statistics were available at press time.
The 17-13 Lady Bears will play Corbin on Monday at 6 in the semifinals. Whitley County will take on North Laurel in the other semifinal.