Madison Doyle, story and photos:
The ECHS Lady Cat Volleyball Team fell to the Grayson County Lady Cougars in a 3-0 sweep last night at home. Grayson stayed ahead throughout the first set with the Lady Cats close behind, but Grayson went on to take the set 25-19.

The second set looked a little more promising for Edmonson County, as they started out with the lead. It didn't take long for the Grayson to catch up, and while the rest of the set was extremely close, Grayson went on to take the second set 25-21.

The Lady Cats were forced to change their rotation during the third set due to an injury from Senior starter Alyssa Doyle and already depleted bench. This was too much for Edmonson as they trailed the whole set, which Grayson went on to take 25-11, resulting in a loss for Edmonson County.

"This wasn't the outcome we wanted last night," said Head Coach Caitlin Caudill. "But with only being 6 games into the season, we still have time for improvement and growth. Over the next few days, we will work hard at practice and be ready to take the floor Saturday morning."

Edmonson is now 3-3 on the season and is scheduled to take on Franklin Simpson at home this Saturday at 9AM.

Edmonson Voice Report:
Last weekend in Winchester, Kentucky, Julie Norris was named MVP of a USSSA tournament that was hosted as a flood relief benefit. The tournament raised $2000 to be donated directly to the groups effected by buying items for the victims.

Julie pitched three out of the five games that her team played, and they were undefeated all weekend. This is only the second tournament for her team as a 16u team, and they were facing opponents who were predominantly 18u players.

This is now the 7th ring tournament that her team has won in the last 3 years and Julie has been declared the MVP of the tournament 3 times. Julie was also awarded Pitcher of the Year by ECHS and was a member of the "All Season Team" at High School District this year.

Julie is the daughter of Brent and Pauline Norris.

Edmonson Voice Report:
The ECHS Golf Team has started the 2022 season where the boys played in the Warren East Invitational, finishing in 5th place. The boys team is led this year by seniors Andrew Talley and Cam Lich with several returning players, along with some new ones.

The Wildcats recently played in the All A Regional with the lineup of Talley, Meredith, Madison, and Decker. Coach Granville Meredith said the Wildcats will look to improve on their scores and be ready for the regional tournament on September 19, 2022.

Meredith says he is excited about this year's team. "We will have our ups and downs but at the end of the year our goal is to be better and smarter about our game.”

The Lady Cat team have also played a few matches including one tournament, where Coach Kayla Meredith said she sees "lots of improvement." The Lady Cats also recently competed in the All A Region with the lineup of Makyala Hogg, Beth Elmore, Abigail Hogg, Olivia Stice, and Hannah Cassady. Coach Meredith said the girls all performed under pressured conditions and came out on top.

"These girls are well deserving of their accomplishments and I couldn’t be more proud of the entire team," he said. "We can’t wait to support Hogg and Cassady September 10th, 2022 as they compete in the All-A State Tournament."

The tobacco stick will remain in Grayson County another year as the Wildcats fell to Grayson County 33-12 in the 2022 football season opener on the road.

Edmonson County showed promise early as they picked off a Cougar pass on Grayson County's first possession. Although they failed to score on their first run, they were able to hold Grayson back on a couple of big Cougar runs. There was no score in the first quarter.

Senior quarterback Tyler Anderson got into the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown run about halfway through the second quarter. The Wildcats were unable to convert on the extra and led 6-0 with 6:47 left to go in the 2nd quarter.

Grayson County took their first lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter on a short push into the end zone after several first down runs. They scored on the two-point conversion and led 15-12.

The Cougars would shut out the Wildcats from that point on, scoring three more touchdowns in the fourth in the process.

First year head coach Zach Vincent shared his thoughts after the game and how the second half Wildcats were not as steady as the first half.

"We talked at the half, I loved what I was seeing, love the emotion, we were doing our jobs right," he said. "We just have to carry that over. We're starting to transition into the team that can play four quarters. We're out of shape, I could tell that, and we're just not as big as other teams, so we're going have to play smarter, play harder and be in better shape than anyone else."

Coach Vincent said the goal for this season is to improve each day.

"That's what we talk about every day. We make everything a daily basis. Instead of a weekly, how are you going to get better today? How are you going to get better at practice? Are you with warm ups, are you going to stretch better, what is it today that's going to be your focus? We make small goals and we try to achieve them."

The Wildcats are scheduled to take on Butler County at Wildcat Stadium next Friday for the season home opener.

Edmonson Voice Sports:
The Edmonson County High School boys soccer team earned their first official win last night at Chalybeate Sports Complex as they defeated the Butler County Bears 5-2.

While the soccer program began last year, both boys and girls teams were JV-only, as per KHSAA regulations for new programs.

This year marks their first year as varsity teams and the win goes down in the record books as their first. The Wildcat soccer team roster consists of:

• 45 Haydn Burrell MF Sr.
• 11 Hunter Hayes STRK Sr.
• 27 - 37Ian Dooley D So. 
  
• Noah Justis MF Fr.
• 15 Ethan Edwards SWEP Sr.
• 40 - 25 Tucker Kiernan HB Jr.
• 30 - 19 Alex Elkins MF Jr.
• 1 Muhammad Shahbaz MF Sr.
• 8 Brayden Garrett FB Fr.
• 46 - 30 Caleb Smith D Sr.
• 6 Jaylan Garrett D So.
• 39 - 16 Fili Trujillo FB Sr.
• 27 - 26 Adin Gates GK Jr.
• 42 - 23Robbie WhiteDSr.
• 47 - 27 Josh Gates MF Jr.
• 38 - 18 Cameron Whitfill FB Sr.
• 22Tucker Harp FORW Jr.
• 7Julien Wilson MF Fr.

Edmonson County is now 1-2 on the season and are scheduled to take on Monroe County away on Saturday at 10AM.

The Lady Cat soccer team is currently 0-3 on the season and is also scheduled to take on Monroe on Saturday at 1PM.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Lady Cat volleyball team started the 2022 season with a win last night in a three-set sweep on the road against the Muhlenberg County Lady Mustangs.

Expectations are up this year for the Lady Cats as the team is led by a large group of seniors, most of which have been teammates since their 7th grade year. Edmonson County volleyball has not seen a winning season since 2017 when they won the District 12 Championship. Since then, they have yet to notch double digits in the win column during a season and their best year during that period was 2020--the COVID year--when they finished 9-9.

New Head Coach Caitlin Caudill may not have years of experience under her belt as a head coach, but neither has any other previous volleyball coach at ECHS during the past decade. However, what Caudill has is the experience of a winner. She holds multiple records as a former Lady Cat basketball star--most notably in scoring. She finished her high school career as the all-time leading scorer in girls' basketball at ECHS with 2,564 points. Not only basketball, but she also excelled in softball and volleyball, and played under respected and successful coaches like Mike McClintic and Kevin Jackson.

During her senior year, (2017) she was a teammate to those on this year's senior squad when they were starting as 7th graders. She began relationships then that now seem much more meaningful. She was thrown to the wolves last year when she was named interim head coach after the head coach and assistant coaches resigned mid-season. With the help of ECHS Principal Jonathan Williams and ECHS Athletic Director Brad Johnson, she got the team through the remainder of the season, going winless in their final 8 games. While she didn't earn anything officially in the W column, she had earned the respect of her players, parents, and school.

For the first time in her professional coaching career, she officially has a winning record of 1-0 and it's something she plans to build as the season progresses, and build it on a team-based atmosphere.

"This team plays as one," she said. "We are a big family and that is what I have pushed so hard for all preseason is to be one unit and one family. We always cheer each other on when we do something good and we always pick each other up if we make a mistake."

With their 6 preseason games and certainly last night, fans could see a contrast in the way some things were done. Digs, movement, communication, execution, and the rapport the girls had with each other were all noticed. One of the biggest contrasts from the last couple seasons was Edmonson's composure when Muhlenberg began to put together runs. It was by far the biggest factor in the Lady Cats' doom in the past several seasons. If they got down 5-6 points or more, you could mark it down...things were headed south, but last night the girls fought through several runs from the Lady Mustangs, showing maturity and resilience that many would say is at least a partial result of a different culture on the court and in the locker room from the coaching staff.

New assistant coach Christine Barrett, a former Division I college volleyball player, has also earned the respect from Lady Cat players, and the combination of Caudill, Barrett, and Kaytlin Hyde, another teammate of Caudill's and some of this year's seniors, seems to have improved the morale of the team as a whole.

Edmonson County held off runs from the Lady Mustangs in all three sets last night, winning the first set 25-19, the second 25-20, and the final set 25-22. This was also accomplished without a senior starter, Raven Cast, who was out for illness.

Senior Kaylee Lindsey finished the game with 9 kills, 6 blocks, and 13 digs. Senior Whitney Davis had 4 kills and 17 digs, and senior Alyssa Doyle had 4 kills, 4 blocks, 12 digs, and one ace. Junior Madison Bullock led the team in assists with 9 and junior Alivia Mabery finished with 8.

"I am so proud of the way my girls played last night," said Coach Caudill. "I told them in the locker room before the game that this is the moment they have been working for since February, go out there play your game and give me 110% and we will walk away satisfied with the results. That is what happened and I could not be more proud. My seniors came out strong and ready, and led the rest of the team to our first win of the season."

ECHS should find themselves in a good spot to be competitive for another district title, barring injuries or other unforeseen circumstances, but Coach Caudill said there's more to volleyball than the win and loss column.

"My main objective is greater than volleyball, it’s to teach these girls to keep their fighting spirit and to never give up even when things aren’t going your way."

It's obviously very early and no one knows what the season holds, but 1-0 is a positive start.

Edmonson County will travel to Hart County tonight for JV/V match beginning at 5:30PM.

ECHS boys soccer fell last night to Barren County 10-0 and is currently 0-3 on the season. ECHS girls soccer is 0-2 so far on the season. ECHS golf and cross country are also underway and Wildcat Football is scheduled to officially begin this Friday at Grayson County at 7PM.