Lady Cat Volleyball Season Ends In Region Tournament

Lady Cats Give Their All In 5-Set Final Game 3-2 Loss

The ECHS Lady Cat Volleyball Team.

Madison Doyle, story and photos:
The Edmonson County Lady Cat Volleyball team traveled to Meade County last night to take on the Meade County Lady Waves in round one of the Region 3 tournament, something Edmonson County's Volleyball team has not done since 2017.

Edmonson fell behind Meade by just a couple of points in the beginning of the first set, but quickly caught up and took the lead with some big blocks and hard attacks at the net, causing trouble for the Lady Waves. The Lady Cats tied things up at 8-8, where they then took the lead and stayed in the lead the remainder of the set. The were able to fight off an 8-0 run from Meade with their own 7-0 run to end the set, winning 25-18.

The second set was much of the same. Each team swapped the lead back and forth for most of the set. The Lady Waves tied things up at 20-20, but the Lady Cats stayed on top of their game. Edmonson won the second set 25-22.

Senior Rylee Laster tips the ball with her left hand over a Meade County blocker.

Alyssa Doyle blocks a Lady Wave attack.

In the third set the Lady Cats started out with a comfortable lead, and forced a Meade County timeout at 9-5. The mistakes Meade made in the first two sets were shored up, they gained some momentum, and tied things up at 15-15, forcing an Edmonson County timeout. The Lady Waves appeared to get rid of the jitters forced by Edmonson earlier as Meade won the third set 19-25, making the score 2-1.

Whitney Davis digs out an attack from the Lady Waves.

The Lady Cats started to see trouble in set four. Small mistakes began costing points, and with Meade on top of their game it was difficult for Edmonson to recover. Meade went on to take set four 17-25, and then the score was tied 2-2, going into a final set five. The Lady Cats simply could not recover from their mistakes as the Lady Waves won set five 15-6, resulting in a 3-2 loss for the Lady Cats.

Kaylee Lindsey swipes the ball against Meade.

Raven Cast sets the ball up for a kill.

"A loss is always a loss, but last night's loss was hard for more than one reason," said first year Head Coach Caitlin Caudill. "This was the last time that this group will ever be together as a team. They played hard and pushed hard the whole game and as a coach that's all I could ask for." Caudill applauded the accomplishments this group have made this year. "This season we have played in three championship games, we made it to the regional tournament, and finished with a winning record. This group of girls have built back up and have brought back the respect around this volleyball program."

The Edmonson Voice also spoke with a few members of the Lady Cat Volleyball who wanted to thank the student section this season. The student section showed up home or away to cheer on the team this season. Many times when the Lady Cats were down and would normally start to give up, the pep section would lift them up and turn their attitudes around, and that is something the EC Volleyball Team has never had before.

"Our student section was a huge help this year," said Senior Rylee Laster. "They cheered us on consistently whether it was home or away. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has encouraged us during, and even after, all of our games this year."

Senior Whitney Davis also expressed her gratitude for the students who always came to loudly cheer on the Lady Cats. "I am so incredibly thankful to have had such an amazing pep section to cheer us on, especially when we were down. This season wouldn't have been the same without them, and I be sure to cheer them on during basketball season the way they have for us," said Davis.

Senior Alyssa Doyle also credited the student section. "This year's pep section played a big part in our success this year. They showed up to every home game, and the same group of boys showed up to all of our important away games. They were always loud and gave us the energy we needed to feed off of and to keep our momentum going."

Madison Bullock passes a serve from Meade County.

Alivia Mabrey sets the ball to a teammate.

Alyssa Doyle, Rylee Laster, Kaylee Lindsey, Raven Cast, and Whitney Davis laced up their volleyball shoes for the last time last night. "As our season comes to an end, we will be losing five seniors. These seniors have dedicated their time to this program and they will be greatly missed," said Coach Caudill.  "It has been a huge honor to be their coach for their final season. I am so incredibly proud of each and every one of them."

The Lady Cats ended their season with a winning record of 19-14, a major improvement from last year's 7-21 record. This is the most wins any Lady Cat Volleyball team has brought home in the last five years.