Lady Cats Lose Battle To Grayson County In District Tournament

Edmonson Falls 3-1, Ends Season With 9-9 Record

Kaylee Lindsey (11) goes for the kill as Halle Tedder (20), Raven Cast (3), and Emma Woodcock (18) play against Grayson County.

Darren Doyle, story:
The 2020 volleyball season for the Lady Cats came to a close last night at the 12th District Tournament hosted in Butler County as Edmonson County fell to the Grayson County Lady Cougars in four sets, 3-1.

Grayson County sat some of their starters during the first set which helped the Lady Cats take an early 11-6 lead. Momentum was on the side of the Lady Cats and they never trailed during the first set, despite a 8-2 run from the Lady Cougars that brought them within 2 points, and Edmonson went on to take the set 25-20.

Emma Woodcock serves against Grayson County in the District 12 tournament.

Grayson's starters were back into the game for set two which was the lineup Edmonson saw all season long; the district favorites that had already comfortably defeated the Lady Cats twice on the season. The momentum gained in set two stayed on the side of Edmonson and the score differential never rose above three points. 

The Lady Cats stretched the Lady Cougars to the limit, but Grayson was able to score the last two points of the set, winning 26-24, and tying the game 1-1.

The last two sets were much different and went the way of the Lady Cougars as Edmonson County struggled against Grayson's offense. Lack of communication and court awareness hindered the Lady Cats during both the final sets and Grayson County was able to obtain double-digit leads throughout. The Lady Cougars took set three 25-11 and set four 25-12 as Edmonson County fell 3-1.

Sophomore Kaylee Lindsey led Edmonson County in kills with 10 while adding 3 blocks while sophomore Alyssa Doyle added 8 kills and 2 blocks. Senior Emma Woodcock notched 12 digs, 10 assists, and 2 service aces while senior Abbie Slaughter had 16 digs. Sophomore Rylee Laster had 5 kills, 2 digs, 1 assist, and 1 service ace, and sophomore Halle Tedder had 1 kill and 8 digs. Sophomore Raven Cast had 12 assists and 2 digs. Freshman Alivia Mabery had 7 digs and 1 assist, sophomore Whitney Davis had 2 blocks and 1 dig, and freshman Laura Gibson had 4 digs.

Four Lady Cats received All-District honors at the conclusion of the game, which were:

• Sophomore Alyssa Doyle, All-Academic
• Sophomore Kaylee Lindsey, All-Season
• Senior Abbie Slaughter, All-Tournament
• Senior Emma Woodcock, All-Season

All-District winners, L-R: sophomore Alyssa Doyle All-Academic, sophomore Kaylee Lindsey All-Season, senior Abbie Slaughter All-Tournament, senior Emma Woodcock All-Season.

It was the final volleyball game for three Lady Cat seniors: Emma Woodcock, Abbie Slaughter, and Madalyn Condor, but the roster is young and still has promise for future seasons with three freshmen and seven sophomores on this year's varsity roster. The team also has a host of 7th and 8th grade players in the mix.

One bright spot for the Lady Cats this season, which was shortened due to the COVID pandemic, was their .500 record of 9-9 on the year, an improvement as part of the rebuilding from the 2017 season that saw the exit of 8 seniors that year. The Lady Cats finished 8-20 in 2018 and 9-18 last season. ​