Looking to go on a deep 3rd Region Tournament run, Apollo took care of business in the opening round, beating Trinity (Whitesville) 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-14). Playing in the 3rd Region Tournament for the first time since 2091, the E-Gals showed no signs of nerves early on, instead taking the pressure straight to the Lady Raiders.
“I thought the girls came out and really pushed themselves out of their comfort zone,” Apollo Head Coach Mary Howard said. “Sometimes it can be tough when you are in the region tournament because there is a lot of pressure. Our mantra is not to play safe, but to be aggressive and set the tone. I thought our girls did a good job of that tonight.”
Avery Gray led the way for the E-Glas, finishing with a team-high 13 kills and adding eight digs, one block, and one service ace. Maddi Roberts and Jessica Lee combined for 33 assists, and Jessie Pate had 12 digs and four service aces.
They have a day off to rest and recover before taking on Breckinridge County, which beat Muhlenberg County 3-0 in their opening round match. The semi-final clash is set for Wednesday evening at 5:30 pm. The two teams split in the regular season, with the E-Gals winning the most recent matchup on Oct. 16, 3-1.
“Breck is playing very well right now and is a very good team,” Howard said. “We just want to carry the mindset of continuing to be aggressive. With the way our region is, it’s a fight of the most aggressive team that can execute and we are pushing to be that every day.”
For the Lady Raiders, Emmy Edge led the way with 17 digs and five assists and Ella Morris recorded 17 digs and three kills. Annie Coomes finished with four kills and Aava Coomes posted five kills and two blocks.
“Our objective before the night was to take one ball at a time and try to win every ball,” Trinity (Whitesville) Head Coach Adam Huff said. “So when we don’t win one, we go on to the next one. And we did pretty well at that. Early in the first set, we kind of got down and had some unforced errors. Other than that, I felt like we fought till that last point on the third set.”
A relatively young team, the Lady Raiders were able to reach the 3rd Region Tournament for a 20th straight season. They will be losing five seniors to graduation, but Huff acknowledged he has some hungry underclassmen waiting in the wings.
“We have some really good athletes in the freshman and sophomore class coming along,” Huffs said. “I think they will step right in and do so.”
