Lady Warriors win back-to-back titles

By STEVE CORNELIUS, CJ Sports Editor
Commonwealth Journal

Danville October 23, 2009 01:21 am

— In Southwestern’s attempt at a second consecutive 12th Region championship, the Lady Warrior volleyball team had to overcome a rowdy Boyle County ‘Eruption Zone’ staring right in their faces and an early 5-1 deficit in the opening game.
But in the end, Southwestern did what they have did all year — annihilate any 12 Region team they faced — as Southwestern claimed back-to-back 12th Region championships with a 25-16, 25-14 win over Boyle County on Thursday night.
After Southwestern had defeated their 12th Region counterparts on 19 different occasions and never dropping a single set, which included beating Boyle County two other times, the Rebel faithful tried to use their homecourt advantage as a factor in the game by seating the rowdy student section on the stage at the opposite end of the Lady Warriors’ first game side.
It worked for the first 6 points, but for the rest of the match nothing was going to stop the powerful Lady Warrior play and their quest for their second regional title in two years.
“Yeah, the crowd was sort of loud,” Southwestern senior hitter Kelsey Roberts admitted. “It sort of bothered us in the first game, but once we got over on this side of the court (with their backs to the Rebel Eruption Zone) we sort of used it for motivation. I liked the big crowd and it made us play harder than we usually do.”
Some aggressive offense by the Lady Rebels and two Lady Warrior errors allowed Boyle County take and early 5-1 lead, which incited the loud home crowd even more.
“It was a little nerve racking this season having to win every region game, but our team is really good, we have a tight bond and we believe we can do anything,” Southwestern senior Rachel Floyd said, “(Boyle County’s loud crowd sort of motivated us. We have been behind before, but that has never seemed to bother us.”
A Erika Napier kill, two serving aces by Erin Cottrell and four errors by Boyle County allowed Southwestern to take a 9-6 lead.
“I have complete trust in my teammates that we would come back,” Roberts said. “I believe we are so good this year that we can comeback. Even when we are down, we will overcome it. I have complete trust my teammates will do what they have to do and I will do what I have to do. Then we will come together for the win. “
Roberts served up two aces to widen the Lady Warrior lead to 14-9, and that lead increased to 22-12 after the Lady Rebels made five offensive errors. Roberts ended game-one with a powerful kill in the open court.
Boyle County kept the second game close up until the midway point with the score tied at 11-11, but Lady Warrior offensive kills by Roberts, Cottrell and Napier gave Southwestern a 21-13 lead. With the game and regional crown well in hand, senior Brittany Whitaker put away two dink placement shots for scores as the Lady Rebels backed up to defend Southwestern’s powerful slams.
“I was a little worried about the affect of the Boyle County home crowd and I wanted to have a big ‘blue and orange’ crowd out to support us,” Southwestern coach James Cox said. “We had a lot of fans drive up here and that really helped us. Sometimes our crowd was as loud as all of them. I think the crowd can be a 7th or 8th player out there and tonight they definitely did that.”
“This group is very special,” Cox continued. “They have been successful all through their volleyball careers. I am so proud that our four seniors get to go out this way. Sometimes being on top is tough because everyone is trying to knock you off and that is what’s special this year. We went all the way through and did not lose to anyone in the region, and that was one of our goals.”
Roberts knew winning the second regional crown was going to be tough, but the second title had a different meaning for the Lady Warriors.
“Even though we won region last year, we still feel like we didn’t get the credit we deserved,” Roberts said. “I feel like it wasn’t luck that we won last year. We really showed that we are good and the program is even gong to get better after this year.”
Cox credited his team’s success — which includes two regional championships (2008, 2009), a regional runner-up (2007) and a region semifinalist (2008) — to their hard work and even temperament.
“These girls have always came to play when they needed to,” Cox said. “Yeah, sometimes they goof around a little bit, but when it comes down to business they have always been dedicated to the sport and the team. They always stay even tempered. They never get too up or too down. I have always told them to play their game and don’t get too up in the game, and we will celebrate at the end of the day.”
“Everywhere we went people were telling us that we would win region, but in this region you can never take that kind of thing for granted,” Cox added. “You have to come to play every single day, every single point and every single match. We saw that kind of effort tonight.”
Southwestern (34-5) will move on to the KHSAA State Volleyball Tournament, to be played on Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31 at Northern Kentucky University’s Regents Hall. Southwestern will take on Allen Central in their opening round game at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30.

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