After falling in both the varsity and junior varsity road matches at Floyd County last week, the Lady Cougar volleyball program bounced back to earn wins at both levels Monday at the Cougar Den.
The first matches of the night involved the JV squads. Pulaski County won the first set 25-14, but fell in the second set 16-25, setting up a third match to decide the issue. The Lady Cougars pulled out the 15-8 tie-breaker to earn the match victory. The win moves the JV squad to 5-4 on the season.
Emma Sarver earned three kills, two aces, six points from serving, and two digs. Lylah Minnick had eight points from service and two digs. Ava Jackson had five points serving. Gracie Sarver recorded four digs. Ellie MacDonald had three kills, two aces, and six points serving. Maia Lawrence earned 10 points serving and Haley Melton had eight points serving.
“Our JV girls played better as a team tonight than we’ve seen this season, which really helped them get the well-deserved win,” JV Head Coach Duane Minnick said. “As long as they continue playing as a team, even after a few mistakes in a row or a not-so-great set, they will continue to do some awesome things. I’m happy to see them bounce back so well from their game against Blacksburg last week.”
For the varsity squad, the results were also different than last week with the Lady Cougars winning in four sets. Pulaski County took the opening set 25-17, but Floyd County battled back to win the second set 25-20. The Lady Cougars won the next two sets 25-17 and 25-22 to earn the victory. The win moves the varsity squad to 3-6 on the season.
Hannah Keefer had 13 kills, four blocks, five aces, and 16 digs to help lead the way. Jacey Hendrix had two kills, five aces, and five digs. Makenna Yates had 14 digs and two aces. Elaina Aust recorded three aces and six digs. Leah Keefer earned three aces and 14 digs. Josey Smythers had four kills and one block. Madison Williams had two kills, four digs, and three aces. Madolyn Legg had two kills.
“It felt so good to get a win against a really good Floyd team,” Head Coach Kylee Conner said. “We played hard and the girls fought for that win tonight. I’m proud of our girls for how they played. We just have to keep it going the rest of this week.”
The Lady Cougars were scheduled to host Hidden Valley Tuesday evening at the Cougar Den. Thursday the teams will travel to Roanoke to face the Patrick Henry Patriots. JV action each night begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the varsity contests.