GOOD HOPE, Ala. — The JV county championship was on the line when the Good Hope Lady Raiders took on the (2) Vinemont Lady Eagles Tuesday night. Good Hope swept Vinemont in the first match (25-12, 25-9), handing the Lady Eagles their first loss of the tournament and setting up a wild second match for the county title.
Good Hope 25 – Vinemont 16 (First Set)
Vinemont got off to a fast start in the first set as a kill by Morgan Flanagan, followed by a point by Carley Stephens, gave them a quick 5-1 lead. The Lady Raiders ended up trimming the deficit to just one at 5-4 on a point by Chloe Eisner. Abby Kuykendall got an ace for the Lady Eagles as that gave them a 7-4 lead, but Good Hope went on a huge run as Mattie Wix was a girl on a mission as she tallied an incredible seven aces to help give them a 14-7 lead.
Consecutive kills by Lexi Collins and Eisner pushed the Lady Raider lead to 18-8. Good Hope made it 20-8 on a point by Eisner, but Vinemont made things a little interesting towards the end as Addison Holcomb collected a trio of points to trim the deficit to eight at 20-12. Holcomb collected another point and Stephens added a point, plus a kill, as that made it a 22-16 contest. Good Hope, though, was able to close things out in the end as a Jolee McHan kill, followed by a Wix point, gave them the 25-16 win in the first set.
Wix finished with seven aces and a point for Good Hope. Eisner added a pair of kills and two points. McHan ended up with a trio of kills. Collins added a kill and Kadi Smith collected a point. For Vinemont, Holcomb finished with four points. Stephens added a pair of points and a kill. Flanagan ended up with a kill and Kuykendall chipped in with an ace.
Good Hope 30 – Vinemont 28 (Second Set)
Good Hope collected the first three points of the second set as Wix got a kill and Campbell Koch collected an ace to give them a 3-0 lead. The Lady Raiders would later push their lead to 6-2, but Vinemont got the next five points of the set as an Emma Hathaway ace gave them a 7-6 lead. Four straight points by Good Hope, including an Eisner kill and a Haley Lay ace, helped them get the lead right back at 10-7. They later made it 13-9 on a McHan kill, but the Lady Eagles cut it to 15-13 on a point by Stephens. Good Hope went on another run as an ace from Koch and a point by McHan pushed their lead to 20-13. A Stephens kill and a point by Holcomb swiveled the deficit to just four at 22-18. An ace from Wix put the Lady Raiders one point away from winning the county championship.
But Vinemont came storming back at the end as Hathaway collected a pair of aces and Holcomb got a huge kill to help tie things up at 24. Whenever one team came a point away from winning the set, the other team came back to keep their hopes alive. A point from Kuykendall gave the Lady Eagles a 28-27 lead, but the Lady Raiders tied things up at 28. Collins got an ace to put Good Hope one point away from taking home the title, and they would do just that as McHan got the championship-clinching point to give the Lady Raiders a 30-28 win in the second set in one of the craziest sets you will ever see.
McHan led the way for Good Hope with a pair of kills and two points, including the game-winning point. Eisner added a trio of kills and a point. Wix ended up with a pair of kills, an ace, and a point. Koch added a pair of aces and a point. Carley Adams finished with a kill and a point, while Lay added an ace. For Vinemont, Holcomb finished with four points and a kill. Hathaway added a trio of aces. Stephens ended up with a kill and a point. Flanagan added a kill, while Erin Anderson chipped in with a point.
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