GOOD HOPE, Ala. – The third-ranked Good Hope Lady Raiders faced off against Hanceville and Decatur Heritage at home in a tri-match Tuesday night and Good Hope ended up sweeping the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Eagles, respectively.
Good Hope 3 – Hanceville 0 (First Match)
The first set saw Good Hope hold a slim 3-2 lead on a point by Ivey Maddox, but Hanceville scored four straight points, including a pair of aces from Eden Clements, to take a 6-3 lead. The Lady Raiders answered right back with four straight points of their own, as a point by Maddox gave them a 7-6 lead. A point by Alex Twitty tied the game up at 10, but the Lady Raiders got a kill and an ace from Jolee McHan as that gave them a 14-11 lead. Good Hope created some distance from them and the Lady Bulldogs, as Mackenzie Cruce delivered five aces during their set-ending 14-1 run, and the Lady Raiders took the first set, 25-11.
Just like the first set, the second one started out close. Points by Emma Bailey and Maddox gave the Lady Raiders an early 3-2 lead, but the Lady Bulldogs countered with a 4-1 run, highlighted by back-to-back aces from Karys Henderson, as that gave them a 6-4 lead. Later on, points by Maddox and McHan tied the game up at eight. Maddox collected an ace to give the Lady Raiders an 11-8 lead. Hanceville cut it to 12-10, but the Lady Raiders scored three in a row to make it 15-10. The Lady Bulldogs made it a 15-11 game on a kill by Kate Sterling, but also like the first set, Good Hope finished the second one strong, as Maddox collected three points, Molly Benefield added a kill, and Cruce and Campbell Koch each delivered an ace during the set. The Lady Raiders ended up rolling to a 25-12 win in the second set.
Good Hope got off to a perfect start in the third set, scoring the first nine points, including a trio of aces from Bailey and a pair of points by Marlee Wix, to take an early 9-0 lead. The Lady Raiders would widen their lead to 16-3 on an ace from Carley Adams, but the Lady Bulldogs slowly started to cut it into the deficit and made it a 22-9 game on an ace from Charity Barnes. Hanceville cut it to 24-12 on a Makenzie Twilley kill and back-to-back aces from Clements, but Good Hope ended up collecting the final point of the set to take the game, 25-12.
Decatur Heritage 2 – Hanceville 0 (Second Match)
Decatur Heritage jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in the first set against Hanceville, but the Lady Bulldogs trimmed it to 7-6 on back-to-back aces from Zoe Pitts. They went on a 7-1 run, with the key points coming from Olivia Stallings, as she delivered three straight aces, to help give them a 15-8 lead. They later held a 16-9 lead, but the Lady Eagles went on a run of their own to make it a 16-14 game. A pair of points by Twilley pushed the Lady Bulldog lead to 19-14, and they later held a 22-17 lead. Decatur Heritage put up six straight points to take a 23-22 lead, but Hanceville tied things up at 24. The Lady Eagles, though, scored the final two points of the set to take the first one, 26-24.
Hanceville got off to a 5-2 lead behind a point by Sterling, but Decatur Heritage scored five straight points to take a 7-5 lead. The Lady Bulldogs cut it to 9-8 on a point by Clements, but the Lady Eagles quickly pushed their lead to 12-8. The Lady Eagles later held a 15-10 lead, but Hanceville got points from Sterling and Aaliyah Twitty and an ace from Clements to cut it to 15-14. A kill by Clements tied things up at 16, and later on, the Lady Bulldogs held a 20-19 lead. A point by Alex Twitty tied it up at 21, but Decatur Heritage ended up being the team to break the tie first as they scored the final four points of the game to take the second set, 25-21.
Good Hope 2 – Decatur Heritage 0 (Third Match)
Good Hope got off to a red-hot start in the first set against Decatur Heritage, scoring the first eight points, including a trio of aces from Koch, to take an early 8-0 lead. Five straight points from the Lady Eagles cut it to 8-5, and later, they made it a 12-11 game. The Lady Raiders quickly created some distance from them and Decatur Heritage, as a pair of aces from Cruce and kills by Koch and Maddox, gave them an 18-11 lead. Another Koch ace pushed their lead to 23-12 and Good Hope would go on to take the first set, 25-12.
The second set started out close. An ace from Maddox gave the Lady Raiders a 6-4 lead, and later, made it 11-7 on back-to-back points from McHan. A kill by Adams and an ace from Bailey pushed Good Hope’s lead to 13-8. The Lady Eagles made it a 15-13 game, but the Lady Raiders created some distance between them and the Lady Eagles. Points by Maddox and McHan, a pair of Maddox aces, and a kill by Molly Benefield, increased their lead to 20-13. Another ace from Cruce made it a 23-15 game, and Good Hope collected a 25-17 win in the second set.
Good Hope will host Oneonta and Madison County on Thursday, while Hanceville will travel to Vinemont for a tri-match with the Eagles and Cold Springs Thursday afternoon.
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