? ⚔️ | Kittens best the Lady Colonels at Ashland Blazer per @GOREDDEVILS.

(27-25, 25-21, 25-21)

⚔️ Whitley County (KY #37), winner of the last three 13th Region titles, closes at 35-6.

? Ashland (KY#14, 37-4), 16th Region champs, will play #3 Lexington Catholic in Friday's 5:00 quarterfinal at George Rogers Clark.

A hard fought game between two tough teams. My highest compliments to the fan base at Whitley County who drove around three hours on a school night to support their program. They fed off the energy their talented team brought. Ashland's resilience continues to impress, being in high pressure situations as they trailed by three late in the first set and by seven early in the second set.

First set: Ashland jumped out to a 7-2 lead early, before Whitley County would counter with a 10-2 run of their own to take a 12-9 lead. It felt like Whitley County had firm control of the set from that point. Reagan Issac is incredible and I believe she had something like ten kills in the first set. Whitley's defense adjusted and they did a better job defending Ashland at the net. Ashland played from behind until the score hit 22-19 and would conclude the set on an 8-3 run to win it 27-25. A big part of that was going over the middle, doing a great job getting the ball to Miley Murphy and Elise Marcum to make the plays. This Ashland team is extremely resilient. They have won several sets this year when trailing late.

Second set: Whitley County came out on fire, extending an early 5-1 lead to 12-5. Ashland would come back with an 8-1 run out a timeout to tie it up at 13. Whitley County maintained control, a big part being how they defended Ashland's hitting from the outside. The Kittens took their first lead of the set at 21-20 and would close it out on a 4-1 run. They just built so much momentum with the 8-1 run to tie it and then that late surge to win it 25-21. Later in the set Ashland did a better job making it harder for Whitley County to set up Reagan Issac. Easier said than done, but she was not getting the ball in the same positioning she had earlier on. It's almost always a point for Whitley County when she hits it as she has 500+ kills on the year. 

Third set: After Whitley County opened up on a 3-0 run, Ashland countered by going on a 17-4 run to take a 17-7 lead. It looked like Whitley County was starting to wear down during this stretch as Ashland continued to pile it on with the momentum in their direction, but after a timeout Whitley County would go on a 12-4 run to cut the Ashland lead to 21-19. Ashland would respond in particular with two big plays from Elise Marcum over the middle (including the set point) and an ace from Olivia Wiley that hit just near the back sideline. Ashland would win the set 25-21.

This may be one of the best atmospheres I have been around at a game in any sport. Whitley County brought an electric crowd and Ashland, at home, had a huge turnout with support from athletes and coaches from multiple sports along with a great community turnout. Both teams played so hard and each set went down to the wire.

The two coaches in this matchup are exactly the type one would want representing their community. David Halcomb at Whitley County is passionate about the program and has been trusted in multiple sports. He serves as the softball coach and has also coached basketball at the school. Winning four regional titles in a row is incredible and his 2023 team was the first team at the school in any sport to win back-to-back regional titles. This is also a young Whitley County team that has a lot coming back.

Jason Clark came to Ashland after a decorated coaching run at Raceland in the 2010's where he won back-to-back regional titles. After a 30+ win team in his first year at Ashland that lost in the regional finals, they have pulled off two in a row and now the first ever Elite Eight appearance. Seeing Coach Clark in tears after that game talking about how much the Ashland community meant to him was amazing. These two coaches have served their communities, have been a huge part of growing the sport in their areas, and have a lot to be proud of.