“They believe in us.” Behind a raucous crowd, Scott rallies to win the first round of the state.

Myleene Minor ended up on the floor Scott gym after the Eagles’ five-set win over West Jessamine in the first round of the tournament. Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Volleyball Tournament.

She was attacked by a student group that stormed the court after her 26th kill of the match secured a 25-16, 14-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12 victory.

“We have so much support in this building and we say that all the time in our group. Everyone here, who is in blue, white or black, supports us. They believe in us,” Minor said.

The win meant a lot to Minor, who has been coming to Eagles volleyball camps since she was in second grade. This meant even more for the school. This is their first state tournament win since 2014, when they reached the state semifinals. They also avenged their 2020 state tournament loss to the Colts.

“For me and a couple of the girls that were in that match against them in 2020 when we went to West Jessamine, I know what it’s like to play the first round on another (school’s) court rather than on a neutral site. Hats off to them for playing really hard in our atmosphere,” head coach Andrea Sullivan said.

The Eagles dominated, fought and then rallied for the win.

Scott got off to the best possible start, breaking a 5-5 deadlock to take a 10-6 lead. He ultimately extended the lead to 16-8 and 20-11 before closing out the first set on a West Jessamine hitting error.

Brooklyn Helm had three kills in the first set, and Payton Grigsby had a kill and an ace. It was a sign of things to come.

But Colts head coach Bill Bird refused to let his players roll over. This was their sixth straight tournament and they were state semifinalists in 2023. Serving from Sienna Schantz, Riley Cissell and Taylor Snowden, they kept the Eagles guessing on serve and return, leading to misses and misfires on the setter. – communications of attackers.

They made 19 mistakes in the two sets they lost. Ashlyn Crutcher also led the Colts’ attack with 18 kills.

“When things like that happen, it’s pretty difficult, just because this is a very, very good serving team, which just makes our serve-receive more difficult. Our delivery and reception is very good. We made changes and I think it correlates with the number of kills we got,” Minor said.

There were two important aspects to the Eagles’ comeback. During a timeout in the third set, Sullivan rallied her players. Her husband, Cooper boys basketball coach Tim Sullivan, said it only happens once or twice a year.

“It was more about trying to encourage the girls to stand up and believe in themselves. They did their best to get here and not just lie down and die. We needed to fight back. We have faced some adversity. We kept saying, “This is not going to be an easy match for us,” Andrea said.

Scott took advantage of a four-point deficit to get within two at 22-24 before losing the set, but the momentum was there.

With the score 13-7 in the fourth set, something inside the Eagles clicked. Morgan Justice had four kills and Helm recorded a kill and a block. Minor, Elise Manhardt and Ryan Grigsby served aces. They were up 12-2 and suddenly the game was on.

“I just knew that if we were lacking in other places, then someone had to take charge and be a leader on the court. I didn’t play my best in the second set, so I need to get myself mentally ready so maybe if someone else isn’t playing their best, I can understand that and help them out,” Justice said.

The energy in the gym never waned. After winning the coin toss in the fifth set, the Eagles took a 5-1 lead in the fifth set thanks to two kills by Minor and three errors by West Jessamine. They only got points from Helm, Justice and Minor in the fifth set, winning thanks to seven errors by the Colts in the fifth set.

What’s next for Scott at the KHSAA state tournament?

The Eagles will play Paynesville (26-11), coached by Campbell County graduate Dawn Kinnear. The Lady Tigers defeated Whitley County in their first round matchup.

Their top players are Kylie Kinnear (622 kills and 61 steals), Annabelle Blankenship (53 blocks), Bailey Porter (1,121 assists) and Olivia Maynard (295 steals and 89 aces).

“I’m going to learn a lot here in the next 24 hours, I’ll tell you that. As soon as I leave here, I’ll be working on getting some film. All my girls are good students of the game,” Sullivan said.

First pitch is set for 5:00 pm on Friday, November 8th at George Rogers Clark.

Notre Dame continues to gain momentum in Lexington Catholic

The Pandas survived a scare in a first-round game against the Lady Knights, which featured Shay Pope, the youngest daughter of Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope. Trailing 5-1 to start the match, they rallied to take the first set 25-23 before dispatching LexCath 25-15 and 25-18 to complete the sweep.

Notre Dame will face Knott County Central (31-9) at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 8, at George Rogers Clark Stadium.

This article originally appeared on the Cincinnati Enquirer: KHSAA Volleyball State Tournament: Scott defeats West Jessamine in 5 games