In the final game of their four-game homestand, the McCracken County Lady Mustangs picked up a crucial Second District victory when they played host to Paducah Tilghman on Tuesday night, shaking off a slow start to their night to earn a three-set sweep over the Lady Tornado by scores of 25-22, 25-13, and 25-17.
“I thought the girls did a good job of persevering tonight and fighting through a tough start,” said McCracken County head coach Izzy Myers, following the Lady Mustangs’ third straight victory. “Even when things weren’t going their way, and it felt like they’re stuck in quicksand, they showed themselves that they had the ability to fight their way out of it, and I think that’s big for them.”
The evening’s first set proved to be its most competitive, as the Lady Tornado gave McCracken plenty to handle early on.
Capitalizing on some miscues and over-aggression on the part of the Lady Mustangs, with several would-be kills for the hosts sailing out of bounds, the Lady Tornado would maintain a narrow edge as they approached the midway mark of the set.
“They felt some pressure on them, playing at home in a district game, so it took some time to settle in and get comfortable,” Myers said. “In the first set, we were putting a little too much power into everything too early. We just told them to get a little more comfortable, get a better feel [for the game], and then they could start swinging away.”
As the set rolled along, McCracken would settle into the action and take control at just the right time. Crossing the 20-point mark with a two-point edge, the Lady Mustangs would keep their advantage intact through the remainder of the first, with a kill for Lucy Jones sealing the 25-22 victory and a 1-0 overall lead.
“A big thing we preach to them is to embrace the mistakes and be able to learn from them,” Myers continued. “They’ve learned to embrace it, and for them to be able to battle through them and make the right adjustments has been really important for us.”
While the second set would start similarly to the first, with neither the Mustangs and Tornado splitting able to carve out a clear advantage early on, McCracken would find their rhythm from behind the serving line to run away with the second point of the evening.
Not long after securing some breathing room on the scoreboard, taking a 16-12 lead on an ace by McCoy Gregory, Lily Hamilton would pick up two more aces of her own through an 8-1 stretch, giving McCracken the 25-13 victory in the middle set.
“Lily was huge for us tonight, and she’s always such a massive part of this team,” said Myers, lauding Hamilton. “Effort-wise, communication-wise, she was involved in everything tonight, and is someone that makes everyone around her want to be a good teammate.”
Heading into the third, the Lady Mustangs’ success from serves would carry over, as Mollie Canter picked up another pair of aces along a 5-0 initial run.
While Tilghman would battle back to make it close, cutting the deficit as thin as 16-14, a comeback was not on the cards for the visitors. Hamilton would come through once again for the Mustangs with a strong run of serves, widening the gap with six straight points, before an ace from Caroline Presswood completed the sweep by a score of 25-17.
“I liked how aggressive we stayed,” Myers concluded, on the Lady Mustangs’ serving. “It wasn’t something they let get out of control like it did in the first set, but they really dialed it in, got comfortable, and kept it with them all night.”
Now looking for their fourth straight win, the Lady Mustangs will head back on the road this weekend, making their way to Lexington for Friday matchups against Frederick Douglass and South Warren at the Kentucky Challenge. For the Lady Tornado, now 11-2 on the season, they’ll aim to get straight back to winning ways this Thursday night against Ballard Memorial.