Woodford County High School had to find another gear in a marathon match with Trinity Christian Sept. 1 in the Hive.
After taking the opening set, the Yellow Jackets dropped the next two and found themselves on the verge of defeat before rallying for a 25-18, 11-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-12 win over Trinity Christian.
Woodford grabbed control midway through the opening set. Leading 12-9, the Yellow Jackets got wins at the net from Scarlet Dabney and Lucy Culbertson, along with a pair of aces from Amelia Miller to open a 19-9 advantage.
A handful of Woodford errors allowed Trinity Christian to get back into the set, but Lydia Sumner closed the door with a kill to give the Yellow Jackets a 25-18 win.
Trinity Christian responded in a big way, dominating the second set 25-11 to even the match.
Woodford continued to struggle in the third set, sending several attempts at the net long while falling behind 15-13. A dig from Addie Bryant led to a Dabney kill, cutting the deficit to one.
Trailing 22-18, Woodford forced a side out and pulled within 22-20 before Trinity Christian stopped the run with a block at the net. The Yellow Jackets couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 25-22 to go down two sets to one.
With its back against the wall, Woodford responded in the fourth set.
Sumner and Dabney scored at the net and Kenley Greer added a block as Woodford built a 7-4 lead. An ace from Layla Aubrey extended the advantage to 10-5.
Unforced errors continued to give Trinity Christian opportunities, and Woodford’s lead was cut to two before Dabney stopped the run with a kill. Culbertson followed with two points at the net to push the Yellow Jackets ahead 16-10.
Woodford led 18-12 before Trinity Christian again battled back, cutting the lead to 18-16. Caroline Gribble forced a side out before back-to-back points from Culbertson helped Woodford take a 22-19 advantage.
Trinity Christian then rallied all the way back to take a 23-22 lead, putting Woodford’s chances of extending the match in jeopardy.
The Yellow Jackets answered.
Woodford tied the set before a Dabney winner gave the Yellow Jackets a 26-25 lead. Gribble followed with a kill to finish off the 27-25 win and force a deciding fifth set.
“I think it was definitely just teamwork,” Dabney said. “There were points where we weren’t working as a team, and we figured that out. Once we did, it was automatic. It’s definitely communication and also just trusting each other.”
Woodford carried the momentum into the fifth set.
Culbertson delivered a kill for a 2-1 advantage before Dabney took over at the net. Dabney scored three straight points and followed with a block as Woodford raced ahead 6-1. Culbertson added an ace to make it 7-1, and Greer scored at the net as the lead grew to 9-2.
A Trinity Christian miss-hit made it 10-2, but the match was far from finished.
Trinity Christian chipped away at the lead and pulled within 12-8. Two Woodford miss-hits at the net made it 12-10 before two more Yellow Jacket errors allowed Trinity Christian to complete the comeback and tie the deciding set at 12.
With all the momentum suddenly on the other side of the net, Gribble said the Yellow Jackets had to remain composed.
“Just stay calm,” Gribble said. “It can get really stressful, so I think our goal in those final few points was to keep the energy and intensity up, but also just stay calm and not lose focus on what’s going on.”
Gribble then gave Woodford the lead back with a touch shot at the net for a 13-12 advantage. A point at the net from Culbertson put the Yellow Jackets on match point before Gribble stepped to the service line and delivered an ace to finish off the 15-12 victory.
For Gribble, the comeback was about how badly the Yellow Jackets wanted to earn their first home victory of the season.
“I think we had a talk in the huddle, and at the end of the day, we realized how bad we wanted to win,” Gribble said. “This was our first win of the season in this gym, and I think we all knew how important that was. We all wanted it really badly, so we stepped on that court with a new energy and we were just like, ‘We’re going to do this for each other. We’re going to finish it up.’”
The win also gives Woodford some momentum heading into a match-up with rival Collins.
“We have Collins coming up, and Collins is always competitive as our rivals, obviously,” Dabney said. “I think the rivalry will live up to the hype.”