Published: October 15, 2008 03:09 pm            

HAPPY ENDING

Lady Raiders end regular season with victory, a new best 23 wins

The Lady Raiders celebrated Senior Night in winning fashion on Thursday evening by easily downing North Laurel in the regular season finale at McCreary Central.

The victory was the 23rd of the season for the volleyball team, which is the most single season wins in the program’s history, topping the 21 wins by the 2006 squad.

The Lady Raiders made easy work of North Laurel squad in two straight frames, downing the Lady Jaguars 25-14 and 25-15. The wins was the fourth straight for McCreary Central, who entered the district tournament Monday night with a 23-12 mark for the season.

The Lady Raiders were dominant from the opening serve, and were up by as many as 15 points in the second game before finally closing out the game with a 10-point win.

The win gave the Lady Raiders a 2-1 mark against North Laurel this season. McCreary Central won the first meeting between the two teams in their own invitational tournament early in the season, before falling at North Laurel in two very close matches in the team’s second meeting.

In addition to picking up another solid win, the Lady Raiders also said good-bye to a foursome of seniors that have played a part in both of the program’s 20-win seasons.

Seniors Tasha Abbott, Rachel Bryant, Brooke Jones and Whitney Phillips were honored before they took the court to dismantle North Laurel. The four were sophomores when the Lady Raiders won 21 games in 2006.

The Lady Raiders’ four-game winning streak to end the regular season comes at a good time as the team enters tournament play. The Lady Raiders have beaten every team in the district at least once this season, and opened the tournament on Monday night against Russell County, but the game was played after press time.

        

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