The Hopkinsville Lady Tigers may have finished 0-5 over the weekend at the West Kentucky Smackdown Volleyball Tournament at the Planters Bank-Jennie Stuart Health Sportsplex, but coach Laykin Peek isn’t looking at the record.
“I’m extremely proud of the heart these girls played with,” Peek said. “I was honestly speechless a couple of those games.”
The Lady Tigers opened the tournament against Garrard County and fell 25-22, 25-21. Madysen Taggart and Sarah Gilliam each had four kills and Taggart added a pair of blocks and three aces. Alayna King had 16 assists and Kyleigh Weber had 11 digs.
Hoptown dropped its next match 25-18, 25-17 to Caldwell County. King had eight assists and two digs while Weber had 19 digs and Lainey Stewart had eight digs and two aces.
Taggart added seven kills, nine digs, and three aces.
Owensboro Catholic defeated Hoptown 25-7, 25-10 in the third match of the day. Stewart and Taggart each had a pair of kills. Weber had 14 digs and Vanessa Rubio had seven digs.
In the fourth match, the Lady Tigers fell to Union County 25-18, 25-22. Stewart had four kills and six aces and Weber had 22 digs.
In Hoptown’s final match of the day, University Heights Academy grabbed a 25-17, 25-21 victory. Taggart had a huge game with eight kills, two blocks, and 10 digs. King had seven assists and eight digs and Weber provided 13 digs. Kaley Bangart also had 12 digs for the Lady Tigers.
Hopkinsville fell to 0-6 on the season and is scheduled to play tonight at Hopkins County Central.
Photos by Peyton Biaquis