The Coffee County CHS volleyball team celebrates following a stirring come from behind win over Warren County on Monday night
Fighting off a match point in the second set and struggling through service error problems in the 3rd set, the Lady Raiders overcame a tough Warren County team in a 3 set thriller on Monday in McMinnville. The Lady Raiders saw a first set lead slip away as they dropped the first set, only to roar back from a huge second set deficit to capture the set and the win in an exciting hard fought match. Earlier in the evening, Coffee County had swept Van Buren County to open the season with a record of 2 and 0.
Against Warren County, Coffee County won by set scores of 23-25, 26-24 and 25-23. Trailing by 7 points in the first set, the Lady Raiders battled back to take a 19 to 17 lead before the Lady Pioneers took the set on a controversial “double touch.” The second set did not start out much better as Coffee County fell behind 10 to 4 only to tie the match at 19 and fight off Warren County’s lone match point with an Aerial Williams spike. Williams calmly retreated to the service line and closed out the come from behind win with an ace. In the decisive 3rd set, Coffee County jumped out to a 14 to 7 lead only to see the Lady Pioneers tie it at 16. From there, the 2 teams battled to the wire before Coffee County captured the last 2 points for the win. Baylee Nester led Coffee County in aces with 3 and kills with 6. Aerial Williams also had 6 kills and a pair of blocks. Rachel Henley added 9 assists and Tyana Fenton gathered up 9 digs.
In the opening match, Coffee County dispatched Van Buren County 25 to 11 and 25 to 13. Rachel Henley started off both games with a string of aces to give Coffee County a lead they would not relinquish. Henley led Coffee County in aces with 8 and assists with 11. Aerial Williams had 6 of Coffee County’s 18 kills. Haylee Skipper added 5.
When asked about his team’s tenacity in the comeback win over Warren County, Coach Andrew Taylor had this to say:
The Lady Raiders travel to Shelbyville on Tuesday night as they open up district play against the Eaglettes at 6 PM. The Lady Raiders have their home opener on Thursday night in a 6 PM battle with Tullahoma.
