LOG MOUNTAIN — The Bell County Lady Cats celebrated Think Pink night with a dominant performance Tuesday. Bell swept Clay County 25-14, 25-9 behind the strong service games of Katie Jarvis and Danielle Parks.
The Lady Cats donned pink T-shirts for the match to raise awareness for breast cancer and also raised money through donations for area cancer treatment centers.
“These girls came out ready to play today. They wanted to show all of their support and everything for the ‘Think Pink’ game and breast cancer awareness. They wanted to do that in honor of Mrs. Remona Fuson at Frakes and anyone else who is a breast cancer survivor,” said Lady Cat coach Amber Hinkle. “They wanted to come out and show they were here to mean business and that’s what they did.”
Bell took control of the first set early on. A bump-kill by Kaitlyn Dean tied the score at one and Parks ripped three straight jump serves that the Lady Tigers were unable to return and it was quickly 4-1.
A kill from Jarvis followed by an ace from Courtney Cinnamon made it 8-4. Later in the set, Kaylynn Gibson strung together three service points, including a kill from Sydney Gray, as the lead grew to 15-8.
Clay’s Rachyl Harmon had a pair of service points to keep the set going, but Parks came on to serve and delivered five straight points for a 21-10 Lady Cat lead.
Ailenna Sexton served up an ace for Clay County and Bell misfired on a pair of spikes — one went into the net and the other sailed long — but the Lady Tigers would get no closer than 21-14.
Jarvis stopped the run with a strong spike that bounced off a Clay player and into the net. She then provided the final two points on kills as Gray served out the set.
“I think we only had one or two service errors per set, which is really good for us,” Hinkle added. “If we’re getting our serves in and bump, set, hitting — then we’re ready to play ball.”
It was more of the same in the second set as Gibson came up with a block on the opening point and then added three service points, with Parks providing a kill, and the Lady Cats led 4-0.
Clay held their own over the next several points with Shayla Grubb and Morgan Dubbles providing service points as Bell’s lead was only 12-6 when Jarvis came on to serve. She sent a stream of low liners that the Lady Tigers were unable to handle, including three aces, during an 11-0 run that put the Lady Cats firmly in control. Parks had four kills during the run and Gray and Gibson also won points at the net as the lead grew to 23-6.
Harmon provided a couple of service points to keep the match going. But Madison Allen subbed in to serve for Bell with a 24-9 lead, and after a long rally, Parks ended it with a clean kill as the Lady Cats took the second set 25-9.
It was the regular season finale for both teams. Clay County (8-12) will play in the 49th District Tournament next week while Bell County (7-21) will take on Harlan Monday in the 52nd District Tournament at Middlesboro.
“The girls are really excited about it. We know Harlan Independent will be gunning for us because we’re 2-0 against them. We’re going to practice all this week and see where next week takes us,” Hinkle said.
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