Region-2 Player of the Year Hannah Watkins powered the Henderson County volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over UHA in the region title match Thursday night in Union County. University Heights entered the match on a 5-game win streak and was appearing in its first regional championship since 2014, but ends the season at 25-15 overall. The Lady Colonels move on to the state tournament after improving to 22-11 on the year.
The Lady Blazers took an early lead in the opening set, but back-to-back kills by Watkins tied it at 5-5. An ace by UHA’s Meghan Adams nudged the Lady Blazers in front at 17-16, but that would be their last point of the set. Henderson reeled off the next 9 to win 25-17 and go up 1-0.
UHA never led in the second set, trailing 10-15 after a kill by Henderson’s Kaylee Stot. A miraculous effort to get the ball over the net from deep behind the back line led to the Lady Colonels’ final point of a 25-18 victory.
After a back-and-forth opening to the third set, an ace by Evelyn Morales knotted it at 11-11. The Lady Colonels responded with a 4-0 run to force a UHA timeout. A kill by Katie Stevens pulled the Lady Blazers to within 3 at 17-20, but that would be as close as they would get as Henderson closed out the match with a 25-19 win.
