By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
She had a large bag of ice taped to her right shoulder, but Scott volleyball player Milyn Minor was feeling no pain after her team’s come-from-behind victory over West Jessamine in one of eight first-round matches on the state tournament bracket Monday at Scott.
After losing two of the first three sets, the Eagles won the fourth set, 25-22, and the tiebreaker set, 15-12, to come away with the team’s first state tournament victory since 2014. When Scott students came storming out of the stands to celebrate, Minor was knocked down by the horde of happy fans.
“It felt amazing,” Minor said of the thrilling victory. “We knew everyone was here to support us and they had faith in us. We kept repeating that we have faith in each other and we trusted each other, and we came out with the win.”
Minor’s shoulder needed ice because the 5-foot-10 junior had 26 kills and three service aces during the five-set match.
She got the winning kill in the fourth set and ended the match by pouncing on an errant West Jessamine pass that drifted over the net in the fifth set.
“I don’t even care what the final point looked like,” Minor said. “We finished it and it gave us a win for my teammates, so it was a great feeling.”
Scott (30-11) will play a state quarterfinal match against Paintsville (26-11) at 5 p.m. Friday at George Rogers Clark High School. Neither of those teams was ranked among the top 25 in the statewide coaches poll, but one of them will reach the final four in the state tournament.
Scott coach Andrea Sullivan thinks her team is capable of doing that after the mental toughness the players showed in the 3-2 win over West Jessamine.
“Our big thing was we knew we’d face some adversity tonight,” Sullivan said. “We knew that we would make mistakes through out the match. We knew that things would happen that we didn’t plan on. We just found a way to overcome those things and focus on the next point.”
In the fourth set, the Eagles fell behind, 13-7, and rallied to take a 19-15 lead. During that crucial 12-2 scoring run, junior Morgan Justice got four kills while Minor, Elise Manhardt and Ryan Grigsby each got a service ace.
After West Jessamine tied the set, 21-21, Grigsby scored on a kill and an ace to put Scott back on top and Minor got the final point with a kill. In the tiebreaker set, the Eagles got four of their last seven points on kills by Justice, Grigsby, Brooklyn Helm and Minor.
“We have lot of different options as far as attackers and different things we can do,” coach Sullivan said. “It all depends on our pass. If our pass is good, then we have a chance to be pretty successful.”
Grigsby was credited with 46 assists for the Eagles. Helm finished with 10 kills, followed by Justice with nine and Peyton Grigsby with eight.
Volleyball state tournament schedule
MONDAY — UPPER BRACKET
Bowling Green 3, Heritage Christian 0
Louisville Mercy 3, North Oldham 1
Paintsville 3, Whitley County 0
Scott 3, West Jessamine 2 (25-16, 14-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12),
MONDAY — LOWER BRACKET
McCracken County 3, Owensboro 0
Louisville Assumption 3, Central Hardin 0
Knott County Central 3, Ashland Blazer 1
Notre Dame 3, Lexington Catholic 0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-18)
FRIDAY AT GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
Upper bracket quarterfinals
Bowling Green vs. Louisville Mercy, 11 a.m.
Scott vs. Paintsville, 5 p.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinals
Louisville Assumption vs. McCracken County, 1:30 p.m.
Notre Dame vs. Knott County Central, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY AT GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
Semifinal matches, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Championship match, 7:30 p.m.