Lady Pioneers Fall in Five-Set District Matchup

Brent Carden Photos

Warren County held the lead late in the decisive fifth set matchup Thursday night, but the White County Warriorettes rallied late to hand the Lady Pioneers a 3-2 district loss. 

After suffering a pair of losses earlier in the week, the Lady Pioneers showed plenty of fight against White County, winning the opening and third sets before taking a 9-6 lead in the decisive fifth set. However, White County closed the match with a 15-12 victory. 

For Warren County coach Erin Blalock, the message entering the match was simple. 

“We knew how important this one was gonna be,” Blalock said. “We lost a couple of real close matches early in the week, and we just needed to finish.” 

The Lady Pioneers came out playing with the intensity and energy Blalock was looking for, taking control of the opening set early and building a 16-10 advantage. With the Lady Pioneers beginning to create separation, White County was forced to call a timeout. 

White County responded after the timeout, cutting the Lady Pioneers’ lead to two at 23-21 and putting pressure on Warren County late in the set. 

Blalock called a timeout looking to regroup her team as they looked to protect their lead and finish the set. 

Warren County responded to the timeout well by holding off White County’s late push and closing out a 25-22 victory. 

After coming away with the first-set win, Blalock wanted her team to continue playing its style. “We really just needed to come out and play our game and not our opponent’s game. We know what their game is, and we really just needed to come out with the same energy as we had in the first set,” said Blalock. 

White County jumped out to a 9-3 lead and maintained control throughout the second set. The Lady Pioneers made several pushes, including cutting the deficit to two late, but the Warriorettes answered each time to regain momentum. White County closed out the set 25-18 to even the match. 

“I think we just maybe got a little comfortable, or didn’t quite execute the things that we needed to,” Blalock said. “We let White County get back some of that momentum, and they ran with it for the rest of the night.” 

The Lady Pioneers responded in the third set, quickly regaining control after the momentum had shifted to White County. Natalie Payne delivered some energy with a kill to even the score and helped spark Warren County’s stretch. 

The Lady Pioneers scored five straight points to turn the even score into a 9-5 lead. Warren County built on the momentum from Payne and pushed its advantage to 11-5, forcing the Warriorettes to call a timeout. 

Warren County continued to control the set and built a commanding 19-9 lead, although White County did make a push late in the set and closed the gap 21-17. After the Lady Pioneers came out of a timeout, they managed to close the set strong, earning a 25-17 victory. 

In the fourth set, neither team was about to establish much separation during the opening points, but White County found a rhythm, taking control of the set. Warren County battled back from a deficit, cutting the lead to four at 12-8 before eventually tying the set at 13. 

The teams traded points back and forth from there, but the Lady Pioneers could not regain the lead. The Warriorettes opened a 19-15 advantage and held on to win the fourth set 25-19, forcing a decisive fifth set. 

With the match coming down to the final set, neither team could gain an early advantage. The teams battled through six straight ties, with neither side able to gain an early advantage. 

Warren County finally broke through and created the separation they needed. The Lady Pioneers scored three straight points to take the advantage 9-6, forcing White County to call a timeout. 

White County refused to go away, cutting the deficit to 12-11 before taking its first lead of  the set 13-12. Warren County called a timeout but the Warriorettes carried their momentum through the final two points to escape with a 15-12 victory. 

“We play well and do a lot of really good things when we execute all the things that we are supposed to,” Blalock said. 

Maelee Turner led Warren County with 18 assists, Natalie Payne had 12 kills and Sloan Youngblood was right behind her with 11 kills along with 11 digs. 

Although Warren County came up short on tonight’s match, the Lady Pioneers showed their resilience throughout the five-set match and put themselves in position to win the match before White County’s late rally. 

The Lady Pioneers return to action this Friday and Saturday playing in the Choo Choo Classic.