After defeating McNairy, the CCHS Volleyball team played South Side in the district semifinals – one win away from progressing to the region tournament.
South Side beat Chester County each time they played each other in the regular season, but the Chester County girls gave it their all and made South Side fight for the win.
“South Side has beaten us every time this year and my girls did not let that get to them. They came out tonight ready to swing. Ready to fight,” Head Coach Emily Ellis said.
In a close first set, Chester County came out on top 25-22 to give them the lead.
The South Side Hawks unfortunately responded with two back-to-back winning sets with scores of 25-19 and 25-17.
Thus, the Lady Eagles were down two sets but stayed focus and won the third set with as much as a 6-point lead during the set and won 25-21.
“You sometimes worry that after the other team gets two sets up on you that they’re going to give up, but they didn’t. They fought back and I could not be more proud of how hard they worked,” Ellis said.
At that time the two teams battled in the fifth set with CCHS being the first team to get a point. They took a 7-3 lead, but the Hawks battled back and kept it close. With a few questionable calls in favor of the Hawks in the last set when it mattered, eventually, South Side score the fifteenth point first to win the game 15-13 to leave Chester County fans and players heartbroken with this game that was so close. It mattered to the girls not only from it ending their season but also with the fact that they almost beat the rival team that had the best of them through the regular season.
“They pushed through every point, Ellis said.
From the wins and losses to the injuries they had to adjust to and overcome, Ellis said that she could not be more proud of this 2023 CCHS Volleyball team.
“They came together as a team and a family… We definitely had our ups and downs. We had lots of injuries, but our girls have adjusted and done what they need to do for the person next to them and I could not be more proud.”
With the season record of , seniors Jayla Gately, Jena Melton, Brooklynn Butler, Blakely Wilson, Lexi Harwell and Hannah Rich saw the end of their high school volleyball careers.
