Volleyball

On Friday and Saturday of last week the Whitley County Lady Colonels volleyball team hosted their Annual First Priority Classic inside the gymnasiums at Whitley County High, Middle and Intermediate Schools. As always, this year’s event featured a talented field of teams including the host Lady Colonels and the Corbin Lady Hounds, as well as East Ridge, Harlan, Rockcastle County, Pulaski County, Letcher County Central, Knox Central, Madison Southern, South Laurel, Jenkins, Leslie County, North Laurel and Jellico, TN. After pool play Friday evening and early Saturday, both Whitley County and Corbin found themselves qualifying for Gold Bracket competition. The Lady Hounds defeated Jenkins, North Laurel and Leslie County to earn...

The 2017 high school volleyball season is nearly upon us, and new developments pertaining to district realignment has added another level of excitement and intrigue for coaches, players and fans alike. After dominating the competition in the 51st District for the past several years, defending 13th Region champions Whitley County now find themselves in the 50th District along with rivals Corbin and South Laurel, as well as newcomers Williamsburg. “Nothing changes a whole lot,” said Lady Colonels Head Coach David Halcomb recently. “ We always play those teams, and those are always competitive matches. Now they’re just going to be more meaningful, with seeding implications. If you can get out of...

History is about to made at Williamsburg High School with the school’s first-ever volleyball team set to take the court this fall. The volleyball Jackets recently held a carwash fundraiser at Forcht Bank in Williamsburg, and during that time new Head Coach Samantha Stuckwisch-Eier took a few minutes to discuss how things have been going with the team so far. Stuckwisch, who recently changed her name to Eier after getting married this summer, grew up in Indiana. She played volleyball at a private school there, and later played for four years at the University of the Cumberlands. She did her student teaching at Williamsburg while studying at UC, and will be...

2016 has been a year of mostly ups for the Whitley County Lady Colonels volleyball team, but there have been a few bumps in the road along the way. The Colonels won eleven of their first 12 games this season, including victories over North Laurel on August 20 and September 6. They lost to North during pool play of their Annual First Priority Volleyball Classic, however, and the Lady Jags would later eliminate them from tournament play as well. Whitley resumed their winning ways from late September to early October, recording victories in seven of their next nine contests after hosting the First Priority Classic. Among those victories were W’s over...

  Read on for the latest developments from this year's 13th Region volleyball tournament, being held at Whitley County High School... THURSDAY: After a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-18) victory over the Corbin Lady Hounds Thursday night, the Whitley County Lady Colonels are your 2016 13th Region champions. "I'm very excited to be going back to state," said Whitley senior Laura Richardson after the win. "With it being my senior year, I think it's going to be a great way to go out with a bang. I'm so happy to be playing with these girls, and we've had such a great season. I'm just very proud of everybody." Freshman Grace Barton said, "I think we...

After a 3-0 (25-19, 25-5, 25-14) win over Knox Central Thursday evening, the Whitley County Lady Colonels volleyball team are once again 51st District champions. The district title win took place at Barbourville High School Thursday, and it improved the Lady Colonels to 27-9 on the year. Whitley will now shift their focus to this year's 13th Region tournament, which they will be hosting next week. Look in the 10/26 print edition of the News Journal for coverage from the 2016 13th Region volleyball tourney.

The Corbin Lady Hounds advanced to Tuesday night's 50th District championship at North Laurel High School by winning a five set thriller against South Laurel on Monday (see the full story in the 10/19 edition of the News Journal). The Hounds met up with the host Lady Jaguars in the district finals, but this time they didn't need a full five sets to get the job done. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 25-23 wins in sets one and two. Set three went to North, 25-16, but Corbin came back and won set four, once again by a score of 25-23. This 3-1 victory improves the Lady Hounds to...

The Whitley County Lady Colonels volleyball team improved to 20-6 on the year Monday, defeating Corbin in three straight sets (25-18, 26-24, 25-22). The game, played at Corbin, was a rematch from September 15, when the Lady Hounds traveled down the road to Williamsburg and came away with a thrilling 3-2 win (20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 15-5). Every time these two 13th Region rival teams take the court against each other things are sure to get heated. It’s always competitive, and Monday’s contest was no exception. Despite the 3-0 final score, all three sets of the match were hotly contested. Whitley County looked to be in control of set one, but Corbin...

The Corbin Lady Hounds came into last week’s First Priority Volleyball Classic with some positive momentum after picking up a thrilling 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 15-5) win over Whitley County on Thursday, September 15. The early stages of the classic did not go well for the Hounds, however, as they went 0-3 in pool play, placing them in the Silver Bracket competition Saturday afternoon. Luckily, they were able to make some adjustments and bounce back, winning three straight games over Pendleton County, Somerset and Rockcastle County to become champions of the bracket, ending the tournament on a high note after their disappointing start. This victory was especially sweet for Corbin’s...

The following Senior Spotlight feature appeared in the September 14, 2016 edition of the News Journal... For this week’s Senior Spotlight, the Whitley County High School volleyball team’s four senior players talk about their experiences as a Lady Colonel, this year’s First Priority Classic, their hopes for the future and more. Laura Richardson, 17, is a middle hitter who is in her seventh year competing in volleyball. She said, “When I started playing in middle school I was just looking for a sport to play and be involved with, but since then I’ve spent so much time with it that I’ve really come to love it. Being a senior, I know...