The Christian County Lady Tigers showed what it means to keep competing Saturday.
After a difficult opening night at the Summer Slam Down, Head Coach Zach Hardison and his team had a choice. They could allow Friday’s results to define their weekend, or they could come back Saturday ready for another opportunity.
The Lady Tigers chose to respond.
Christian County swept its way through the Copper Division on Saturday, defeating Edmonson County, Madisonville-North Hopkins and Carlisle County 2-0 to capture the division championship at the Summer Slam Down, hosted by Owensboro Apollo at Brescia University.
The championship was especially meaningful because of the road Christian County took to get there.
The Lady Tigers opened pool play Friday with three challenging matches. Christian County fell 2-1 to Muhlenberg County, 2-0 to Bullitt East and 2-1 to North Hardin. Instead of allowing those losses to carry into the next day, the Lady Tigers returned to the court Saturday and didn’t drop another set.
Three matches. Three sweeps. One division championship.
Madysen Taggart led the Christian County attack throughout the tournament, finishing with 44 kills and seven blocks. Kiley Lambert added 24 kills, while Taylor Cantrell recorded 23 kills and four blocks.
Bailey Brown helped keep the Lady Tiger offense moving, finishing the tournament with 107 assists and nine aces.
Christian County also received strong defensive performances throughout the weekend. Payton Owens led the Lady Tigers with 63 digs, Avery Cook added 38 and Autumn Cook finished with 29.
The numbers show contributions from throughout the Christian County lineup, but the turnaround from Friday to Saturday may say even more about Hardison’s team.
Tournament weekends can test a team’s ability to move on quickly. There isn’t much time to celebrate a win or dwell on a loss before the next match begins. Christian County experienced the difficult side of that Friday night and then returned Saturday determined to write a different ending to its weekend.
They did exactly that.
The Lady Tigers leave the Summer Slam Down with a Copper Division championship and an 8-6 overall record. More importantly, they leave with another example of what can happen when a team responds to adversity by getting back to work.
Christian County won’t have much time to celebrate. The Lady Tigers return home tonight for a first-place showdown with Fort Campbell in the District 8 standings.
After battling through six matches over two days and finishing the weekend by raising a division championship, Hardison and the Lady Tigers will return to the court with momentum — and another big opportunity waiting.
