Lady Royals battle Lady Saints

The Mason County Lady Royals headed downtown Thursday night to take on the St. Pat Lady Saints on the volleyball court.

Both teams played tough, with the Lady Saints coming into the came off of a tough loss to the Paris Lady Hounds, going 3-0, and the Lady Royals coming in hot off of a 2-0 win over the Bath County Lady Cats, and a 3-2 loss to Pendleton County, a team that swept the Lady Royals in each of their contests in 2023.

Throughout set one, both teams kept the game close, with the Lady Saints pulling ahead 5-3, but the Lady Royals were able to bring the game back, tying 5-5, and pulling ahead for a two point lead, leading 7-5 over St. Pat. This trend would continue throughout the first set, with both teams keeping the contest close. Eventually, Mason County pulled ahead to lead 22-13 over the Lady Saints, closing out the first set for a victory, leading 1-0 over St. Pat in the contest.

The game would stay a close match throughout set two, with the Lady Saints fighting back to buildup a lead, eventually pulling away to take it 25-20, tying the contest 1-1 with the Lady Royals.

“That second set we just kinda fell apart. I will say, we have a young team and right now we are inexperienced so getting that experience and learning how to battle and not give up, and play hard from the beginning to the end is something that we’re working on.” said Lady Royals head coach Nellie Book.

Heading into set three tied, both the Lady Royals and Lady Saints refused to quit, once again playing a close set, neither able to build up a solid lead throughout the early points of the contest. Mason County pulled ahead 10-7 early, with St. Pat tying the contest 10-10 shortly after, and pulling ahead to lead 11-10. The Lady Saints would then build up a 13-11 lead over Mason County, but the Lady Royals kept their composure and came back to lead 18-16. From this point on, the Lady Royals stayed on top, and finished out set three victorious, winning 25-18, now leading 2-1 in the contest.

“They played really well and was able to battle back after that second game, so I’m very pleased. St. Pat has a good team, their 32 was phenomenal in the front, back row, she was hustling and she definitely made us work.” said coach Book.

After a game full of close sets, tough battles and narrow victories, the Mason County Lady Royals returned to the court in set four eager for another victory. The Lady Royals quickly built up a solid lead, and stayed on top of the Lady Saints throughout the contest, leading 20-5 near the end of the fourth set. This momentum carried them throughout the remainder of the game, pulling out even further ahead of St. Pat, closing out set four with a 25-6 victory.

“They just got momentum and when they get confidence, they play better. They were a little bit more confident in that third set, after picking it back up and winning, and after winning the third one they were more confident in the fourth.” said Lady Royals assistant coach, Josh Book.

After four sets of play the Lady Royals walked off the court with another victory under their belts, and although they fell, the Lady Saints put up a strong fight against another tough opponent. Mason County now gears up to head to Flemingsburg this morning to take part in the Lady Panthers’ Seeds for Success tournament, while the Lady Saints prepare to travel to Augusta to take on the Lady Panthers Tuesday evening.

“Tonight we had a lot of mistakes in the front row, with our attack so we definitely got some work there to prepare, and we’ll just keep pushing.” said coach Book.