West Jessamine cruised to its 21st win of the season Tuesday night with a 3-0 sweep of rival East Jessamine.
The game was held in conjunction with both teams’ Dig Pink effort to raise money for cancer research; the two programs combined to raise more than $1,000.
On the court, it was Lady Colts who won the battle, defeating East for a second time this season and securing the No. 1 seed in the district.
“Our purpose coming in here was knowing that we’re probably going to play them in the district and to realize this was a district game to get us to the region,” West Jessamine coach Debbie Rose said. “We worked really hard on having our focus ready and running our game plan to hit the ball hard.
West was in control from the start and jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first game. A couple early kills by Ashlee Rose helped build West’s momentum.
East took a timeout at 13-6, but it did little to deter West’s attack. Coming out of the timeout, Lena Samaan served three aces to push the lead to 23-9. A kill by East’s Morgan Adams finally snapped the run.
The Lady Jags sent the ensuing serve into the net, and West closed out the game 25-11.
“We were able to get some passes and run some plays; the kids were trying things and having a good time,” coach Rose said.
After jumping out to a 6-0 lead in game two, West faulted, allowing East to climb back into the game 7-6.
Thanks to two more aces by Samaan, the Lady Colts got some more breathing room and extended the lead to 11-6.
“We just didn’t click as a team,” East Jessamine coach Hannah Wheeler said. “Whenever the pass was there, we couldn’t put it away.”
Following an ace by Rose, East called a timeout looking at a 15-7 deficit. Coming out of the break, West went on a 10-3 run to win game two 25-10 and take a 2-0 lead.
Another strong run to open the third game gave West a 5-0 advantage. Senior Amy Gatliff had two aces during the run.
East was able to get as close as two points at 6-4, but the Lady Colts kicked it into high gear again to pull away. Samaan and Rose each picked up kills, and Rose had an ace to force an East timeout at 10-5.
A 15-4 run by West ended the night with a 25-9 win in game three.
“This was a good one for us to get some confidence,” coach Rose said.
“I felt like this was an improvement from the first time, but the team effort and playing together just wasn’t clicking tonight,” Wheeler said.
The win was West’s seventh in a row and fourth in a row against East Jessamine.
The Lady Jaguars have lost six in a row.
West will be the No. 1 seed in the district tournament with a 5-0 mark; East will be the No. 4 seed, setting up a third meeting for the rivals in early October.
