HANCEVILLE, Ala. — The third-ranked Good Hope Lady Raiders made the short trip over to Lane Horton Gymnasium to take on the Hanceville Lady Bulldogs in the region opener for both teams. Good Hope ended up sweeping Hanceville in three straight sets.
Good Hope 25 – Hanceville 11 (First Set)
Good Hope didn’t waste any time getting off to a quick start in the first set as kills by Ivey Maddox and Carley Adams and a pair of aces from Emma Bailey helped them jump out to a quick 5-0 lead. Hanceville trimmed it to 5-2 on an ace from Charity Barnes, but the Lady Raiders quickly pushed their lead to 10-3 on a point by Adams. An ace from Maddox and a kill by Molly Benefield increased Good Hope’s lead to 12-4, but Hanceville went on a mini run of their own thanks in large part to a Katie Twilley kill and back-to-back aces from Eden Clements, as that helped them cut it to 12-7. The Lady Raiders later countered with back-to-back aces from Mackenzie Cruce to make it 15-7; a Johnson kill made it 16-7. A Campbell Koch ace pushed Good Hope’s lead to 20-8. A point by Hanceville’s Makenzie Twilley cut it to 21-10, but the Lady Raiders were too much for them at the end as Maddox delivered the game-winning point to help give them a 25-11 win in the first set.
Good Hope 25 – Hanceville 10 (Second Set)
Both teams were tied at two early on in the second set, then Good Hope reeled off five straight points, as two of those points came via aces from Adams, to break the tie and give them a 7-2 lead. Aaliyah Twitty collected a point and Karys Henderson followed that up with an ace as Hanceville ended up cutting it to 7-5. The Lady Raiders, though, went on an 8-0 run as Maddox collected four aces during the run, and that saw them widen their lead to 15-5. Hanceville cut it to 18-9 later on in the set, but Good Hope finished the set strong as Johnson collected a kill to make it 19-9. Bailey went on an ace spree to end the set as she collected four out of the final six points, as the Lady Raiders rolled to a 25-9 win to take a 2-0 lead into the third set.
Good Hope 25 – Hanceville 19 (Third Set)
The third set saw a completely different Hanceville team as they stuck with Good Hope for the majority of the set. The Lady Bulldogs broke a 3-3 tie with three in a row to give them a 6-3 lead, but Maddox went on an ace spree of her own as she collected a trio of aces to give them a 7-6 lead. A kill by Aaliyah Twitty helped give Hanceville the lead right back at 9-7. Six straight points by the Lady Raiders included a pair of Cruce aces and a point by Johnson as that gave them a 13-9 lead. An ace from Olivia Stallings trimmed the deficit to just two at 13-11, but Good Hope quickly pushed their lead to 16-11. Back-to-back kills by Johnson made it an 18-12 contest, but the Lady Bulldogs were far from done, though. They scored the next four points, including a point by Clements, and a Barnes ace, to make it an 18-16 game. Good Hope got an ace from Marlee Wix to give them a 21-17 lead, but Hanceville later made it a 22-19 game. The Lady Raiders got a point from Jolee McHan, a kill by Johnson, and another Cruce ace, to finish off the third set as they completed their sweep of a feisty Lady Bulldog squad, 25-19.
Good Hope will continue region play Thursday when they travel to take on Oneonta and Hanceville will travel to take on Fairview and Dora at Fairview.
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