Henry Clay headed to state volleyball tournament for sixth time in seven years

For a moment it seemed in doubt, but Henry Clay got its motor purring strongly enough Thursday night to take a 3-1 match victory over Tates Creek in the 11th Region finals at Madison Central.

Hallie Shelton had a double-double with 19 kills and 19 digs to lead Henry Clay, which advanced to the state tournament for the second straight year and sixth time in the last seven seasons. The Blue Devils won three straight sets — 25-19, 25-20 and 25-16 — after giving up game one to the Commodores, 25-21. They won their 21st straight match against Tates Creek, a streak dating to 2005.

Now Henry Clay will look to become the ultimate streak-stopper as it hopes to become the first public school in state history to win a volleyball championship. The Blue Devils open the tournament against No. 13 McCracken County, whom it defeated in straight sets at home on Oct. 15, at 8 p.m. next Friday at Valley High School.

“We want to win state,” Shelton said. “Doing this was our very first step.”

“This” was what Henry Clay Coach Dale Grupe called a public school state championship. The Blue Devils and Commodores were ranked fourth and sixth, respectively; the other teams in the top six in the latest coaches’ poll were all private schools.

Tates Creek overcame an early three-point hole in the first set to put Henry Clay in a 1-0 hole out of the gate. The Commodores threatened further as they pulled ahead 5-0 in the second set, prompting Grupe to call a timeout. Henry Clay scored nine of the game’s next 11 points to take a 9-7 lead which Tates Creek couldn’t erase.

Facing a 12-9 deficit in game three, the Blue Devils rattled off 10 of the next 11 points (including taking their first lead of the game at 14-13) and created enough distance to keep Tates Creek at bay.

“At times we didn’t have our best play … and they brought their game,” Grupe said. “But I thought we fought over those moments. Kids didn’t get their heads down, teammates kept pumping each other up and everybody worked themselves out of any funk that they were going to get into.”

Henry Clay was much sharper in its clinching set, storming out to a 7-2 lead after Tates Creek went ahead 2-0.

Kaitlyn Hord, a Penn State commit, finished with 12 kills and a team-high six blocks. Darby Music ended with a team-high 21 digs.

Tates Creek (31-8) had its season end in the 11th Region finals for the fourth time in five years.

“I feel sorry for the seniors on the other side,” Grupe said. “They’ve had an awesome season and an awesome career at Tates Creek. It’s hard to come down to this.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Henry Clay headed to state volleyball tournament for sixth time in seven years."