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<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILLIAMSBURG \u2014 Whitley County\u2019s run at a state championship came to an end on Monday, dropping a three-set loss to Paintsville at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lady Colonels have no reason to hang their heads after turning in a stellar season that saw them post a 29-11 mark while capturing their third consecutive 13th Region championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust first want to thank all of our fans for coming out tonight,\u201d Whitley County coach David Halcomb said. \u201cOur gym was about packed and I\u2019m very appreciative of everyone\u2019s support. The match just didn\u2019t turn out the way we had hoped and we didn\u2019t play well enough to give ourselves a chance. Have to give Paintsville a lot of credit \u2014 they have a very good team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe knew coming in that they had two extremely good hitters, but their passing was better than I expected,\u201d he added. \u201cI thought going in that if we could utilize the court and be precise with where we put the ball, we could neutralize their ability to hit the ball some. We just never could adjust to their quick tempo offense and struggled defending it. We had some spans where we played pretty well, just couldn\u2019t maintain it. Even though it didn\u2019t end the way we wanted it to, it\u2019s been a great season for us. This will go down as one of the best seasons in the history of our volleyball program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEverybody around this area thought this was the year to get us, but our girls believed they could be special and they were,\u201d Halcomb continued. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more proud of my team. The improvement we made from the beginning of the season to now is phenomenal and we reached our goal of winning a region championship. This is one of my favorite groups and they have my admiration for giving me all they had this season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paintsville entered the match with a 25-11 mark, after capturing the 15th Region championship with a 3-0 win over Johnson Central.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lady Tigers wasted little time taking control of the match against Whitley County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paintsville won the first set, 25-19, and jumped out to a 16-5 lead in the second set before cruising to a 25-10 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n