The Case for Elizabethtown Volleyball
It is the 2017 season and another volleyball year in the 5th Region and one thing is certain in that the Lady Panthers of Elizabethtown will be a factor.
Since the inception of volleyball in the 5th Region, the Lady Panthers have been a factor in nearly every race to decide who goes to the KHSAA State Tournament and in the cases of 2007 and 2015 have actually represented the Region winning the title both times against Central Hardin.
For head coach Bart Catlett, this could be one of those teams in which the mixture of six seniors along with several returnees will help give the Lady Panthers an advantage in a Region which has softened a bit over the last several seasons.
Elizabethtown has one of the most dangerous middle hitters in senior Morgan Gattis and one of the best setters to start the offense in senior Saylor Sandlin. Sandlin is also one of the best defensive back row players in the game and has on many occasion stopped a rally by the opposition or started one for Catlett’s team.
Senior Maddie Reding has asserted herself as one of the best outside hitters in the area and Cate Prather has played like a veteran the last several seasons. Senior Kayla Peace has been a stabilizing factor the last several seasons as has defensive specialist Anna Thomas.
Catlett will be also expecting bigger contributions from several underclassman on a team which lost only one senior from last year’s squad that finished with 24-wins, but was surprised by Bardstown in the second round of the Region Tournament.
Last year’s team responded well to the challenge of trying to be the first Elizabethtown team to repeat as Region Champions, despite losing eight seniors (many were major contributors to their last season run) and for the Lady Panthers it always seems to come down to them and their District rival Central Hardin. In the past, it always seemed like no matter what happened or how deep Elizabethtown was there always seemed to be some one just a little bit better at the time. That was true when Green County and Bethlehem was consistently mounting a challenge, but with several teams in the region going through a rebuilding period the team which could be the biggest challenge other than the Lady Bruins could be Taylor County who took Central Hardin to five games last season in the 5th Region Tournament. So with the season about to get underway, it be interesting to watch Elizabethtown as they attempt to wrestle the Region Title away from the challengers in what appears to be another wild season.
