Harrison County’s Mae Heimlich makes a return against the Lady Bears on Sept. 16, 2025.
Bracken County’s Sophia Bachman sends the ball over the net against the Harrison County Fillies on Sept. 16, 2025.
The Bracken County Lady Bears hosted the Harrison County Fillies on the volleyball court on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
The Lady Bears sat at 8-2 on the season at the beginning of the game, having lost to the Calvary Christian Lady Cougars and the Scott Lady Eagles. After defeating Pendleton County 3-0 last week, Bracken County returned to their home gym, ready to defeat a team they have struggled against in the past.
Harrison County entered their game with the Lady Bears 7-6 on the season, hoping to bounce back after a disappointing loss to Bishop Brossart last Thursday, Sept. 11.
Both teams played tough in the first set, with neither able to build up a solid lead. Bracken County led 5-4 before finally pulling ahead to lead 10-5 midway through the set. Harrison County rallied to bring the game 18-15 but was unable to catch up to the Lady Bears late in the set. Bracken County won 25-19.
“The first game, we just came out really tough. They wanted this win. I told them they’re going to have to come out and be ready to go,” said Lady Bears head coach, Julie Krift. “We’ve been losing to Harrison County for a long time now, and they didn’t want to lose to Harrison County this year.”
The Lady Bears last defeated the Fillies in October 2014. During that game, Bracken County edged out Harrison 2-1.
The second and third sets were more challenging for Bracken County, as the Fillies worked hard to narrow their lead. The Lady Bears then picked up another early lead in the second set and stayed ahead for much of the early part of the game. Harrison County then tied the game 15-15, though, and eventually pulled off a 25-22 victory to tie the game 1-1.
The Fillies picked up an early lead in the third set, sitting 5-4 over Bracken County. Harrison County was able to maintain and compound on their lead throughout the set, raising the score 25-21 and pulling ahead in the game 2-1.
“Second and third game, we had a hard time picking up the tip that came back over the net every other ball. There was a lot of balls that were just tips. We weren’t playing against pass, set, hit; we were playing against pass tip or just coming over on the first ball,” said Coach Krift. “They had to make some changes and use those for free balls instead of just being okay with having to free-ball it back.”
Down 2-1 heading into the fourth set but still unwilling to lose to Harrison County, the Lady Bears returned to the court determined push the game into five sets.
Bracken County came out in full force in the fourth set, scoring 10-4 over the Fillies and maintaining their lead throughout, securing the win with a score of 25-14 and tying the game 2-2.
In the fifth and final set, Bracken County pulled out ahead early, leading 5-2 over the Fillies. They soon extended their lead to 10-3 and closed out the set 15-6, winning the game 3-2 and defeating Harrison County for the first time in 11 years.
“They’ve got certain games where they’re waiting to beat these teams and Harrison County was one of them,” said Coach Krift. “We knew it was going to be tough, and I figured it would go at least four, probably five and that’s what we did. They played the long run. They did it, so that’s great.”
With this game behind them, as well as a match against the Lewis County Lady Lions that took place on Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Lady Bears’ next time on the court will be next Wednesday, Sept. 24 on the road to Dayton.
Harrison County will be back in action this evening at home against Trinity Christian.
