OLIVE HILL Barring an upset, Thursday night was not West Carters final match on John Hop Brown Court this season. That wasnt going to stop the Lady Comets from playing like it was the last time with their rivals in town.

West Carter used scoring spurts in the first two sets to gain the advantage and finished off the 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-17) sweep of East Carter to earn its 14th win of the season.

This group of girls has been playing together for a long time, West Carter coach Christie Tackett said. They communicate well together, and we just work really hard. We have several good, strong and well-skilled players. They have been doing this for a long time. We are strong up front, and I think we have the best setter in the region.

West Carter has five seniors on the roster. Peyton Steagall has made an impact on the program and had the same effect on the opening set, collecting seven kills. Her team ended the frame scoring 11 of the last 13 points to take the early lead.

I think we all make an impact on the team, Steagall said. It really depends on the game and who is doing good at the time.

I think its our hard work and dedication, she added. I believe that is what makes us so good. We are in (the gym) every day and sometimes we come in on Sundays.

Tackett said Steagalls confidence and demeanor on the court and her calming effect off of it helps her lead.

She is a beast, Tackett said. She is a go-getter. She is the always the one that comes up to me when she can tell that Im nervous and says, Dont worry Christie, we got this. Its that senior experience coming through. She showed it tonight. She didnt have any nerves. She said that we are going to get this done and she meant it.

East Carter (7-3) grabbed a 10-8 lead, its first of the match, in Set 2 after an Alexis Thompson kill. The Lady Comets found another offensive punch with five straight points. Rebecca Stevens had three consecutive aces during the surge and West Carter increased its lead to 2-0.

We came out strong and we remembered that earlier game this season, said Tackett, who referred to a 3-2 win over Lady Raiders earlier this year. We played a little relaxed and we didnt want to do that tonight. When you are playing good teams, you never want to relax. They didnt let up. East Carter is a pretty good ball club.

The Lady Raiders kept fighting in the third set. They shrunk the deficit midway through the frame to 15-13 but could get no closer. Steagall punctuated the victory with a final kill. The force of the shot hit the West Carter (14-2) side of the net but found its way over for the point.

We are a scrappy team, but they get so down on themselves, East Carter coach Jennifer Clark said. They set such high expectations for themselves. They get disappointed when they are not doing well. On the other side of it, there was more that I could have done as a coach to prepare them. I think it falls on my shoulders.

Unofficially, Steagall finished with 12 kills for the Lady Comets. Stevens added eight. Madison Adkins dished out 20 assists. Thompson tallied four kills for the Lady Raiders.

The 16th Region Tournament will be held in Olive Hill and West Carter hopes it will see the home court three more times. Steagall believed the Lady Comets performance on Thursday night was a fitting end for their regular season home finale.

Its bittersweet for me, Steagall said. Its sad that its coming to an end, but I wouldnt want to beat anybody else on this court.

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msparks@dailyindependent.com

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West in beast mode: Lady Comets top East Carter in sweep - The Independent