LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — BARBOURVILLE—When South Laurel saw Knox Central play in the Lady Colonel First Priority Volleyball Classic at Whitley County recently, coach Fawn Greer was impressed by the improvements the Lady Panthers had made.

So much so that she warned her team not to take them too lightly when they met Thursday.

“We watched them and I told the girls they are better,” Greer said. “They have a different style and they hustle. They have gotten a lot better.”

The different style consisted mostly of underhand serves, something the Lady Cardinals (10-4) were not used to as the majority of teams serve overhand. Knox Central (5-9) used this to its advantage several times during the match, catching South Laurel off guard and making it hard on the Lady Cardinals to return the serves.

Even with the improvements and slower style, the Lady Panthers were no match for South Laurel, as Greer’s team rolled in three sets, 25-22, 25-19, 25-11.

Taylor Arthur turned in a huge game for South Laurel with kills and blocks. She recorded 14 kills, several of them set up by Tara Deaton, as the two really worked well together.

“Taylor had an awesome match,” Greer said.

South found itself in a battle in the first set, trailing early before an Arthur point tied the match, 7-7. She then served an ace which gave South an 8-7 lead, but the Lady Panthers came back to take a 12-10 lead behind the serving of Ashley Jones and the net play of Tyra McNeil.

An Alyson Corley kill, off a Deaton set, cut the lead to 12-11 and gave South the serve back.

Kelsey Parsons got things going with an ace, followed by Croley blocking McNeil. Another ace by Parsons was followed by a Lady Cardinal point and a 15-12 lead. South held that lead until Knox Central took a 19-18 lead. A net serve gave South the point, tying the match, and Arthur the serve.

She started with an ace, followed by a point from C.J. Johnson as South’s lead grew to 22-19. But Knox Central wasn’t ready to roll over, coming back to tie the set, 22-22, on two straight aces from Kelsey Engle. But two straight kills by Johnson gave South the set, 25-22.

South seized control of the second set early and never trailed as it started to adapt to Knox Central’s style of play. Deaton, Parsons, Arthur, Josey Mounce and Kaylee Norvell all had aces in the second set, while Amy Cummins made a great dig to keep a point alive which allowed Deaton to set up Johnson for the point. South took the second set, 25-19.

The Lady Cards wasted no time in taking the third set, 25-11, as their play overwhelmed Knox Central. Arthur had six kills in the third set, while Cummins added two and Johnson, one.

“We stepped it up,” Greer said. “We ran several plays and I am proud of the girls. Our coverage and serving was very good.”

South Laurel will now travel to North Laurel Tuesday and host the region’s top team, Whitley County, Thursday.

sports@sentinel-echo.com