LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — It’s a streak that both teams concede eventually has to end. Entering Tuesday’s volleyball showdown between North Laurel and South Laurel, the Lady Cardinals had not lost to their cross-town rivals. The streak had reached 33 straight games and 64 of 70 sets.

Again it wasn’t easy. But, again South Laurel prevailed in four sets.

“North kept at it. These are both great teams and it’s going to be a great game pretty much any time they play each other,” South Laurel coach Fawn Greer said.

They already know when the next meeting will be. The next chance for North Laurel to stop the streak will be in the first round of the district tournament.

“We played right with them. It was just a matter of a couple of balls here and there not going our way. Every point matters against a team like this,” North Laurel coach Ali Ray said.

The score was tied six times in the first set before a kill by Taylor Arthur put the Lady Cardinals ahead for good 18-17. Kaylee Norvell followed with an ace. Twice the Lady Jaguars cut the lead to a single point, at 19-18 and 23-22. The first set ended with Alyson Croley getting a point at the net and Kelsey Parsons serving and ace that trickled off the net.

Ray had gone with a smaller lineup in the first set, which had its advantages and disadvantages.

“We didn’t have as many mistakes, but we also got caught back on our heels a lot and they were finding the holes,” Ray said.

The Lady Jaguars got off to a hot start in the second set. Brooke Carpenter served three aces on the way to an 8-0 lead. Kelsey Rice played big at the net with a pair of kills and a save. After a timeout, South Laurel would climb back into the set with five straight points. Most of the points came at the net. The Lady Cardinals tied the score at 12-12 on an ace by Norvell. There would be seven ties with the last coming at 19-19. An Arthur tip gave South Laurel their first lead at 20-19. They closed out the set by outscoring North Laurel 6-1. Strong net play led by Arthur allowed the Lady Cardinals to close out the second set. The last two points came from Arthur’s hardest kill of the night, followed by the game-winning point at the net.

“Missed serves, balls in the net, getting in the net. We had a couple of players get in the net at critical times. That’s just stuff we have to get rid of,” Ray said.

Down two sets, Ray made a change from the strategy that she used in the first two sets.

“I guess you could say we played safe. I played the smaller girls the first two sets. They can’t hit it as hard. They keep the ball in play well. I wanted more of an attack, so I went with the bigger lineup in the third and fourth sets,” Ray said.

Play did become a little sloppy on both sides to start the third set with neither team gaining an advantage early. With the score tied 10-10, most of the points had come on bad sets and kills into the net. There had already been six ties. Kelsey Hacker won a point at the net to break the tie and start a 6-0 spurt for North Laurel.

With the Lady Jaguars leading 16-10, Greer called another timeout that worked. South Laurel scored the next four points and again started a comeback. She said she mostly just talked to the team in the timeouts and pointed out where to hit the ball.

The rally would take a while with Cassandra Johnson scoring the point that finally tied the score 23-23. This time North Laurel answered.

A net serve gave the Lady Jaguars a 24-23 lead. Daylen Gilbert ended the set with an ace.

“I was proud of them for not giving up after getting beat two straight sets. They came back and fought hard. We’re getting closer,” Ray said.

The decision to put Gilbert in to serve came at the last minute. Teams are allowed only 18 substitutions a game. Gilbert was the 17th.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to let her or Sam (Napier) serve. So it was a very quick decision and I am glad I put Daylen in,” Ray said.

The momentum from the win carried over to the fourth set where North Laurel jumped ahead 10-1. The Lady Cardinals struggled with Kelsey Hackers serves, which included a pair of aces.

“She serves in JV games, but I hadn’t really let her serve in varsity. I went with my gut,” Ray said. “It worked. They had a hard time handling her.”

A few sloppy sets and kills into the net allowed South Laurel to mount a comeback, although the Lady Jaguars were still in good shape with a 20-16 lead.

“For some reason we couldn’t put them away,” Ray said. “I was never comfortable. Never.”

She would get more uncomfortable when South Laurel won a point at the net, followed by a Josey Mounce ace. A kill into the net by the Lady Jaguars and another Mounce ace tied the score 20-20. The Lady Cardinals took the lead on a tip by Arthur. A North Laurel blocked sailed out of bounds to make it 22-20.

A serve error by the Lady Cardinals gave North Laurel hope. When a killed sailed out, the Lady Jaguars were back in a tie at 22-22. They wouldn’t score again. Arthur won a point at the net and the resulting serve was not returned. The game ended with a North Laurel kill attempt out of bounds.

“I was really proud of the girls tonight,” Greer said. “I was proud of the way they played because they were pretty much fundamentally sound all the way around and we were making great passes.”

South Laurel played host to Whitley County Thursday night, while North Laurel traveled to take on Bell County.

mhoward@sentinel-echo.com