COVINGTON – Taylor Kirker, a senior standout on the Lady Buccs’ volleyball team, had a historic night as she recorded her 2000th career assist on Thursday in a three-set victory over Milton-Union, 25-14, 25-19, 26-24.
Kirker, who has been a key varsity player throughout her entire high school career, is establishing herself as one of the premier volleyball players in the history of the program due to her ability to play at a very high level in every position on the floor.
“This was an incredible accomplishment by Taylor,” said Covington coach Stephanie Robinson. “Not many players ever reach that milestone (2000 career assists).”
In the opening set, the Lady Buccs found themselves in a tough battle early on as the score was tied 7-7. Fortunately, there was a dominating 18-7 run due to increased aggressiveness and better execution. The 25-14 win put Covington on top 1-0.
“It was aggressive serving and hitting,” Robinson said. “Plus, we played some good defense in the first set.”
Milton-Union showed some fight in the second set as it hung with the Lady Buccs until the momentum changed when Kirker recorded her 2000th career assist to put Covington up 21-16. The game was stopped for a few minutes as Kirker’s accomplishment was announced to the hometown crowd by coach Stephanie Robinson and the entire team swarmed Kirker to celebrate her 2000th career assist.
Covington then closed out the second set with a 25-19 win to go up 2-0.
Milton-Union went all out in an attempt to take over the momentum in the third set and the Lady Bulldogs overcame a 17-13 deficit to take a 24-22 lead for a set point opportunity. Taylor Kirker went back to serve for Covington and the Lady Buccs scored three straight points to close out the contest with a 26-24 win.
“I was very proud of our kids for battling back when they (Milton-Union) were in position for a set point,” said Robinson. “Taylor (Kirker) served well and we had some huge kills from Hollan (Koffer), Dakohta (Kenworthy) and Addison (Ventura).”
The victory is Covington’s fifth in a row as it improves to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the TRC. Next up is a huge showdown against Russia on Saturday at 9:00am as there are freshman, reserve and varsity games on schedule.
