Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

Western Boone head volleyball coach Laura Bragg knew that her junior standout Raegan Durbin was immensely talented as early as elementary school. For 2 1/2 seasons she has been putting up impressive for the Stars, helping them reach heights they haven't reached before. And on Thursday evening, she added an impressive milestone to her resume - the 1,000th kill of her high school career. "She's meant so much to our program," Bragg said. "Even watching her in third grade, I knew she was going to be special and she is. She is a fantastic leader on and off the court, she is the most competitive player I have coached and she earned this. Getting her 1,000th kill as a junior, when she missed half her freshman year to injury, shows how amazing she is." Durbin, who now has 337 kills on the season, broke the barrier early in the second set. She finished the match with 23 kills, four aces and nine digs. The Stars had no problems in the match itself, downing the Hot Dogs 25-12, 25-7, 25-9. Coming off a tough five-set loss to McCutcheon on Tuesday night, Bragg said it was a strong effort from her group. "Every game is different, and it doesn't matter who you are playing," Bragg said. "Volleyball is such a momentum sport, that any team can grab momentum on you. We just wanted to be in control with our passes and make sure we could run our offense effectively." One thing that Bragg liked was the little adjustments the Stars made throughout the match. Not that the first set was particularly close, but the Stars shut down some of the things that the Hot Dogs found success with in that set to hold them under 10 points in each of the final two sets. "That first set showed us who their better hitters were, and our girls were able to track them and make sure the block was ready," Bragg said. "Our serving got better too, so it was tough for them to run their offense." Alayna Christner added nine kills and Emmerson Gott had seven. Emma Miller had eight digs, with Olivia Smith and Isabel Adams adding seven. Janie Ransom had 40 assists. The Stars host Harrison on Tuesday, then travel to Lafayette Central Catholic on Thursday. "We have improved a lot in a month," Bragg said. "But we always tell the girls that the middle part of the season is the make or break it - we can coast through and stop working, or stay focused on the end goal and keep improving. We want to win conference and sectionals, and we have to keep pushing to do it." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.