CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Ooltewah’s Lady Owls didn’t get off to a pretty start in the District 5-AAA championship match here Wednesday night at Cleveland Middle School.

In the high school volleyball final, Cleveland’s Lady Raiders won the first game, 25-13.

In the second game, Cleveland raced to a 19-12 lead and appeared poised to increase the lead to 20-12 before a fantastic save by Ooltewah’s Morgan Sullivan that eventually led Ooltewah to a point and a 19-13 deficit.

The Lady Owls then won the next five points and finally won the game, 35-33, on back-to-back kills from tournament MVP Alex Martin and Sullivan.

Ooltewah then won the next two games, 25-21 and 25-21, for a 3-2 victory and the district title.

Ooltewah (37-12) will play host to White County on Monday night at 7 in a Region 3 semifinal. Cleveland (25-16) will travel to play Cookeville in the other semifinal.

The region championship match will be hosted Tuesday night by the higher-seeded remaining team from District 5. If Ooltewah and Cleveland each lose, the final would be at Cookeville.

State sectionals will be played Thursday, Oct. 22.

“Morgan’s save in game two was great for us and for Morgan,’’ Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen said. “She knew she was having an off-night and that play really help build her confidence.’’

Said Ooltewah senior Libby Peigen, “That first game was ugly, we weren’t ready to play. That save by Morgan got us going. We knew we could go from there because it gave us momentum. We picked it up and became the Ooltewah team we knew we could be. I’m proud of us.’’

Martin led Ooltewah with 21 kills, 10 digs, five blocks and four service points. Peigen, Audra Morgan, Kennisha Cook and Loren Bennett were also chosen to the all-tournament team.

“We knew we would have our hands full tonight,’’ Peigen said. “The big factor for us is everyone contributes. Morgan Sullivan and Kianna Delaney didn’t make the all-tournament team, but played well for us tonight. It was a great team effort.’’

Cleveland, which upset Soddy-Daisy in a semifinal on Tuesday night, was led by Morgan Isom’s 17 digs, 11 kills and 19 assists.

“I’m proud of the way we played, but Ooltewah had a little more fight than us tonight,’’ Cleveland coach Tricia Flowers said. “Ooltewah made some good adjustments. We made some adjustments, but the girls kept reverting back to what they were doing before. Still, we fought very hard. Both of these teams are very good.’’

Cleveland………25 33 21 21
Ooltewah……….13 35 25 25

Cleveland Statistics:

Q'Schara Brown – 12 kills, 4 blocks

Jami Harvey – 3 digs, 3 kills, 3 blocks

Morgan Isom – 17 digs, 11 kills, 19 assists

Gabby Earby – 18 digs, 1 ace, 10 service points

Kristen Pickett – 26 digs, 2 aces, 19 service points, 13 kills, 13 assists, 0.5 blocks

Ayesha Rock – 11 digs, 1 ace, 17 service points, 6 assists

Payton Tipton – 20 digs, 2 aces, 17 service points, 1 assist

Jessica Davenport – 6 digs, 18 service points

Kayla Gash – 2 kills, 3.5 blocks

Ooltewah Statistics:

Alex Martin – 4 points, 21 kills, 10 digs, 5 blocks

Morgan Sullivan – 5 points, 6 kills, 14 digs, 1 block

Audra Morgan – 6 points, 1 ace, 12 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks

Libby Peigen – 17 points, 2 aces, 8 kills, 20 digs

Kianna Delaney – 7 kills, 2 digs, 12 blocks

Kennisha Cook – 4 points, 4 digs, 27 aces

Loren Bennett – 10 points, 3 aces, 9 digs, 8 kills, 22 assists

All-Tournament Team:

Walker Valley – Hannah Campbell, Victoria Hester

Soddy-Daisy – Andrea Johnson, Hayli Raines

Cleveland – Q’Shara Brown, Morgan Isom, Kristen Pickett, Payton Tipton

Ooltewah – Audra Morgan, Libby Peigen, Kennisha Cook, Loren Bennett, Alex Martin (MVP)

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)

District 5-AAA all-tournament team.