Monday evening's volleyball match between Red Bank and Ooltewah marked the fourth, and probably final, meeting this season between arguably the area's top two teams.
This time last year, there would have been more to come.
The former 6-AAA rivals played for the district championship in 2008, but finished their 2009 series with each winning two matches. Red Bank, which moved into District 6-A/AA this season, earned a 3-1 victory Monday to improve to 35-5 overall.
"It's still fun, but it takes a little bit of the edge off knowing this doesn't count for tournament seeding anymore," Red Bank coach Christel Brooks said. "But it's still a rivalry and it's still very competitive."
The host Lady Lions fell behind in each of the first two games, but rallied for 25-23 and 25-18 victories. In game three, Ooltewah again took the lead, and this time the Lady Owls held on and closed out a 25-19 victory.
"We got down by four in each of the first three games," Brooks said. "But we called timeout, and the girls refocused. They kept their cool, and went back out there and played with confidence and poise."
In game four, the Lady Lions fell even farther behind, and when they trailed 14-8 following a service error, it appeared the match might be headed to a fifth game. A kill from Ashley Reed stopped Ooltewah's momentum, however, and Red Bank followed that with three kills from Kalyn Helton in between one from Kamron Adkins.
A block from Adkins tied it at 14, and another kill from Helton put the Lady Lions ahead for good. Although Ooltewah got within 19-18 and 20-19, the last of Helton's 15 kills gave Red Bank match point, and a sideout sealed the 25-20 victory.
"We wanted to take care of business right then," Brooks said. "Ooltewah is not a team you can play around with. We really wanted to fight back and get this win."
Helton added 14 digs and six blocks for Red Bank, while Bailey Lyness led the team with 17 digs, and Courtney Lawson contributed 14 kills, 25 assists, 12 digs and an ace.
The Lady Lions are currently the top-seeded team in District 6-A/AA, while the Lady Owls are also on track to be the No. 1 seed when the 5-AAA tournament begins in two weeks.
(E-mail Jaime Lackey at jaimenlackey@yahoo.com)
Red Bank....25-25-19-25
Ooltewah.....23-18-25-20
Red Bank stats: Bailey Lyness 17 digs, 3 aces; Courtney Lawson 25 assists, 14 kills, 12 digs, 1 ace; Ashley Reed 8 kills, 2 digs, 1 block; Savannah Smith 7 kills, 3 blocks; Amy Metcalf 17 assists, 2 digs, 1 ace; Becca Paturalski 12 digs, 1 ace; Kamron Adkins 6 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks, 1 dig; Danielle Moore 4 kills, 1 assist, 1 dig; Kalyn Helton 15 kills, 1 assists, 6 blocks, 14 digs, 2 aces.