The Soddy-Daisy volleyball team overcame youth and injuries to reach the finals of the prestigious Choo-Choo Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night at East Ridge.

But Dobyns-Bennett, the Lady Trojans' opponent in the championship match, was too much for any of the tournament's 32 teams to overcome.

The Lady Indians, who won the 2009 TSSAA state volleyball title in Class AAA, earned their fourth consecutive Choo-Choo championship with a 2-0 victory over Soddy-Daisy.

"They're the defending state champions, and they've won the Choo-Choo several years in a row," Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson said. "For our team to achieve this with all the injuries we've had is huge. We grew up a lot this weekend. Our young setters are getting better every time they go out there. I couldn't be prouder of how the team is coming together."

After three pool-play matches on Friday, Soddy-Daisy had to play seven times on Saturday. The Lady Trojans beat Livingston, Walker Valley and Sullivan South in single-elimination play to reach the finals, while Dobyns-Bennett eliminated 2009 Choo-Choo runner-up Red Bank in the quarterfinals.

The Lady Indians then earned a 2-0 semifinal win over Cleveland, which had reached the final four with a victory over Boyd-Buchanan. Soddy-Daisy held the early lead in game one of the final before 6-foot-2 senior Meredith Hardy served Dobyns-Bennett to nine consecutive points.

Powerful hitting from the East Tennessee State University commitment proved too much for Soddy-Daisy to handle, as Hardy pounded her team to a 25-15 game-one win.

The Lady Trojans fell behind in game two but battled back to within 20-18 on a block from Jessica Smith. After a side-out made it 21-19, Dobyns-Bennett scored the final four points to take a 25-19 victory.

Soddy-Daisy left the tournament with a 15-6 overall record, and with two seniors leading a strong group of juniors and sophomores, the Lady Trojans are optimistic about where the rest of the season might take them.

"Volleyball is so team-oriented," Johnson said. "You've got to have every spot covered, and we're doing that. We weren't earlier, but we're really coming together."

Soddy-Daisy tournament stats (10 matches):

Hayli Raines 67 kills, 107 digs
Jessica Smith 27 blocks, 17 kills
Olivia Holden 113 assists
Rebecca Johnson 23 kills, 10 blocks
Kelsey Nunley 58 kills, 53 digs
Rachel Shaughnessy 38 kills, 13 blocks
Megan Ware 95 digs
Cassidy Hackney 84 assists
Alex Schafer 8 blocks

Boyd-Buchanan tournament stats (8 matches):

Rachel Harper 88 kills, 99 digs, 14 aces
Maggie Brown 29 kills
Hope Johnson 21 kills, 52 digs
Jessica Kirk 69 assists, 50 digs
Kristen Reynolds 63 assists
Miosha Hughes 41 digs
Katie Delay 34 digs

Red Bank tournament stats

Friday's pool
RB beat GPS 2-1
25-22;17-25;15-12
RB beat Cookeville 2-1
24-26;25-18;19-17
Sullivan East beat RB 2-1
25-13;20-25;12-15
RB wins pool Friday

Saturday's pool
RB lost to Dobbins Bennett 2-0
18-25;13-25
RB beat BBS 2-0
25-22;25-21
RB beat Baylor 2-1
21-25;25-20;15-11

Gold Tournament Play
RB beat Bradley 2-0
25-17; 25-21
Dobbins Bennett beat RB 2-0
14-25; 12-25

Combined Choo Choo Tourn. stats
Kalyn Helton 79 kills; 7 blocks; 8 aces; 77 digs
Danielle Moore 41 kills; 5 blocks; 1ace; 1 assist; 37 digs
Savannah Nelson 15 kills; 17 blocks; 1 ace; 1 assist; 21 digs
Shelby Hayes 14 kills; 4 blocks; 1 assist; 8 digs
Breonna Armstrong 16 kills; 6 blocks; 4 assists; 14 digs
MiShannon Wilbanks 3 kills; 12 blocks; 8 digs
Rachel Hargis 4 digs
Ansley Helton 8 aces; 81 digs; 2 aces
Amy Metcalf 62 assists; 4 aces; 39 digs
Abby Graham 64 assists; 20 digs; 3 aces
Nichole Capo 16 digs
Holly Brotton 48 digs

Red Bank's overall record 9-5
Next match is Tuesday Sept 7 @ CCS vs CCS and Notre Dame

East Ridge is now 5-11 after the tournament

ER 18 18
GREENBRIER 25 25

ER 25 14 10
LIVINGSTON 14 25 15

ER 25 25
S. DOYLE 19 12

ER 18 13
GOODPASTURE 25 25

ER 16 22
OOLTEWAH 25 25

ER 22 22
DCA 25 25

ER 20 20
SIGNAL MT. 25 25

CUMULATIVE STATS:
HAVEN CARTER - 101 ASSISTS, 4 ACES, 171 DIGS
DAISHA JACKSON - 50 KILLS, 4 BLOCKS, 68 DIGS, 13 ACES
BEKAH BOLIS - 32 KILLS, 2 BLOCKS, 84 DIGS, 9 ACES
JANECE PARHAM - 20 KILLS, 3 BLOCKS, 17 DIGS, 5 ACES
MARKIA HARDEN - 14 KILLS, 93 DIGS, 7 ACES
NELLE ROBBINS - 14 KILLS, 2 BLOCKS, 26 DIGS
DANIELLE KING - 19 DIGS
JAIDA BROADNAX - 22 DIGS
LAUREN WARD - 18 DIGS
IEASHIA TAYLOR - 4 KILLS, 1 BLOCK

(E-mail Jaime Lackey at jaimenlackey@yahoo.com)