There were two times during Tuesday's high school volleyball match when Ooltewah found itself four points away from a loss.

Both times the host Lady Owls refused to give up against rival Soddy-Daisy.

Instead, Ooltewah fought its way back to a key 3-2 victory that keeps the Lady Owls unbeaten in a highly-competitive District 5-AAA.

"I think it shows that this team has character," Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen said. "They could very easily have given up and lost the match in the fourth game, but they fought back. They showed that they're not going to give up."

The teams split the first two games, with Soddy-Daisy winning the first, 25-23, and the Lady Owls taking the second, 25-19. The Lady Trojans, who were confident coming off a runner-up finish in this weekend's Choo-Choo tournament, pulled away for a 25-20 game-two win, and had victory within their grasp with a 21-19 lead in game four.

The Lady Owls responded by scoring the next six points, a run that began with a kill from Kianna Delaney and featured two aces from Loren Bennett, including the one that secured the 25-21 win.

In between, Ooltewah benefited from strong net play from Delaney, Leondra Barrett and Bridgette O'Brien. Their back-to-back blocks provided key points and crucial momentum for the Lady Owls during their game-winning run.

"We started jumping better and we got smarter with our hits," Peigen said. "We lost a lot of leadership from last year, and we've spent a lot of time trying to get them to talk and communicate with each other, so it's nice to see them start doing that."

Still, the Lady Owls struggled early in game five, when several of their errors and side outs contributed to Soddy-Daisy's 11-8 lead. But after an Ooltewah net violation put the Lady Trojans ahead 12-8, the Lady Owls turned their deficit into a lead.

Loren Bennett went up for a kill that put the Lady Owls ahead 13-12, and two kills from Delaney, who finished the match with 22, sealed her team's 15-13 win.

The victory improves Ooltewah to 13-2 overall and 4-0 in 5-AAA play.

"Our district is as tough as any you're going to see in Tennessee," Peigen said.

Soddy-Daisy is now 15-7 after a loss that the Lady Trojans know could have instead gone in the win column.

"We made some young mistakes, but it's going to be okay," Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson said. "We'll learn how to win. I think this match will give us some confidence. We had some girls who were really nervous, but they got to see that we can do it. We're hosting the district tournament this year, and that's the prize that everyone is working for."

Ooltewah stats:

Mackenzie Glass 25 digs
Kayla Smith 6 kills, 1.5 blocks
Erica Alvey 16 digs
Lauren Bennett 9 kills, 26 assists, 10 digs, 2 blocks
Kelsey Chernak 3 kills, 15 assists, 11 digs
Bridgette O'Brien 10 kills, 2.5 blocks
Alex Martin 7 kills, 5 blocks
Kianna Delaney 22 kills, 5 blocks

Soddy-Daisy stats:

Hayli Raines 21 kills, 19 digs
Jessica Smith 5 kills, 2 blocks
Rachel Shaughnessy 9 kills, 4 blocks
Megan Ware 32 digs
Sarah Davis 17 assists
Olivia Holden 24 assists
Rebecca Johnson 7 kills, 3 blocks
Kelsey Nunley 14 kills
Alex Schafer 5 kills

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