There was little drama Monday night when the volleyball teams from District 6-AA met for their tournament's first round at Loftis Middle School.
Expect that to change by the end of the week.
Top seeds Red Bank and Central opened the tournament by cruising to victories over Brainerd and Howard. East Hamilton followed with a 3-0 win against Tyner Academy, and Hixson ended the evening by sweeping East Ridge. The tournament moves to Hixson High School for the semifinals Tuesday night, when the host Lady Wildcats will face No. 1 Red Bank at 5, followed by No. 2 Central against East Hamilton.
Coach Janet Tate was pleased with her Lady Wildcats' 25-5, 25-10, 25-17 win over East Ridge, but knows her team will need to play its best against Red Bank on Tuesday.
"We played well at our tournament this weekend, and we wanted to come out and continue that tonight, and we did," Tate said. "We served well, we passed well, and the offense was obviously there. We'll need to do the same thing against Red Bank. The team that makes the least mistakes is going to be the team that wins."
Kennady Thomason turned in a huge performance for Hixson (24-25) with 19 kills against the Lady Pioneers, and also contributed two blocks. The Lady Wildcats' Chance Davis made 26 assists, five digs and six kills, while Kaleigh Riley had 16 digs and Jessica Green made three, along with one ace.
Ceria Taylor had four aces, 10 digs and five kills for Hixson, while Paige Lawson made five kills and a block and Tatyona Staten had three kills and a block.
East Hamilton gave up the tournament's No. 2 seed with a late-season upset loss to Central, but will get the chance to avenge that defeat when the teams meet again in Tuesday's semifinal. The Lady Hurricanes advanced with a 25-2, 25-7, 25-9 victory over Tyner.
"We have to play to our potential," East Hamilton coach Kristy Lenoir said as she looked ahead to her team's semifinal matchup. "That's what it boils down to. We have to come ready to play to our potential."
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at
jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)