Playing with a depleted roster didn’t bother East Hamilton’s sixth-seeded Lady Hurricanes on Monday.
Not even when they battled No. 3 Soddy-Daisy late into the night in a five-set marathon.
East Hamilton, with just seven players in the gymnasium, knocked off Soddy-Daisy, 3-2, to cap the first night of the District 5-AAA volleyball tournament on the Lady Trojans’ home court.
“I’m really proud of the girls,” East Hamilton coach Kristy Lenoir said.
“Finally, something went our way. We’ve been having breakdowns all season when we’ve been good one minute and bad the next. Mentally we kept playing strong and didn’t give up big gaps of points.”
The Lady Hurricanes (17-25) won by set scores of 25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 10-15 and advanced to Tuesday night’s semifinals against No. 2 Walker Valley at 6:30 p.m.
The Lady Mustangs had no trouble routing No. 7 McMinn County in straight sets, 25-9, 25-6, 25-8, on Monday.
In Monday’s opener, No. 5 Bradley Central edged bitter rival Cleveland, the No. 4 seed, in four sets by scores of 27-25, 21-25, 22-25, 23-25.
The Bearettes (19-21) moved on to the semifinals and will take on No. 1 seed Ooltewah, the two-time defending champion, at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Lady Owls (45-7), led by regular season co-MVPs Courtlyn Ison and Hanna Matthews, won the district regular-season title and followed that up with Region 3-AAA and sub-state crowns to earn a spot in the state tournament in the past two seasons.
East Hamilton 3, Soddy-Daisy 2: In the fifth set, East Hamilton jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but a Lady Hurricanes miscue allowed the Lady Trojans (34-18) to tie it up at 4. Coach Kristy Lenoir’s club then regained a lead at 5-4 and kept the upper hand for the rest of the set.
Up 10-8, East Hamilton’s Emma Lenoir, the coach’s daughter and a co-MVP along with Ison in 2013, scored on a two-hand push, Soddy-Daisy’s Lauren Smith put a shot into the net, Lenoir came back with another kill – she finished with a whopping 33 on the night – and the Lady Trojans’ Alex Volker sent a shot beyond the backline, giving the Lady Hurricanes a 14-8 lead.
Getting that match-clinching 15th point wasn’t so easy, but when it did come the Lady Hurricanes joined in a collective group hug and began celebrating the upset victory.
“This feels awesome,” coach Lenoir said. “We easily could have been done tonight, but our play was more consistent. They beat us just a few days ago.”
East Hamilton opened its season with a 3-2 win in mid-August and the Lady Trojans avenged that loss with a 3-1 victory on Oct. 2.
“We fully expected a battle,” Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson said. “We felt pretty good going into the fifth set after coming back in the fourth. In matches like this, you’ve got to battle from beginning to end. We don’t have that one go-to girl and we missed some attacks at the end. We had six attack errors in that final set and it’s hard to win doing that.”
East Hamilton pulled within 18-17 of the Lady Trojans in the first set, but withered down the stretch before losing by six points.
In Set 2, the Lady Hurricanes were tied at 5-all, but ran off five straight points. Lenoir’s tap gave East Hamilton a 16-11 advantage and her block of Soddy-Daisy’s Chloe Mitchell, who ended the match with 16 digs, 28 assists, six kills and two blocks, pushed the lead to 20-13.
Soddy-Daisy’s 6-1 run trimmed its deficit to 21-19, but finished strong with Meredith Stott getting two kills and a shared-block with Tori Harris – she had 26 assists and 15 digs – to nail down the four-point win.
The Lady Trojans built a quick 8-1 lead in the next set, but the Lady Hurricanes later used an 8-2 spurt to tie the match at 15-15. It was tied again at 17-all, 19-all, 20-all and 21-all.
Lenoir’s tap after her kill shot was blocked and a kill put the Lady Hurricanes up 24-22. She then served a shot long. Soddy-Daisy scored and then Hannah Robertson’s serve sailed long and East Hamilton went up 2-1.
Later, Stott’s shot that ricocheted off Walker tied the match at 14-14 and the Lady Trojans went on a 9-2 run to build a comfortable 23-16 lead. East Hamilton fought back, but Walker’s tap provided the final point for the win, setting up the dramatic fifth set.
Bradley Central 3, Cleveland 1: The Lady Blue Raiders held three-point leads at three different times in the opening set, but trailed 24-23 before Emma Flowers’ kill tied the set. A Cleveland error gave Bradley a one-point lead, but Flowers’ kill knotted the score again.
The Lady Raiders’ Kayla Lee scored on a service point and Flowers, credited with 27 digs and 22 kills, put away the set-clincher.
However, Bradley Central (19-21), in a gutsy effort, won the next three sets to punch their ticket into the semifinals.
Bradley’s biggest second-set lead was three points until the final 25-21 score – Cleveland handed the win to the Bearettes with a serve into the net.
The Bearettes’ Lisa Duvall, who had 17 kills and 26 digs, had a kill for a 6-1 lead and the two teams battled tooth-and-nail the rest of the way in Set 3. Another Duvall smash produced a 19-17 cushion and Breelee Arms’ service point put Bradley up 23-18.
Cleveland (29-21) rang up three straight points – kills by Amber Morman and Bradley’s Natalie Jennings’ kill that sailed out long – to slice into the Bearettes lead.
Bradley’s Halle Hughes, who put up 20 digs, 24 assists and three kills, dropped a hammer shot on Cleveland, Flowers kill made the score 24-22 and Jennings’ kill ended the set.
The Bearettes took an early 5-4 lead in the fourth set and never trailed again.
Hughes’ service point produced a 14-9 lead for Bradley. Cleveland’s Allison Botts’ tap cut Bradley’s lead to 19-18. A Duvall kill stretched the Bearettes’ lead to 23-19. The Lady Raiders scored four straight points to tie it up 23-all.
A Jennings kill and Reagan Morrison’s block of Flowers’ kill decided the set and match.
Flowers had 27 digs and 22 kills for the Lady Raiders.
“Cleveland beat us twice and we finally got some revenge,” Duvall said. “We played amazing in some stretches tonight. We had a great attitude coming into the match and knew we could win because we trusted each other.”
The Bearettes overcame their share of adversity during the season, including having two seniors quit the team.
“At mid-season we basically started over,” Bearettes coach Christie McElhaney said. “I think we’ve finally put it all back together and we had great practices to get ready for the tournament.”
Said Cleveland coach Trish Flowers, “This was a tough loss. My team didn’t show up. I feel like Cleveland has always peaked at the right time, but I can’t say that this year. I was proud of the way Kellee Geren played and I think she’s one of the best setters’ in the district.”
Walker Valley 3, McMinn County 0: The outcome of this one surprised no one.
The Lady Cherokees dropped all 12 district matches during the season and came in with only one win in 20 outings overall.
In fact, McMinn County was originally set to host the tournament, but the idea of likely losing in the first round and then watching other teams play in Athens persuaded school officials to give up hosting and giving the event to Soddy-Daisy.
The Lady Cherokees failed to score enough points in three sets to match what the Lady Mustangs got in one.
If the opening 16-point loss wasn’t enough, Walker Valley (23-15) outscored McMinn 12-0 to start the second set. It wasn’t much closer in the third set.
“We tried to have focus, keeping our momentum and playing our game,” Lady Mustangs coach Judy Pruett said. “Sometimes the girls get nervous in the district tournament, but we did a good job of taking care of business. Tuesday is what really counts. We played hard today and will have to play hard in the next round.
“These girls want it this year.”
Tuesday’s winners earn spots in the championship match and also will move on to the regional tournament.
Madison Pruett had 20 kills to lead Walker Valley. Ashlyn Flock was credited with 17 assists and 10 digs. Alexan Crittenden also had 10 digs.
STATISTICS
East Hamilton
Emma Lenoir – 33 kills, 20 digs, 11 assists, 3 blocks, 2 aces
Somer Batten – 2 kills, 15 digs, 1 block, 1 assist, 1 ace
Tori Harris – 26 assists, 15 digs, 1 block, 1 ace
Meredith Stott – 9 kills, 8 digs, 5.5 blocks, 3 aces, 1 assist
Kayli Jones – 2.5 blocks
Samantha Headrick – 3 kills, 11 digs, 2.5 blocks, 2 aces
Jillian Myers – 6 digs, 1 assist
Soddy-Daisy
Hannah Robertson – 2 aces, 18 digs, 1 assist, 2 kills
Chloe Mitchell – 16 digs, 28 assists, 6 kills, 2 blocks
Lauren Smith – 1 ace, 31 digs, 6 assists, 6 kills
Karigan Fulghum – 1 ace, 14 digs, 1 assist, 11 kills
Abby Walker – 5 aces, 30 digs, 2 assists, 14 kills
Gracie Ratledge – 4 digs, 1 kill
Alex Volker – 4 digs, 1 assist, 8 kills, 3 blocks
Bradley Central
Gabby Ghassedi – 3 digs, 3 aces, 1 assist
Chanler Grady – 2 aces, 1 assist, 16 digs
Breelee Arms – 14 digs, 3 aces
Kateland West – 3 digs, 4 kills
Halle Hughes – 20 digs, 4 aces, 24 assists, 3 kills
Monica Johnson – 8 kills, 6.5 blocks, 1 dig
McKenna Stinnett – 10 digs, 15 assists, 3 aces
Reagan Morrison – 3 kills, 1.5 blocks, 4 digs
Audrey Jennings 1.5 blocks, 1 dig, 10 kills
Lisa Duvall – 17 kills, 1 ace, 26 digs
Cleveland
Addie Strode – 6 kills, 2 digs
Allison Botts – 2 aces, 26 digs, 12 kills
Amber Morman – 3 kills
Emma Flowers – 2 aces, 27 digs, 22 kills, 1 assist
No. 17 – 3 aces, 13 digs, 3 kills, 35 assists
Lauren Lee – 3 aces, 15 digs
Sammie Kate Eason – 3 aces
Walker Valley
Alexan Crittenden – 7 kills, 9 assists 10 digs
Ashlyn Flock – 6 kills, 17 assists, 10 digs, 6 aces
Madison Pruett – 20 kills, 7 digs, 1 ace
Nikki Prugh – 5 kills, 7 digs, 3 aces
All-District 5-AAA Team (Regular Season)
Co-MVPs – Courtlyn Ison and Hanna Matthews, Ooltewah
Alex Biro and Josie Cain, Ooltewah; Madison Pruett, Ashlyn Flock and Katelin Scoggins, Walker Valley; Chloe Mitchell, Hannah Robertson and Lauren Smith, Soddy-Daisy; Emma Flowers and Kelle Geren, Cleveland; Natalie Jennings and Lisa Duvall, Bradley Central; Emma Lenoir and Meredith Stott, East Hamilton.
Honorable Mention – Summer Williams, Allie Jones Kailin Higgins, Ooltewah; Alexan Crittenden, Nikki Pugh, Walker Valley; Karigan Fulghum, Abby Walker, Soddy-Daisy; Allison Botts, Addie Strode, Cleveland; Monica Johnson, Bradley Central; Samantha Headrick, East Hamilton; Kellsey Cornett, Rachel Bryson, McMinn County.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)