CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Familiar rivals will play for the District 5-3A volleyball tournament championship on Wednesday.
Ooltewah (41-11) and Walker Valley (28-11), the tourney’s Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, posted semifinal wins Tuesday night at Cleveland Middle School and earned their shots at the title, along with berths in next week’s Region 3-3A tournament.
The Lady Owls, gunning for their fourth straight tournament championship, knocked off East Hamilton, 3-0, with game scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-19 in the first semifinal.
“We’re excited, especially the seniors, because this is our last year,” Ooltewah’s Alex Biro said.
“We went to state our freshman and sophomore years, but kind of got cheated out of it last year, so we are back with a vengeance.”
Second-seed Walker Valley was pushed to five games by upstart No. 3 Cleveland before winning 3-2. The game scores were 25-21, 17-25, 16-25, 25-23, 14-16.
“We knew it would be a hard-fought match and we’re thankful for the win,” Walker Valley coach Judy Pruett said. “We’re going to regional and that was one of our goals.”
Ooltewah and Walker Valley will square off in the championship game at 6 p.m. It’ll mark the sixth time the two teams have played this season and the winner plays host to the regional tournament starting on Monday.
In the five previous matchups, including three tournaments and a pair of regular season district contests, the Lady Owls won 10 of 15 games. Walker Valley pushed Ooltewah to five games on Sept. 24, the only district team to accomplish that this season. The Lady Mustangs beat the Lady Owls, 2-0, in the Knoxville Webb Early Bird tournament back in August.
“I hope we can play a good, hard match against Ooltewah (Wednesday),” Pruett said.
The Lady Owls know they’ll get Walker Valley’s best effort and it’s imperative the team continue is solid play into the title round.
“We try to get up for every game,” Lady Owls coach Elaine Peigen said. “The girls realize they have a target on their back, but as long as we stay motivated and give our best, I think we’ll do well.”
Said Hanna Matthews, “We’re Ooltewah. People know we’re good. With that on our shoulders, we definitely have to work hard, but mentally we go out there and know every team that we play wants to beat us. That puts a fire under us to play harder and smarter than the other teams.”
Biro and her senior teammates have been around the block several times and know a letdown Wednesday could punch holes in the team’s play for a return trip to Murfreesboro and the state tournament.
“We know we play in pretty much the toughest district in the city and we know every match could go either way,” said Biro, who had 18 kills, three aces, one dig and two blocks against East Hamilton. “We try our hardest every time to beat every team as badly as we can because when you’re playing the teams we play, they can come back at you if you don’t play hard.”
After drawing a first-round bye, the Lady Owls showed up inspired and played impressive volleyball against the Lady Hurricanes (21-16), who turned in one of their best efforts of the season.
But when the match ended, East Hamilton was still winless against Ooltewah.
The Lady Owls jumped into a 16-9 lead in Game 1 and was still up at 20-15.
East Hamilton’s Emma Lenoir, an All-District 5-3A player, scored on a kill – the hard shot hit the tape and dropped to the floor – and Hillary English added a service point.
Ooltewah scored the final five points – McKenzi Mansfield whipped a shot off an East Hamilton player, Hannah Henderson put down a tip, Sidney Killingsworth added a windmill kill and Hanna Matthews scored on a slam. Lenoir’s two-handed push sailed long for the other point in the Lady Owls’ spree.
Matthews finished the day with one of her best efforts, collecting 34 assists, six kills, 1 ace, three digs and two blocks.
In Game 2, the Lady Hurricanes pulled to within 10-8 and eighth-grader Madison Hayes’ tip – the two-time MLB Pitch, Hit and Run age group champion registered six kills and six digs on the day – and Ooltewah went on a 6-0 run.
Alexis Godsey notched a service point, Summer Williams a winning tip and Henderson a kill and the Lady Hurricanes contributed three unforced errors.
Ooltewah had a 20-13 cushion after Biro – she wore No. 15, not her usual No. 5 because the Lady Owls were sporting new jerseys – delivered a patented laser kill. The Lady Owls maintained that seven-point spread down the stretch. Killingsworth finished it off with one of her four kills.
“Ooltewah is a team with a lot of firepower they throw at you,” East Hamilton coach Kristy Lenoir said. “But I’m proud of what the girls were able to accomplish this year, despite the big age range, some adversity. With so many young kids, I think finishing in the top four in this district is really good and nothing we should hang our heads about.”
With East Hamilton up 7-6 in Game 3 on a rotation error by the Lady Owls, Ooltewah again ran off six straight points with the run capped by Henderson.
Ooltewah had a 17-11 advantage following a Biro kill, but two kills by Lenoir and two service points from Tori Harris drew the Lady Hurricanes to within 17-15.
The Lady Owls’ lead was 21-16 when East Hamilton ran off three consecutive points – a slap by Hayes and two unforced errors by Ooltewah – sliced the deficit to 17-15.
Ooltewah scored the final five points to clinch the match.
Hayes, who also plays basketball – that’s her best sport – and softball, is already looking forward to her freshman season in 2016.
“I can build on getting to know the team and learning how volleyball is played in high school,” she said. “I’ll be able to develop my digs and hitting and that kind of stuff.”
In the Walker Valley-Cleveland match, the fifth game either a one-point lead – by either team – or tied seven times until the final point when Julie McGuire fired a slam for the 16-14 win.
“Both teams fought to the end,” Pruett said. “I’m proud of the girls and now we get to play Ooltewah (Wednesday). I hope we can play hard against them.”
It was a tough loss for the Lady Blue Raiders, but with 12 of the 14 varsity players, including three current freshmen and sophomores, expected back next season, coach Patricia Flowers’ squad has a bright future ahead.
“I think Cleveland proved tonight that this program is starting to turn things around,” Flowers said. “I’m proud of the way our girls played.”
STATISTICS
Ooltewah vs. East Hamilton
Ooltewah
Alex Biro – 18 kills, 3 aces, 1 dig, 2 blocks
Hanna Matthews – 6 kills, 34 assists, 1 ace, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Alexis Godsey – 2 assists, 1 ace, 7 digs
Hannah Henderson – 7 kills, 1 dig, 1 block
Courtney Swafford – 6 kills, 1 ace, 11 digs
Sidney Killingsworth – 4 kills, 4 digs
Summer Williams – 2 digs, 3 assists, 3 aces, 15 digs
Shelby Sutton – 5 kills, 1 ace, 8 digs
East Hamilton
Tori Harris – 21 assists, 8 digs, 2 aces
Hillary English – 4 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces
Kayli Jones – 1 ace, .5 blocks
Emma Lenoir – 15 kills, 11 digs, 1 assists, 3 aces
Madison Hayes – 6 kills, 6 digs
Jordyn Griffith – 1 dig
Jillian Myers – 8 digs, 1 ace
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)