Biro, Matthews Power Ooltewah To District 5-3A Volleyball Title

Lady Owls Duo Provide 27 Kills, 55 Assists In Tough 3-2 Victory

  • Wednesday, October 7, 2015
  • Larry Fleming
Ooltewah's Hanna Matthews (2) sets the ball during Wednesday's District 5-3A volleyball tournament title game against Walker Valley. Matthews finished with a personal-best 55 assists and the Lady Owls claimed the championship, 3-2.
Ooltewah's Hanna Matthews (2) sets the ball during Wednesday's District 5-3A volleyball tournament title game against Walker Valley. Matthews finished with a personal-best 55 assists and the Lady Owls claimed the championship, 3-2.
photo by Dennis Norwood

(Story has been updated with start time for Monday's Region 3-3A matches)

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Ooltewah grabbed the momentum. Unexpectedly lost it and then magically regained it at exactly the right time Wednesday in the District 5-3A volleyball tournament at Cleveland Middle School.

Senior Alex Biro, named to the all-tournament team and most valuable player after the match, turned on the switch for the Lady Owls.

Biro, who possesses a perfect blend of awesome power and tantalizing finesse -- will it be a 100 mph kill or a 9 mph tip or tap -- on the front row, scored the Lady Owls’ first points, excluding an error by Walker Valley, in Game 5 and seven of eight to lead Ooltewah to a 3-2 victory over the Lady Mustangs that not only secured the tournament championship, but also the right to host the Region 3-3A tourney Monday and Tuesday in Edward M. Foster Gymnasium.

Game scores were 25-12, 25-20, 19-25, 19-25, 15-6

“I just think attack,” Biro said when asked what can trigger a scoring spree like she let loose on the Lady Mustangs. “Literally, I’ll do anything I can to get the point. When (setter) Hanna (Matthews) gives me the ball it’s going down. I’m always in attack mode.”

Ooltewah (42-11) will play White County in the in the first match at 6 p.m. while Walker Valley (28-12) takes on Cookeville in the the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for Tuesday.

Lending an impressive helping hand to Biro’s around-the-net success – she had 27 kills, seven digs and six blocks – throughout the match, especially in the finale, was Hanna Matthews with a personal-best 55 assists, easily beating her previous high of 48 (twice).

“There were 55 assists in that match?” Matthews asked.

The clarifying response was, “Not the team, Hanna. You had 55 assists.”

“That’s insane; that’s awesome,” Matthews said. “You have to realize who is going to put the ball down. There’s Alex, Sidney (Killingsworth) and Hannah (Henderson). When they’re up there it’s my job to get the ball to them so they can get the kill. It’s about being smart and I wouldn’t get those assists if the hitters didn’t put down those shots. Here’s a shout-out to the hitters.”

Killingsworth and Henderson each had 12 kills against the Lady Mustangs.

Matthews notched 48 assists as a sophomore against Columbia in the Class 3A sectional and again earlier this season in a home match against, yep, Walker Valley. In that same game, Biro finished with 32 kills.

“I’m not surprised she got 55 assists,” Biro said. “She’s our only setter and does a really great job. She works hard at outsmarting the other team. She’s the quarterback of the front row.”

Said Lady Owls coach Elaine Peigen on Matthews’ performance, “That’s very impressive. She’s a great player.”

In Game 5 with Summer Williams serving (she finished with seven aces), Biro unleashed a rocket down the middle and followed with a surprise tip, a slap, another kill and a tap. Killingsworth had a block and Biro came back with another kill.

When Biro goes up, all the while eying the ball, she’s also surveying the other team’s movements and it’s like a volleyball chess match. More often than now, Biro wins.

“When I go up I see the blockers, pretty much know where their defense is and if I’ve had a couple kills in a row, that’s pretty much what the other team is expecting, and I can dunk the ball. That’s when you have to be smart and turn what they do against them.”

The early scoring spurt gave the Lady Owls, the tournament’s No. 1 seed on the strength of a third consecutive 12-0 regular season, an 8-3 lead, but the Lady Mustangs managed to pull within 9-5.

Walker Valley had back-to-back unforced errors – Ashlyn Flock’s shot sailed side-out and Sara Wilson, who finished with 15 kills, one block, 16 digs and two aces, sent a kill beyond the backline.

Another Lady Mustangs kill gave Ooltewah its 12th point and Ooltewah’s Henderson and Killingsworth scored on successive taps. Wilson’s kill kept the Lady Mustangs alive momentarily, but Killingsworth’s block ended the thrilling match.

“In the third and fourth games, we let (Walker Valley) get into a rhythm,” Peigen said. “They’re a good team. But we served well, we have a very good setter, had some good passes, stayed within the system and put some balls down.”

Ooltewah, which will be seeking its third region tournament crown in four years, sent a declarative message by racing to an 11-1 lead in the opening game. Walker Valley closed the gap to 18-11, but the Lady Owls scored seven of the final eight points to take a 1-0 lead.

In the closing spree, Matthews had one of her five blocks, Biro added a block and two kills and after a Walker Valley error produced Ooltewah’s 24th point, Biro came back with a game-clinching block.

“Alex is very important to our team,” Peigen said. “She’s our go-to girl and she has a lot of pressure on her, but handles it well. She really helps us run our fast offense because and that can beat the (attempted) blocks.”

Ooltewah had a 21-15 lead in Game 2 and the two teams basically just exchanged points down the stretch before a Biro kill ended it.

Walker Valley awoke from its slumber and bolted to a 6-0 lead and enjoyed margins of four, five, four and four points, the last at 22-18.

The Lady Mustangs garnered the final three points to stay alive.

In Game 4, Wilson’s kill gave the No. 2 seed Lady Mustangs a 10-7 advantage and pushed the lead to 14-7 on four successive Ooltewah errors.

Walker Valley was up 23-15 after another unforced error by the Lady Owls and got the points it needed to tie the match 2-2 on back-to-back kills by Wilson.

“I was really proud of the girls for coming back, for not laying down and dying,” Walker Valley coach Judy Pruett said. “We’ve played some really good matches with Ooltewah and it has been a struggle the whole time. I wish we could have won tonight, but we’re happy to be going to region.

“Ooltewah really wanted that last game bad.”

With Walker Valley refusing to go away, the Lady Owls dug deep to find enough energy to blister the opponents in the finale.

And the Lady Owls went about their business without the slightest appearance of feeling pressure of the point-shortened tie-breaker – first team to 15 with at least a two-point lead goes home happy.

“There might be some pressure, although I don’t get nervous,” Killingsworth said. “We had to go in with confidence, go in excited and stay excited to pull out the win. As the game got going I made goals for us to go from five to 10 to 15 points. I think we reached our goals very well.”

STATISTICS

Walker Valley

Alexan Crittenden – 16 assists, 5 kills, 1 block, 9 digs, 2 aces

Ashlyn Flock – 18 assists, 4 kills, 24 digs, 2 aces

Mikayla Lumpkin – 2 kills, 2 blocks, 4 digs

Megan Malone – 3 digs

Julia McGuire – 1 kill, 3 digs

Hannah Grace Moore – 16 digs, 2 aces

Madison Pruett – 1 assists, 9 kills, 12 digs

Madison Russo – 1 block, 2 digs, 2 aces

Sara Wilson – 15 kills, 1 block, 16 digs, 2 aces

Ooltewah

Alex Biro – 27 kills, 6 digs, 7 blocks

Hanna Matthews – 55 assists, 2 kills, 2 aces, 6 digs, 5 blocks

Alexis Godsey – 1 kill, 26 digs

Hannah Henderson – 12 kills, 3 blocks

Courtney Swafford – 5 kills, 3 aces, 11 digs

Sidney Killingsworth – 12 kills, 4 digs, 1.5 blocks

Summer Williams – 1 kill, 7 aces, 27 digs

Jadyn Raschke – 7 digs

McKenzi Mansfield – 1 ace, 7 digs

All-Tournament Team

Coach of the Year – Elaine Peigen, Ooltewah

Player of the Year – Alex Biro, Ooltewah

Ooltewah – Hanna Matthews, Summer Williams, Alexis Godsey, Sidney Killingsworth, Hannah Henderson

Walker Valley – Ashlyn Flock, Sara Wilson, Madison Pruett, Alexan Crittenden

East Hamilton – Emma Lenoir, Tori Harris

Cleveland – Kellee Geren, Allison Botts

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44) 

The Lady Owls' Alex Biro (5) is a demon around the net, whether it's delivering powerful kills or finesse shots or blocks as was the case against Walker Valley's Mikayla Lumpkin Wednesday night in the District 5-3A volleyball tournament in Cleveland.
The Lady Owls' Alex Biro (5) is a demon around the net, whether it's delivering powerful kills or finesse shots or blocks as was the case against Walker Valley's Mikayla Lumpkin Wednesday night in the District 5-3A volleyball tournament in Cleveland.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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