Sale Creek Beats Hixson For Volleyball Tournament Title

Lady Panthers Now 7-1 Following Unbeaten Saturday

  • Saturday, August 22, 2015
  • John Hunt

One of these days, the Sale Creek Lady Panthers will be able to practice and play volleyball in their own gym.

The floor is being redone and those girls haven't been able to use it for the past three weeks, but who says that's important to begin with.

The Lady Panthers improved to 7-1 on the young season by winning five matches on Saturday, the last one against Hixson in the championship match of the Hixson Invitational, which was held at Hixson Middle School.

The Lady Panthers opened their season on Monday with a come-from-behind win at Hixson against these same Lady Wildcats, but Saturday's match wasn't as close as the one on Monday.

Sale Creek prevailed in the best two-of-three match by scores of 25-19 and 27-25.

The Lady Panthers won their pool with wins over Red Bank, CSAS and East Ridge.  They then disposed of Lookout Valley and Chattanooga Christian in the single elimination tournament format to earn the championship right against Hixson.

Sale Creek beat CCS in one semifinal by scores of 25-14 and 25-21.

Hixson finished second in its pool behind unbeaten Boyd-Buchanan.  The Lady Wildcats beat Lookout Valley and Chattanooga Christian with a loss to the Lady Bucs in the middle.

Hixson beat Red Bank in the tournament quarterfinals before getting revenge with a 25-23, 25-19 victory over the Lady Bucs.

Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill was visibly tired, but she was also really happy after her girls rebounded from Friday's loss at Boyd-Buchanan.

"We've had enough volleyball for one day, but we've had a good time here.  We passed well all day and our hitters were strong.  We got a chance to look at several different combinations, so it was a good day for us from start to finish.

"We had fun and played hard and that's what I've been preaching so far.  I like it when they play loose, but too often they get caught up in mistakes they've made and that carries over into how we play.  But we played with a lot of enthusiasm and spirit and that was important, but we also had great support from our fans and that always helps," she added.

Hixson coach Janet Tate, like her good friend Hill, was tired after a long day at the gym, but she felt like her team benefitted from some pretty good competition.

"Not a bad day for Hixson volleyball," she said while the nets were being dismantled and the chairs put back in place.

"I wasn't real pleased with the match against Boyd-Buchanan, but we were able to bounce back and I was happy about that.  Sale Creek is very consistent with what they do and we aren't, but we'll get there. 

"That may be one of the best teams Sale Creek has had in a while, but we couldn't find a weak spot all day.  But we've had fun and played some really good teams, so it was productive from our point of view," Tate added, her team 5-3 following Saturday's play.

The first set was tied on eight occasions -- the last being at 12-12 -- before Sale Creek scored six of the next eight points before Tate called a timeout.

Six straight service points from Ariana Smith stretched a 17-14 lead to 23-14, the last point coming on an ace before the Lady Panthers were able to close out the first set.

Hixson built a 10-6 lead early in the second set before Sale Creek tied it at 13-all.

Bailey Pugh had four straight points, including the final one on an ace as the Lady Panthers regained the advantage at 15-13.

The Lady Wildcats kept battling and even led at 25-24, but a kill from Abbey Burton knotted the score and the Lady Panthers were able to pull out the match as Hixson ended the day with two shots into the net.

Smith had 10 kills to lead the Sale Creek attack whihle Taylor Day had 15 digs and Pugh 13 assists.

Paige Lawson had nine kills and 10 digs to lead Hixson while teammates Morghan White had 11 assists and Haleigh Raber 17 digs.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH STATS

SALE CREEK:

Taylor Day -- 15 digs, 2 aces

Lauren Smith -- 5 kills, 14 digs, 3 aces

Sydney Poe -- 3 kills, 9 digs, 1 ace

Bailey Pugh -- 9 digs, 13 assists, 1 ace

Ariana Smith -- 10 kills, 13 digs, 1 ace

Abbey Burton -- 7 kills, 1 assist, 2 blocks

Gracie Janow -- 1 kill, 3 blocks

Tayla Willis -- 1 dig, 1 block

Bailey Nelson -- 3 digs, 10 assists.

HIXSON:

Paige Lawson -- 1 ace, 9 kills, 10 digs, 1 block

Bailey Burba -- 1 ace, 2 kills, 6 digs, 9 assists

Morghan White -- 1 ace, 2 digs, 11 assists

Tay Tay Staten -- 4 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks

Haleigh Raber -- 17 digs

Courtney Jones -- 6 kills, 3 digs, 1 assist

Dakota Rawiszer -- 5 kills, 1 assist.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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