The Hixson volleyball team played spoiler on Monday at Soddy Daisy's Senior Night, but they didn't have the same luck on Tuesday at Sale Creek.
And the third time certainly wasn't the charm for the Lady Wildcats as they lost to Sale Creek for the third time this season.
There were lots of hugs and high fives -- and even a few tears -- for the Lady Panthers as they honored seniors Taylor Day, Lauren Smith, Sydney Poe and Bailey Pugh.
Celebration planners showed a lot of class as they also honored Hixson's five seniors, including Paige Lawson, Bailey Burba, Morghan White, Tay Tay Staten and Haleigh Raber.
But once the volleyball action began and the ball was put into play, the evening belonged to Sale Creek as they looked strong from start to finish and improved to 27-8 with its 25-20, 25-15 victory.
"It was a great night for our seniors, but I thought we all played well," said Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill after the emotional match ended.
"This is a great way to head into the post-season tournaments, but you always want a good match on senior night and we always get one when we play Hixson. I didn't think we rose to the occasion last night (a loss to Cleveland), so we needed to get back on track.
"All of the seniors stepped up and played really well and they all contributed. Our passing was good and our timing up front was also good. I'm really pleased with the way we played," Hill added.
Hixson got back-to-back kills from Dakota Rawiszer and Staten to begin the match. An ace from Lawson extended the lead to 9-6, but four straight service points from Poe turned the tide for the Lady Panthers with a kill from Gracie Janow making it 11-9.
Hixson stayed within striking distance for a short time, but four more service points from Day extended Sale Creek's lead from 15-13 to 19-13 and the Lady Wildcats never recovered.
Hixson got to within 22-20 following a Sale Creek hitting error, but Smith had back-to-back kills as the Lady Panthers won by scoring the final three points.
The second set wasn't as close.
Pugh started things off with five straight service points and she later added four more as the difference stretched from 15-7 to 19-7. Hixson was able to score eight of the final 14 points, but the match was all but over long before Smith's kill clinched it for the Lady Panthers.
"I thought we played well, but it seems like we've been crying all day," said Day, who had 15 digs for the Lady Panthers.
"I was really nervous at the beginning, but I thought we played well," the spunky libero added.
"It was huge and really memorable, but I thought we all played well," said Poe, who finished with four digs, two kills and an ace.
"This was a big match and we knew it would be emotional for us all, but we just had to channel that energy," said Pugh, who contributed seven digs and nine assists while serviing up on ace.
"It was sad at the start because we don't want it to end, but it's always nice to finish a match with a perfect kill," said Smith, who finished with eight kills, 15 digs and a block.
Hixson's Tate called her only two timeouts in the second set right at the very end.
"I didn't say a word to them, but I just wanted to make eye contact," she said after her team lost for only the 13th time in 45 matches.
"I'm really disappointed as we didn't come ready to play. We know that Sale Creek has a great team and they are totally a class act, but we didn't get any blocks and just didn't play well at all.
"This isn't the same team that beat Soddy Daisy last night, but we're not perfect. I just know that you have to bring your 'A' game every night or you'll get beat. Maybe something like this will do us some good as we had won quite a few regular-season matches in a row before tonight," Tate added.
Lawson led the way for Hixson with seven kills and nine digs while Burba had seven assists and five digs. White finished with six digs and seven assists while Staten had four kills and Raber nine digs.
Both teams return to action on Thursday with home matches as Hixson will host CSAS and Sale Creek will entertain East Ridge.
District tournament action will begin on Monday with 6-A Sale Creek going to Marion County and 6-AA Hixson going to East Ridge.
HIXSON STATS:
Paige Lawson -- 1 ace, 7 kills, 9 digs
Bailey Burba -- 5 digs, 7 assists
Morghan White -- 1 kill, 6 digs, 7 assists
Tay Tay Staten -- 4 kills
Haleigh Raber -- 9 digs
Dakota Rawiszer -- 1 ace, 5 kills, 1 dig
Kiera Taylor -- 3 digs
Esther Lihl -- 1 kill
Marly Fitzpatrick -- 6 digs
Rachel Cline -- 2 digs
SALE CREEK STATS:
Taylor Day -- 15 digs, 1 assist
Lauren Smith -- 8 kills, 15 digs, 1 block
Sydney Poe -- 2 kills, 4 digs, 1 ace
Bailey Pugh -- 7 digs, 9 assists, 1 ace
Ariana Smith -- 6 kills, 14 digs
Abbey Burton -- 3 kills, 1 assist, 1 block
Gracie Janow -- 7 kills, 1 dig, 1 block
Bailey Nelson -- 5 digs, 10 assists
Tayla Willis -- 1 assist.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)