Flowers Powers Cleveland Past Ooltewah For 5-3A Volleyball Title

Lady Raiders Beat Lady Owls 3-1 For Third Time This Season

  • Wednesday, October 5, 2016
  • Larry Fleming
Cleveland junior Emma Flowers, left, goes for a kill against Ooltewah's Sidney Killingsworth (22) and Anna Maria Novelli (2) during their District 5-3A tournament championship match Tuesday at Walker Valley High School. Flowers, the tourney MVP, and the Lady Blue Raiders won, 3-1. It was Cleveland's first title since 2010.
Cleveland junior Emma Flowers, left, goes for a kill against Ooltewah's Sidney Killingsworth (22) and Anna Maria Novelli (2) during their District 5-3A tournament championship match Tuesday at Walker Valley High School. Flowers, the tourney MVP, and the Lady Blue Raiders won, 3-1. It was Cleveland's first title since 2010.
photo by Dennis Norwood

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Wednesday night’s District 5-3A volleyball tournament championship match pitted Ooltewah and Cleveland, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively.

A game within a game was Cleveland’s Emma Flowers going against Ooltewah’s Sidney Killingsworth – the regular season co-MVPs.

The glaring major difference in the match was Flowers, who turned in another dominating performance while leading the Lady Blue Raiders to their first tournament title since 2008.

“I really didn’t think about it as me going against her,” Flowers said. “I know she’s the best hitter on their team; I know I’m one of the stronger hitters on my team. It was going to be a battle and I thought she would try to shut me down with blocks, so I had to work around that.

“One thing was sure; I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

Flowers, a superstar in the district that rarely comes off the court and makes her presence known on offense and defense, piled up a statistical line that jumped out: 25 kills, 13 digs, seven assists, four aces and two blocks.

Nine of Flowers’ kills came in the first set. She had six in the second and five each in the third and fourth.

As a result of that signature effort in front of a good crowd at Walker Valley High School, Flowers powered Cleveland to a 3-1 victory that dethroned the four-time defending tournament champion Lady Owls.

Set scores were 25-15, 22-25, 25-12 and 25-19.

“This is amazing and the first time it (Cleveland beating Ooltewah in the tournament) has happened since 2010,” Flowers said. “So, it’s a great feeling. We knew we had to compete because Ooltewah wasn’t going to lay down and they got the momentum in the second game. We had to come back stronger than we started out.”

In 2010, the Lady Raiders defeated the Lady Owls in the semifinals, but lost to Walker County in the championship match.

Killingsworth continued her consistently strong play for the Lady Owls, registering 12 kills, four digs, two blocks, two aces and one assist.

“The second game opened our eyes and allowed us to believe that we could beat Cleveland,” Killingsworth said. “We didn’t play up to our capabilities the entire match, but I’m proud of the team and we’re still going to region.”

Both teams already had earned berths in next week’s Region 3-3A tournament at Cookeville High School by claiming semifinal victories.

With Wednesday’s outcome, the two teams now know their next opponent.

The Lady Raiders (33-13) will play District 6-3A runner-up Warren County on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EDT after Ooltewah (33-16) takes on 6-3A champion Cookeville at 7:30 p.m. Winners move on to the sectional round on Oct. 13.

Few people around these parts would be surprised if Cleveland and Ooltewah didn't play again for the region title.

Should Cleveland and Ooltewah win their semifinal matches, the championship game will be played at the Raider Arena in Cleveland on Tuesday at 6 p.m., Lady Raiders coach Trish Flowers said late Wednesday night. If a 6-3A team reaches the title game, the action would remain in Cookeville.

“We’re going to stay at a hotel over there on Monday, regardless,” coach Flowers said.

After sharing the regular-season’s top honor with Killingsworth, there’s only one name on the tournament MVP title and belong Emma Flowers.

And, the happy occasion -- just as the regular regular season -- was a Flowers family affair.

Emma starred on the court.

Her mother, Trish, roamed the sideline and coached the Blue Raiders to the program’s biggest win in eight years.

Rob Flowers, husband, dad and the Tyner Academy baseball coach, watched from the stands and was right in the middle of a victory celebration moments after the match ended.

“This definitely goes down in history as one of the best wins of my coaching career,” Trish Flowers said. “When I started coaching Emma was in a car seat. She started playing club (ball) at 8 and we’ve never pushed her and I think that’s why she is successful.

“Some parents push their kids to specialize early and put a lot of pressure on the kids. My husband and I haven’t done that. We let her do (other sports) and it’s paying now because she versatile, she enjoys it, she’s not burned out and I’m just really proud of her.”

In three matches this season, Cleveland won 9 of 10 sets against Ooltewah.

On Sept. 6, Cleveland won 3-0 and had a 20-point difference. Sixteen days later, the Lady Raiders again swept the Lady Owls, but the combined point margin was just eight points.

Tuesday’s difference in Cleveland’s three wins was 29 points.

Just like last week’s presidential debate, the clear-cut winner was obvious.

“I thought tonight was our best match of the season,” said Cleveland’s Morgan Moffett, who had eight kills and landed on the all-tournament team.

Moffett didn’t hesitate when asked to assess Flowers’ impact on the game, not to mention the season.

“I don’t think Emma really realizes how much of an effect she has on the rest of us,” Moffett said. “When she’s up, she brings the rest of us up. At that point we believe we can win and just keep going.

“I think she played her best game of the year tonight, but we’ve all learned how to come through in tough situations. This one of the team’s best games of the year as well.”

The Lady Raiders came out on fire – Flowers lit the flame – in the first set, but the Lady Owls had an equally good start and trailed 17-15.

However, Cleveland ripped off the final 10 points and won going away. Ooltewah helped with three unforced errors; Regan Fuller scored two service points and Flowers scored twice – a slap shot hit the tape and fell to the floor and a slam found its mark as well.

An 8-0 run in the second set gave Cleveland a 10-5 point margin and the Blue Raiders led 14-10 before Ooltewah made a decisive run with nine straight points – without a Cleveland error – to grab a 19-14 advantage.

Macy Milliken had two service points and an ace in the spree – she finished with five kills, 15 assists, 12 digs and four aces. Aubbie Collake added a slap and kill and Killingsworth blocked Flowers for a point.

“We really worked hard and that showed in the second game, especially when we came back from a pretty good deficit,” Collake said. “We have to work on getting ahead and keeping the lead instead of having to come from behind. That’s how you win ballgames.”

Cleveland later tied the score at 22-22 when Amber Morman blocked Jadyn Raschke’s shot, but Killingsworth had a kill, Raschke scored on a service point and a slap by Cleveland’s Anna Renshaw sailed long, giving the Lady Owls the 25th point.

There was little suspense in the third.

Cleveland had leads of 7-4, 11-5 and 15-6 and extended the margin to 20-8 on a Moffett tap, a tip and service point by Renshaw and a stray shot into the net by Killingsworth.

Up 23-12, the Lady Raiders took advantage of Swafford’s errant serve and a double-hit error by Milliken to close out the set.

In the finale, the two rivals fought tooth-and-nail for an advantage until Cleveland pulled away from a 16-15 lead with a 7-1 spurt.

Ooltewah scored three straight points, but Moffett’s block got the 24th point and Milliken was called for a double hit to end the match.

“We felt good about the match coming in,” coach Flowers said. “At this point, we’ve seen everybody enough that it’s just a matter of who steps out there and plays better. We have a MVP on our side, a good libero and very good chemistry. Those components worked very together and we passed way better tonight than we have been.”

Said Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen, “We felt really good after winning the second game. We didn’t miss a lot of serves, but we could have been a little more aggressive. We made some good adjustments, but just got beat.

“Hopefully, we’ll see them again in the region.”

STATISTICS

Ooltewah

Macy Milliken – 5 kills 15 assists, 4 aces, 12 digs

Jadyn Raschke – 1 ace, 7 digs

Aubbie Collake – 2 kills, 1 dig

Sidney Killingsworth – 12 kills, 1 assist, 2 aces, 4 digs, 2 blocks

Courtney Swafford – 1 kill, 1 ace, 29 digs

Shelby Sutton – 1 kill, 2 aces, 6 digs

Cheyanne Sales – 2 kills, 2 digs, 1.5 blocks

Anna Maria Novelli – 1 kill, 1 ace

Ally Chernak – 10 digs, 4 assists

Mabry Carpenter – 2 digs

Cleveland

Amber Morman – 7 kills

Anna Renshaw – 6 digs, 6 kills, 33 assists

Emma Flowers – 4 aces, 13 digs, 2 blocks, 25 kills, 7 assists

Hannah Longley – 5 digs

Jessi Towe – 3 aces

Lauren Lee – 2 aces, 25 digs, 3 assists

Morgan Moffett – 8 kills

Regan Fuller – 4 aces, 4 kills, 10 digs

Sammie Kate Eason – 8 digs

All-Tournament Team

Cleveland – Emma Flowers (MVP), Lauren Lee, Amber Morman, Morgan Moffett, Regan Fuller, Anna Renshaw.

Ooltewah – Courtney Swafford, Sidney Killingsworth, Macy Milliken, Aubbie Collake.

Soddy-Daisy – Gracie Ratledge, Kirstie Williams.

Walker Valley – Aly Grave Lemons, Julia McGuire.

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

 

When Sidney Killingsworth of Ooltewah wasn't defending Cleveland's Emma Flowers, she was blasting away offensively. The Lady Owls, the four-time defending District  5-3A tournament champion, came up short Tuesday by a 3-1 score. Both teams advance to the Region 3-3A tourney next week.
When Sidney Killingsworth of Ooltewah wasn't defending Cleveland's Emma Flowers, she was blasting away offensively. The Lady Owls, the four-time defending District 5-3A tournament champion, came up short Tuesday by a 3-1 score. Both teams advance to the Region 3-3A tourney next week.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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