District 5-3A and District 6-2A volleyball tournaments get under way on Monday at Bradley Central and Hixson high schools, respectively.
Coaches finalized plans for their 5-3A tourney Friday morning at a meeting in Cleveland.
Cleveland’s Lady Blue Raiders (22-13, 8-0) is the No. 1 seed and are followed by Walker Valley (22-12, 6-2), Ooltewah (19-14, 4-4), Bradley Central (8-21, 2-6) and McMinn County (6-14, 0-8).
Coach Trish Flowers’ Lady Raiders are 19-1 in regular-season play the last two seasons. Coach Judy Pruett’s Lady Mustangs battled Cleveland to five-set matches this season and those were the toughest contests the Lady Raiders faced.
Cleveland won district and region tournament championships in 2016, followed them up with a sectional win over Oakland and its first appearance in the state tournament. The Lady Raiders lost to Siegel (3-0), beat Ravenwood (3-1) and were eliminated by Farragut (3-0).
As for the Walker Valley-Ooltewah series this season, the Lady Mustangs actually beat the Lady Owls three times, once in a weekend tournament. Walker Valley posted 3-1 victories in each of the regular-season matchups.
Bradley Central swept McMinn County during the season, as did the other three Lady Cherokee opponents.
Bradley plays McMinn County to open the tournament on Monday and Cleveland will play that winner in the day’s final game. In between, Walker Valley takes on Ooltewah. The winner from the latter match will play the Cleveland-Bradley or McMinn winner on Tuesday for the championship and the host role for the Region 3 tournament.
The District 6-2A tournament will follow the same five-team bracket and schedule as 5-3A.
East Hamilton, which beat Cleveland in five sets on Thursday in its final tune-up for the postseason, got the first-round bye and No. 1 seed via its unbeaten regular season.
The Lady Hurricanes will play the East Ridge-Howard winner on Monday at 7:30 p.m. with Hixson squaring off with Central at 6 p.m. The Hixson-Central winner will play the winner of East Hamilton and either East Ridge or Howard for the right to play for the tourney championship on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
A year ago, the Lady Canes competed in the 5-3A tournament and beat McMinn County before losing to Cleveland and Soddy-Daisy. The Lady Trojans, the No. 5 seed, pulled off a mild upset over the No. 4 Lady Canes with a 3-1 win. Set scores were 25-18, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20.
It’s a different story for coach Bruna Langner’s squad this season. With the district’s best player, Emma Flowers, wielding monster kills and deft digs, plus senior leadership, the Lady Canes are the clear-cut pre-tournament favorite.
The Schedules
District 5-3A Tournament
At Bradley Central High School
Monday
McMinn County vs. Bradley Central, 4:30 p.m.
Ooltewah vs. Walker Valley, 6 p.m.
Bradley-McMinn winner vs. Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship match, 6 p.m.
District 6-2A Tournament
At Hixson High School
Monday
East Ridge vs. Howard, 4:30 p.m.
Hixson vs. Central, 6 p.m.
East Ridge-Howard winner vs. East Hamilton, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday
Championship match, 6 p.m.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)