MVP Takeisha Parham Leads Lady Pioneers To Win
by John Hunt
posted October 14, 2008
) Photo by Greg Davick |
There's not a gambler this side of Las Vegas who would have given the Lady Chargers from Chattanooga Christian a snowball’s chance of being the team on the other side of the court in the championship match.
But don’t try to convince CCS coach Kevin Ulmer or any of his young ladies of that idea because it just won't work.
It really doesn’t matter what a team’s record is when tournament time arrives.
The slate is clean and every team has the chance to win, regardless of who did what during the regular season.
The Lady Chargers are now 12-26 following a runner-up finish to East Ridge, but the bottom line is that they’re still alive and will compete in the Region 3-A-AA on Tuesday at Boyd-Buchanan.
It was a long day for Ulmer and his young team.
After watching East Ridge defeat Sale Creek by scores of 25-13, 25-11 and 25-12, most of the spectators expected the Notre Dame Lady Irish to prevail in much the same manner over CCS.
So much for preconceived expectations.
Chattanooga Christian shocked everyone except themselves with a hard-fought 25-14, 25-20, 24-26 and 25-22 victory over the Lady Irish for the right to face the Lady Pioneers.
Even after a long and mentally-draining match against Notre Dame, CCS came back a few minutes later and gave East Ridge all they wanted before falling in five games.
East Ridge won the first game, 25-15.
Chattanooga Christian then won the next two by scores of 25-21 and 25-17.
The Lady Pioneers regained their composure and some badly needed momentum to win the fourth game by a convincing score of 25-10 before taking the decisive fifth game, 15-11.
“Nobody expected us to be in this position tonight,” Ulmer said at the end of the evening.
“It was a great match, but we missed a few serves. It’s a privilege for us to play a team like East Ridge in their house. We didn’t win, but there’s no doubt I’m pleased with the way we played.
“This is the peak of our season and we’re playing our best volleyball right now. The good news is that we get to play again next week.
"I challenged these girls to be aggressive and to give their best effort and they responded. I couldn’t be any more proud,” Ulmer added.
Coach Catherine Neely has been in this business a long time – coaching volleyball at East Ridge for 45 years.
She’s won more than her share of district championships and just Monday recorded her 1,300th career victory, so going through another challenging championship match was nothing new for her.
Needless to say, winning again in 2008 brought a smile of relief to her face.
“Chattanooga Christian showed a lot of heart tonight and has every reason to be proud of what they accomplished.
"I’m just relieved to get past them one more time. This is our fourth time to beat them this year and it gets harder and harder every time.
"I thought we played pretty well in the first game, but we went away from what we were supposed to do in the second and third games as we let them control the tempo during that time.
“We were down at that point, but we held our composure and made some key adjustments. That’s a sign of maturity for these young ladies,” Neely added.
There were a lot of Lady Pioneers who stepped up big when the stakes were highest, but none were any more outstanding than Takeisha Parham.
She was named tournament MVP and deservedly so after recording 17 kills, seven blocks, three aces and 24 digs.
Other honorees from East Ridge included Kelli Crawford, Dimon Darden, Shalonda Fugh, Meredith Brock and Meagan Arand.
Chattanooga Christian’s four all-tournament picks included Tiffani Johnson, Kelsey Lockstampfor, Jennifer O’Dell and Jennifer Long.
Other picks included Sale Creek’s Shelby Hill and Notre Dame’s Erica Cowart.
East Ridge stats vs. Sale Creek:
Takeisha Parham – 4 blocks, 14 kills;
Meagan Arand – 7 kills, 21 digs;
Meredith Brock – 14 assists, 2 kills, 1 ace, 10 digs;
Dimon Darden – 5 kills, 2 blocks;
Shalonda Fugh – 6 kills, 1 block;
Paige Atterton – 4 kills, 3 assists;
Haven Carter – 15 assists, 1 ace, 15 digs;
Kelli Crawford – 3 aces, 20 digs;
Holly Thompson – 8 digs.
Chattanooga Christian stats vs. Notre Dame:
Jennifer Long – 45 digs, 3 aces;
Kelsey Lockstampfor – 12 kills;
Taylor Snipes – 9 kills, 4 aces;
Laura Curtis – 9 kills;
Tiffani Johnson – 22 assists;
Alex Givens – 19 assists, 18 digs.
East Ridge stats vs. Chattanooga Christian:
Meagan Arand – 4 kills, 1 ace, 29 digs;
Kelli Crawford – 2 aces, 14 digs;
Holly Thompson – 6 digs;
Dimon Darden – 2 kills, 8 digs;
Meredith Brock – 5 kills, 16 assists, 22 digs;
Paige Atterton – 6 assists, 9 kills;
Takeisha Parham – 17 kills, 7 blocks, 3 aces, 24 digs;
Shalonda Fugh – 11 kills, 4 blocks;
Haven Carter – 14 assists, 3 aces, 23 digs.
Chattanooga Christian stats vs. East Ridge:
Tiffani Johnson – 18 assists;
Kelsey Lockstampfor – 8 kills, 2 aces, 13 digs;
Alex Givens – 11 assists, 12 digs;
Laura Curtis – 10 kills, 3 blocks;
Jennifer Long – 31 digs.
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)
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