Ooltewah finished second out of 31 teams in the Choo-Choo Volleyball Tournament on Saturday at East Ridge.
photo by Contributed photo
The Choo-Choo Volleyball Tournament began Friday evening with 31 high school teams from across the Southeast vying to take home the championship of the prestigious tournament.
By Saturday night, three local teams had played their way into the semifinals before Ooltewah advanced to meet Blessed Trinity Catholic in the title match at East Ridge.
The Lady Owls had put together an impressive two days of volleyball, but their run ended with a 25-20, 25-21 loss to the defending Georgia 3A state champions.
“We’re very proud of the way the girls performed this weekend,” Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen said.
“We came a long way. I think we learned a lot about how to work together as a team and how to finish games.”
The Lady Owls went 8-2 over the tournament’s two days, their only loss before the finals coming in pool play against traditional state power Sullivan South. They avenged that defeat when both teams advanced to Gold bracket single-elimination play.
Ooltewah opened with a victory over Science Hill while Sullivan South advanced by defeating GPS. In their quarterfinal rematch, the Lady Owls took a 25-22 win in game one but lost a 34-32 thriller in the second set. Ooltewah rebounded for a 15-8 win in the third game to set up a semifinal showdown against District 5-AAA rival Soddy-Daisy.
“That’s the first time we’ve defeated Sullivan South in a long time,” Peigen said. “They handled us pretty well in camp this summer, so it was nice to see how we’ve grown. That was just a great match. Both teams played their hearts out. It was a great atmosphere for volleyball in here tonight.”
Soddy-Daisy advanced to the final four with wins over Cleveland and Knox Catholic, and took a 25-23 victory in the first game of their semifinal against Ooltewah. The Lady Owls rebounded again, however, and their 25-20, 15-9 wins in the final two sets earned them a spot in the final.
Their opponent, Blessed Trinity, defeated Baylor 25-17, 25-16 in its semifinal, and pulled away late for a 25-20 win in the first set against Ooltewah. The Lady Owls trailed 15-9 in the second game before pulling within 19-18, but Blessed Trinity closed out the tournament championship with a 25-21 victory.
The runner-up finish was the top Choo-Choo finish for the Lady Owls in recent memory, and improved their record to 16-2 overall this season.
“We have a great group of kids,” Peigen said. “They have great attitudes, and they work together well. We’re very proud to have them on our team.”
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)
Ooltewah stats and scores:
Ooltewah 2, Knoxville Grace 0
(25-15, 25-18)
Sloan Sullivan - 4 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace
Josie Cain- 5 digs
Courtlyn Ison- 7 kills, 1 dig
Alex Biro- 6 kills
Summer Williams- 3 digs
Bethany Spange- 4 digs, 2 kills, 2 aces
Hanna Matthews- 2 digs, 1 kill, 16 assists
Kailin Higgins -1 ace
Emily Grace Thompson - 1 aces
Sullivan South 2, Ooltewah 1
(23-25, 25-19, 9-15)
Sloan Sullivan - 4 kills, 4 digs
Josie Cain- 4 digs, 1 ace
Courtlyn Ison- 7 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig
Alex Biro- 5 kills
Summer Williams- 4 digs
Bethany Spange- 6 digs, 1 kill
Hanna Matthews- 5 digs, 1 kill, 18 assists
Sidney Killingsworth- 3 kills, 2 digs
Ooltewah 2, Chattanooga Central 0
(25-16, 25-16)
Sloan Sullivan- 3 kills, 6 digs
Josie Cain- 5 digs
Courtlyn Ison- 6 kills
Alex Biro- 2 kills, 1 block
Summer Williams- 1 dig
Bethany Spange- 1 dig
Allie Jones- 2 kills
Hanna Matthews- 14 assists
Sidney Killingsworth- 2 kills
Hannah Henderson- 1 kill
Emily Grace Thompson - 1 dig
Bailey Kennedy - 2 aces, 2 digs
Ooltewah 2, Father Ryan 0
(25-17, 25-23)
Sloan Sullivan - 4 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace
Josie Cain- 12 digs
Courtlyn Ison- 6 kills, 2 digs
Alex Biro- 6 kills
Summer Williams- 2 digs
Bethany Spange - 2 digs, 2 kills
Hanna Matthews- 1 dig, 1 kill, 20 assists
Sidney Killingsworth- 3 kills, 1 dig
Emily Grace Thompson - 1 ace
Ooltewah 2, East Ridge 0
(25-18, 25-22)
Sloan Sullivan - 1 kill, 2 digs, 1 ace
Josie Cain - 4 digs
Courtlyn Ison- 6 kills
Alex Biro- 3 kills
Summer Williams - 2 digs, 2 aces
Bethany Spange - 4 kills
Hanna Matthews - 1 dig, 1 kill, 16 assists
Sidney Killingsworth- 2 kills
Alexis Godsey - 1 ace
Kailin Higgins - 1 ace
Emily Grace Thompson - 1 kill, 2 aces
Maddie Milliken - 1 kill
Ooltewah 2, East Hamilton 0
(25-18, 25-19)
Sloan Sullivan - 1 kill, 7 digs, 3 aces , 1 block
Josie Cain- 4 digs
Courtlyn Ison- 7 kills
Alex Biro- 2 kills, 1 block, 2 digs
Summer Williams- 5 digs
Bethany Spange- 2 digs, 2 kills, 1 ace
Hanna Matthews- 1 digs, 13 assists
Sidney Killingsworth- 6 kills
Emily Grace Thompson - 1 ace, 1 dig
Ooltewah 2, Science Hill 0
(27-25, 25-12)
Sloan Sullivan - 3 kills, 10 digs, 3 aces
Josie Cain- 5 digs, 1 kill
Courtlyn Ison - 14 kills, 2.5 blocks, 1 dig
Alex Biro- 3 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig
Summer Williams- 2 digs
Bethany Spange- 5 digs
Hanna Matthews- 4 digs, 1 kill, 21 assists, 2 aces, 1 block
Sidney Killingsworth- 3 kills, 2.5 blocks
Emily Grace Thompson - 3 digs
Ooltewah 2, Sullivan South 1
(25-22, 32-34, 15-8)
Sloan Sullivan - 4 kills, 15 digs, 1 ace
Josie Cain- 12 digs, 1 assist, 1 kill
Courtlyn Ison - 10 kills, 2.5 blocks
Alex Biro- 8 kills, 1 block
Summer Williams- 4 digs, 2 aces
Bethany Spange- 6 digs, 6 kills, 1 block
Hanna Matthews- 3 digs, 1 kill, 30 assists, 1 ace, 1 block
Sidney Killingsworth- 5 kills, 1.5 block, 1 assist
Ooltewah 2, Soddy Daisy 1
(23-25, 25-20, 15-9)
Sloan Sullivan - 3 kills, 11 digs, 1 block
Josie Cain- 12 digs, 4 aces, 2 assists
Courtlyn Ison- 6 kills, 2 blocks
Alex Biro- 5 kills, 2.5 blocks, 1 dig
Summer Williams- 3 digs
Bethany Spange- 7 digs, 5 kills
Hanna Matthews- 8 digs, 1 kill, 23 assists, 1 ace
Sidney Killingsworth- 6 kills, 1 block
Emily Grace Thompson-1 dig, 1 ace
Blessed Trinity 2, Ooltewah 0
(25-20, 25-21)
Sloan Sullivan - 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 block
Josie Cain- 12 digs, 1 ace, 1 assist
Courtlyn Ison - 6 kills, 2 blocks
Alex Biro- 5 kills, 1 dig
Summer Williams- 8 digs
Bethany Spange- 3 digs, 1assist, 1 block
Hanna Matthews- 6 digs, 13 assists, 2 aces
Sidney Killingsworth- 3 kills, 1 assist
Emily Grace Thompson - 2 digs, 1 ace
Ooltewah record: 16-2
Soddy-Daisy Stats:
Soddy Daisy Stats for the tournament:
Haley Reynolds: 2 aces, 15 digs, 28 kills, 20 blocks
Hannah Robertson: 9 aces, 93 digs 1 kill
Chloe Mitchell: 7 aces, 65 digs, 93 assists, 21 kills, 2 blocks
Lauren Smith: 6 aces, 88 digs, 30 kills, 2 blocks
Karigan Fulghum: 12 aces, 57 digs, 16 kills, 1 block
Abby Walker: 4 aces, 61 digs, 37 kills, 1 block
Alex Volker: 22 kills, 6 blocks
Whitley Phipps: 6 aces, 18 digs