There will be a rematch from the District 5-A finals in the championship match of the Region 3-A volleyball tournament at Boyd-Buchanan Tuesday night.
Semifinal matches were played on Monday evening with 5-A champion Boyd-Buchanan outlasting 6-A runner-up Lookout Valley in the opener with a 3-2 shootout. The Lady Bucs won by scores of 25-21, 21-25, 25-12, 23-25 and 15-9.
District 5-A runner-up Grace Academy was just a little too strong for 6-A champion Sale Creek in the second match as the Lady Golden Eagles won 3-1 with scores of 25-21, 25-19, 24-26 and 25-16.
Tuesday's championship match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Both teams advance to Thursday's sectional round with the region champion hosting and the runner-up going on the road. Thursday's winners advance to the state tournament, which begins next Wednesday at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.
BOYD-BUCHANAN 3, LOOKOUT VALLEY 2: Nothing against the other two teams, but this was by far the best match of the day as the Lady Bucs improved to 30-14 with the hard-fought victory.
The Lady Bucs won the first set before Lookout Valley evened the score with an identical 25-21 victory. Boyd-Buchanan scored six of the first eight points in the third set and the Lady Jackets never got closer than two points as the Lady Bucs regained momentum temporarily with the 13-point win.
The fourth set was nip and tuck before Brianna Evers recorded five straight service points as Lookout Valley turned a 22-18 deficit into a 23-22 lead. A hitting error by each team kept Lookout Valley ahead by a point before a block from Annie Marr sealed the deal at 25-23.
There were six ties in the final set -- the last at 9-9 -- before Katie Delay finished the match with seven straight service points as the Lady Bucs advanced with the win. Kristen Reynolds had 13 kills for the match, but none were any bigger than the last one to end it.
Boyd-Buchanan coach Alfie Dodd wasn't exactly pleased with the quality of his team's play, but he liked the result.
"I knew it would be a tough match and it really hurts to see Lookout Valley lose as well as they played," he began.
"Our passing wasn't good and we made way too many mistakes, but we always seemed to come back when we had to. We had a team of hustlers and no ball was going to hit the floor, but our middle hitters came through.
"Fundamentally, we didn't play very well, but I was pleased with our heart. I just know that we'll have to play better tomorrow night if we plan to host a match on Thursday," he added.
Lookout Valley coach Pat Conard couldn't have asked for anything more from a team that finishes with an outstanding record of 18-5.
"That was a tough one to lose, but it was like we were playing a carbon copy of ourselves as they play just like us. We were playing not to lose at one point, but we bounced back. These girls gave us every ounce of effort they had," the veteran coach praised her team.
"Boyd-Buchanan served extremely well and it seemed like we got scared and sort of went into a shell. But this is one of the best team's I've ever had at Lookout Valley and I'm really pleased with how we played. I'm just disappointed that we lost," she added.
Savannah Walker and Annie Marr are the only seniors on the Lookout Valley roster and they both played extremely well. Walker finished with 19 kills and 27 digs while Marr had a triple-double with a dozen kills, 31 assists and 17 digs.
Evers finished with 18 digs while Taylor Hoge had 16 digs and Elexis Foster had 14.
Reynolds was tops for the Lady Bucs with 13 kills and 23 assists while Halie Williamson was credited with 24 assists. Asia Kirkman, who had one big point after another, was also outstanding and finished with 16 kills and 14 digs.
Delay had 37 digs for the Lady Bucs while Sarah Emrey had 13 kills and seven aces. Madison Balthrop finished with nine kills and eight digs.
GRACE 3, SALE CREEK 1: The Lady Panthers lost the first two sets last week against Lookout Valley in the District 6-A finals before rallying to win in five.
The same thing happened against Grace, but the results weren't the same as the Lady Golden Eagles were simply too strong up front.
Grace had an answer for everything Sale Creek tried in the first two sets as they won the first two before the Lady Panthers rebounded in the third set.
And while Sale Creek won that third set by 26-24 on back-to-back kills from Lauren Smith, the momentum that was briefly on Sale Creek's side quickly went the other way as Grace took charge in the fourth set.
Sale Creek's only lead came at 12-11, but Grace scored seven of the next nine points and it never got any closer as the Lady Golden Eagles went on to win by nine points.
Grace coach Hillary Waters was happy to advance and she's excited that her girls will get another shot at Boyd-Buchanan.
"We're starting to play with a lot of confidence as we're playing our best volleyball right now," she began after her team improved to 18-13.
"I really liked what I saw tonight as we played with a lot of heart, but this is where we want to be at this point in the season. We don't ever enjoy losing, but our loss in the district finals helped us refocus on this match tonight. Tomorrow night should be a lot of fun," she nodded, adding that her team is now 1-2 against Boyd-Buchanan for the season.
Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill knows that Grace was simply the better team when it counted the most.
"We played really hard, but we didn't have an answer for their power up front. We didn't pass well and spent more time playing defense. That got us in trouble, but we were trying to hit missiles. Grace handled the ball better in tight situations than we did as they did a good job of taking advantage of their strengths.
"We certainly didn't play our best tonight, but don't take anything away from Grace as they played extremely well," Hill added.
Sophomore Alex Smith was the leader for Grace as she finished with 30 kills and 36 digs. Lexi Horne and Lexie Mullins were both credited with 38 assists while Miriam Horne had 33 digs.
Ariana Smith played well for Sale Creek and finished with a dozen kills and 21 digs. Lauren Smith had 22 digs while Bailey Nelson finished with 22 assists. Jordan Duncan had five blocks to go along with her 13 kills.
LOOKOUT VALLEY STATS:
Savannah Walker -- 2 aces, 19 kills, 2.5 blocks, 27 digs
Brianna Evers -- 3 kills, 1 assist, 18 digs, 1 ace
Taylor Hoge -- 1 ace, 2 kills, 16 digs
Katelyn Mitchell -- 1 ace, 2 kills, 12 digs
Annie Marr -- 12 kills, 1/2 block, 31 assists, 17 digs
Elexis Foster -- 6 kills, 14 digs
Tennile Rogers -- 2 digs
Scarlett Hamrick -- 3 digs.
BOYD-BUCHANAN STATS:
Madison Balthrop -- 8 digs, 9 kills
Abbie Sewell -- 4 digs, 1 kill, 1 assist, 1/2 block
Sarah Emrey -- 5 digs, 13 kills, 7 aces
Katie Delay -- 37 digs, 2 aces
Asia Kirkman -- 14 digs, 16 kills, 2 aces
Kristen Reynolds -- 5 digs, 13 kills, 23 assists, 4 aces
Allie Ray -- 1 kill
Halie Williamson -- 24 assists, 2 aces
Sarah Keller -- 8 digs, 1 assist
Erin Syring -- 6 kills.
GRACE ACADEMY STATS:
Krissy Aruca -- 1 kill, 1 ace, 13 digs
Serena Turner -- 9 kills, 1 ace, 23 digs
Claire McMasters -- 10 kills, 1 ace, 2 digs, 5 blocks
Lexi Horne -- 38 assists, 10 digs
Miriam Horne -- 1 ace, 33 digs
Josie Fulgham -- 1 ace, 4 digs
Lexie Mullins -- 38 assists, 10 digs
Alex Smith -- 30 kills, 36 digs, 5 blocks, 2 aces
Summer Dean -- 1 ace
Autumn Parrott -- 1 kill, 1 assist, 1 block
Maggie Long -- 1 dig.
SALE CREEK STATS:
Abbey Burton -- 4 kills, 2 assists, 1 block
Lauren Smith -- 9 kills, 22 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
Hayli Radtke -- 1 kill, 2 digs, 1 block
Ariana Smith -- 12 kills, 21 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
Bailey Pugh -- 1 kill, 10 digs, 12 assists
Bailey Nelson -- 6 digs, 22 assists
Jordan Duncan -- 13 kills, 3 digs, 5 blocks
Gracie Janow -- 7 kills, 1 dig, 1 assist, 4 blocks
Sydney Poe -- 21 digs, 2 aces
Kayleigh Cooper -- 1 dig
Tayla Willis -- 2 digs, 2 assists.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)