Cleveland Volleyball Sweeps Bradley Central

lady Blue Raiders Win District 5-3A Contest Convincingly 25-7, 25-10, 25-13

  • Tuesday, September 27, 2022
  • Richard Roberts
Cleveland hitter Lauren Hurst (11) goes for the kill as Bradley Central's Ashlyn Stuman (20) and Trinity Reagan try to block the shot during a District 5-3A volleyball matchup inside Raider Arena Tuesday, at Cleveland.
Cleveland hitter Lauren Hurst (11) goes for the kill as Bradley Central's Ashlyn Stuman (20) and Trinity Reagan try to block the shot during a District 5-3A volleyball matchup inside Raider Arena Tuesday, at Cleveland.
photo by Richard Roberts

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Cleveland tightened its grip on the district volleyball lead in a big way Tuesday inside Raider Arena with a 3-0 sweep of cross-town foe Bradley Central.

 

The Lady Raiders (38-5, 11-0 District 5-3A) held the Bearettes(17-13, 8-3) to just 30 total points to stay undefeated in District 5-3 A with set wins of 25-7, 25-10 and 25-13.

 

After struggling against Knox Catholic following a sub-par showing in tournament volleyball the previous weekend, Lady Raiders head coach Amy McGowan tweaked the rotation a bit and the moves paid dividends against Bradley.

 

“We had a little struggle against Knox Catholic here and the weekend before that with our lineup.

I just made some adjustments in it,” said McGowan. “Our people aren't playing different positions, they are in different rotations. I think it really helped out tonight. We've been working on it in practice and tonight is the first time we've run it.”

 

The different look paid off in a big way in the opening set as the Lady Raiders, behind the serving of Lauren Hurst, reeled off 17 consecutive points. Hurst served up six aces in the run while sister Addison Hurst and Gunny Brock booked kills. The Hurst duo fired off back-to-back kills to run the score to 22-4. Bradley Central's Brooklyn Cantrell served up an ace for the Bearettes late, but a Brock kill and Addison Brock ace closed out the set.

 

There was no let down in set two as the Lady Raiders racked up 13 points to lead 13-5 after Kimora Fields scored a kill for Bradley. Minutes later, Cleveland's Kinslee McGowan made it 17-8 and points from Brock and Lauren Hurst ran the tally to 23-9 where back-to-back kills from Addison Hurst ended the set.

 

“They are cross-town rivals, they are No. 1 in the state and they are No. 1 for a reason. Those girls eat, breathe and play volleyball all year-round. They are solid. They are deep. It gets in your head a little bit when it's your cross-town rival,” Bearettes head coach Christie McElhaney. “If we were going somewhere and we didn't know who the girls were across the net it may be different. We can play. We can do some good things, it's just a little bit of a mental thing.”

 

Cleveland kept up the pressure in the final set of the night with points scored by Lauren Hurst, Brock, Addison Hurst helped with aces by the powerhouse sisters. Hannah Goins and Mylee Goodwin fired kills to the floor for the Bearettes. Cleveland's Lexi Gash made it 17-7 with an ace to put The lady Raiders up by 10. Bradley' Ashlyn Stuman came through with a kill and block for the Bearettes to make it a 19-9 game. The Lady Raiders countered with a kill from Addison Brock to open the gap tp 21-9. Lauren Hurst set the score at 23-12 and two points later a shot out of bounds gave the set to the Lady Raiders.

 

“Every year they are the No. 1 team in the state. This year they just happen to be in the same district as us. Sometimes you don't see them until substate and sometimes you don't see them until the state tournament. It's just the year for them to be in our district and that happens sometimes,” McElhaney said afterward. “Right now, nobody wants to be second. But, that's our goal; be second, get out of the district and work to get out of the region and move on.”

 

The Lady Raiders At Ooltewah Thursday then host Maryville at 1:30 p.m., Friday in a non-district student body match. The Bearettes will stay in district play at home against Walker Valley.

 

“We came out and we were pretty focused. That's what we've been working on, being focused and we were tonight. I thought we served really well. We hit our spots that we wanted to get,” said McGowan.
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