The Red Bank volleyball team clinched the District 6-AAA regular-season title Tuesday evening — the hard way.

After cruising past visiting Soddy-Daisy in the first two games, the Lady Lions dropped two in a row before a narrow fifth-game win gave them a 3-2 match victory that guarantees a No. 1 seeding for the upcoming tournament.

“I don’t think we’ve lost a game in the district this year, so it’s good to be challenged,” Red Bank coach Christel Helton said. “Soddy-Daisy came out a different team in the third game, but luckily we responded in the end. Hopefully this will be a wakeup call for us before the district tournament.”

The Lady Lions (31-7, 5-0) seemed in control after their 25-15 and 25-17 wins but fell behind early in game three. Soddy-Daisy held on after Red Bank came back to tie it at 14, and two aces from Andrea Johnson helped the Lady Trojans pull away for a 25-19 win.

“Soddy-Daisy picked up their game, and we also made some unforced errors,” Helton said. “When you do that against a good team, it’s going to come back to haunt you. “

In game four, it was the Lady Trojans’ turn to rally from an early deficit. They trailed 16-11 on a kill from Kalyn Helton before tying it at 18 and again at 21 and 22. A kill from Johnson gave Soddy-Daisy game point, but Red Bank responded with a block from Christina Teter. The Lady Lions couldn’t stop the next two hits from Johnson, however, and her kills closed out a 26-24 victory.

“I’m extremely proud that we came back,” Lady Trojans coach Lorri Johnson said. “I think they’ve finally gained the confidence that we can do it. And if we can do it here, we can do it when it counts even more.”

Game five began with four lead changes before an ace gave Red Bank a 10-8 advantage. Back-to-back blocks from Ashlee England brought Soddy-Daisy within 13-12, but a service error helped the Lady Lions finish off a 15-12 win.

Courtney Lawson led Red Bank with 13 kills, 22 assists and 26 digs, and Teter finished with 10 kills, three blocks and five aces. Helton and Kamron Adkins contributed nine kills apiece, while Melanie Gibson made 18 digs and Bailey Lyness followed with 16 as the Lady Lions secured the top spot in the district tournament that starts Oct. 13 at Central.

“It’s really good to know we have that,” Helton said. “That was one of our goals, and we accomplished it tonight, so hopefully now we can build on it.”

Soddy-Daisy (27-14, 4-2) was led by Johnson’s 14 kills, 18 digs, 15 assists and four aces. Savannah Hartman had 14 kills and 13 digs, and England totaled eight kills and five blocks.

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