Red Bank battles to AA losers final

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- If Red Bank makes it to the championship match in the Class AA high school volleyball state tournament, it will have done it the hard way.

The Lady Lions were in the losers bracket after playing Page in their first match Thursday at Middle Tennessee State University, then battled back to earn a spot in today's losers-bracket final by beating Stone Memorial and Chattanooga Christian.

Christ Presbyterian awaits in the losers-bracket final at 10 a.m. EDT. The final is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Page beat Red Bank 15-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22, 17-15. Without a break, the Lady Lions (54-10) had to take on Stone Memorial and won 24-26, 25-18, 25-15, 25-19. They did get some time off before defeating the Lady Chargers (31-15) 25-18, 25-18, 25-12.

Red Bank coach Christel Brooks estimated her team was on the court for four consecutive hours during the late morning and early afternoon.

"We got a couple of games' break before that last one," Brooks said. "I was a little bit concerned how we would do. During that break I met with the six seniors as a group. I told them, 'I know this is emotional. We had that letdown with Page. Here's where you have to step up and show your leadership. The younger girls are looking to you.' They rose up to the challenge, I thought."

Kalyn Helton's 25 kills and 24 digs were team highs in the loss to Page. So were Courtney Lawson's 24 assists and nine aces.

"We had match point a couple of times in that last game," Brooks said. "They executed at the end and we didn't. It's who wins the last match that counts. Hopefully we'll get another chance at them."

Lawson and Helton combined for 36 kills and 31 digs against Stone Memorial. Lawson also led in assists with 23. Bailey Lyness led in digs and aces with 29 and four.

Helton had 19 kills against the Lady Chargers. Lyness made 16 digs and Amy Metcalf totaled 20 assists.

"We didn't match up too well with Red Bank," CCS coach Kenny Engels said. "We're more of a finesse and speed team. They're all around just a great team. They've got some height we really can't compete with."

CCS got 10 kills from Taylor Snipes and 10 blocks from Alex Yandel in its 25-21, 25-17, 25-22 loss to CPA. Courtney Hitchcock led with 24 digs and Alex Givens had 25 assists.

Snipes and Kelsey Lochstampfor had 20 kills apiece in a 21-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-15 victory over South Greene. Hitchcock had 37 digs and Givens set 43 assists.

Leaders against Red Bank were Snipes with nine kills, Hitchcock with 17 digs and Givens with 21 assists.

"At the beginning of the year if anyone had told us we would come through our regional we'd have looked at them cross-eyed," Engles said. "We came through our district on top, we came through our regional, we beat East Ridge and came out of our sectional and finished fourth in the state. I think we were 11-29 last year. I want these girls to know what a great accomplishment this is for them. We've really grown as a team."

* Class A: Boyd-Buchanan won twice and earned a spot in the final when it beat Signal Mountain 3-0. The Lady Bucs had beaten Loretto 3-1 earlier with game scores of 25-20, 25-14, 17-25, 25-14.

Rachel Harper had 22 kills in the victory over Signal, and her 26 digs were second only to Ashley Hixson's 31. Stephanie Silvers had 15 kills and 17 digs, and Erica Morris set 45 assists.

Morris had 47 assists against Loretto and shared a team-high four aces with Silvers. Silvers and Hope Johnson had 19 digs apiece and Harper had 19 kills and18 digs.

Signal Mountain defeated Trinity Christian 3-0 in its first match of the day. Game scores were 25-12, 25-20, 25-14.

* Class AAA: Ooltewah was eliminated with two 3-2 losses Wednesday, the last to Siegel in a late match.