CCS nips Lady Irish

Chattanooga Christian’s Katy Caine only looked the part of a composed head coach Tuesday.

But down 15-14 in the fifth game of the District 7-AA volleyball championship match against Notre Dame, she was feeling just as nervous as her Lady Chargers were.

CCS came back, however, scoring the next three points beat the Lady Irish for their second consecutive championship. Game scores were 18-25, 25-11, 25-21, 21-25, 17-15.

The Lady Chargers and Lady Irish advance to the Region 4-AA tournament next week.

“This team rarely gives up,” Caine said, “but I was definitely feeling nervous right there at the end. I just hope we don’t have to see that team again; I don’t have any more tricks up my sleeve.”

After dropping the first game, CCS (34-13) never trailed in the next two games. Tournament most valuable player Taylor Snipes had nine of her 21 kills in those two games, but the wave of momentum the Lady Chargers had after game three disappeared in the fourth game, when Notre Dame led by as many as nine points.

“I think that we were too excited about what happened in the first game that we let up in the next two,” Notre Dame coach Kari Krouse said. “Going into that fifth game, I told the girls that we had momentum on our side, that if we eliminated the errors and kept the momentum we’d be OK.”

The Lady Chargers led for almost all of the decisive game. They had match point at 14-10, but the Lady Irish rallied, taking a one-point lead after two kills by Mariah Stewart.

After Snipes scored on a tip, Kelsey Lockstampfor served two points to seal the win.

“I told the girls that we were beating ourselves,” Caine said. “This team isn’t ready to stop yet. The thing I like now is that we’re up against teams that we haven’t seen, so they don’t know what to expect. We have goals of winning state and we have a ways to go to get there.”

Said Krouse: “We definitely gave them a run for their money in the fifth game. It was the best we’ve played all year, and I’m happy with the effort we had.”

n District 6-AA: At East Hamilton, Red Bank beat East Ridge 25-6, 25-9, 25-10 in the championship match.

The Lady Lions had closer scores but defeated East Hamilton 3-0 in a semifinal beforehand. The Lady Pioneers needed five games to win its semifinal over Hixson.

“It probably took a lot out of East Ridge going five games,” Red Bank coach Christel Brooks said. “I was kind of worried about us having a long break. We came out ready to play and focused. Our intensity and energy levels were high. And we served well. That helped.”

Kalyn Helton had 17 kills for Red Bank (41-15) in the final. Ansley Helton had 12 digs and Abby Graham had 12 assists and five aces.

East Ridge (22-20) got a combined 23 kills and 21 digs from Daisha Jackson in its matches, and Haven Carter totaled 33 assists, 31 digs and four aces.