Signal Mountain players celebrate after a point during their District 7-AA high school volleyball tournament championship match against Notre Dame on Tuesday.Paybacks were the order of the day Tuesday at Signal Mountain.
In the end, the Lady Eagles defeated Notre Dame 3-0 in the championship match of the District 7-AA high school volleyball tournament. Set scores were 25-16, 25-14, 25-17.
"They beat us the last time we played," said coach Jennifer Redman, whose Signal Mountain team was a regular-season tri-champion along with Notre Dame and Chattanooga Christian but ended up top-seeded for the tournament. "They beat us in four, and we were lucky to get it to go four."
The Lady Irish defeated the other tri-champion 3-2 in a semifinal right before the championship match. Set scores were 14-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15, 15-8.
CCS had beaten Notre Dame 3-0 last Thursday, leaving the Lady Chargers the No. 2-seeded team and dropping the Lady Irish to No. 3.
"I was worried how much gas we would have left," Notre Dame coach Ted Hackett said after the victory that put his team in the Region 4 tournament and ended the Lady Chargers' season. "The match before was a physical and emotional big effort from them. All the credit in the world to CCS. It's two really evenly matched squads."
Signal Mountain (30-19), which beat Bledsoe County 3-0 by scores of 25-10, 25-10, 25-12 in the first semifinal, will host the region tournament next Tuesday.
Taelor Kellum led the Lady Eagles with 33 kills and four aces in their two wins. She also had four blocks against Notre Dame (14-20). Aryn Sanders was Signal Mountain's digs leader overall with 24 and Amanda Thielges had a combined 51 assists.
Kayle Stone led the Lady Irish on the night with 18 kills. Danika Dorris had 41 digs and Ragen Dobson had 55 assists. Stephanie Bouchard led with four aces and also contributed 17 kills and 31 digs.
CCS (22-20) was led in kills by Erin Jackson with 13, and she and Madi Huston each had three aces. Taylor Youell had 26 assists.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.