The final day of the TSSAA state volleyball tournament will be played without any representation from Chattanooga.
Baylor and Signal Mountain were eliminated from their respective tournaments Thursday, just hours after Ooltewah and Hixson were eliminated Wednesday after a power outage at the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State delayed their games late into the night.
"I feel like I've been here for three days," Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen said. "It was a long day for almost everybody. Thankfully, the delay didn't affect play."
Her Lady Owls were dismissed on Wednesday by Houston 3-0 in a Class AAA elimination game by scores of 27-25, 25-21 and 28-26.
"I think that if we would have won that first one we would have built a little momentum," Peigen said. "We just couldn't get things going our way. We kept going neck and neck, but we could never finish a game."
The Lady Owls concluded their season with a 45-13 record.
"We had an outstanding season," Peigen said. "I told the girls, 'You're one of eight teams to be here, so don't hang your head.' We gave it our all."
Baylor's Lady Red Raiders, ranked in the top 100 teams in the country, were eliminated Wednesday with losses to Briarcrest (3-1) in the morning and Father Ryan (3-2) in the afternoon. Baylor lost 15-12 in the third game against Father Ryan. The two teams that defeated Baylor will play for the Division II-AA state championship today.
Hixson, making its first appearance at the state tournament in school history, was eliminated late Wednesday by Dyersburg in a five-set Class AA match. The set scores were 25-18, 19-25, 22-25, 25-23, 16-14.
Also in the Class AA tournament, Signal Mountain returned home following two defeats. The Lady Eagles (34-21) lost to Knoxville Catholic in five games at Siegel High School, then advanced in the losers bracket by defeating Hume-Fogg 3-0 before falling 3-1 to Page on Thursday afternoon.
"To make it back to state and place in the top four, that's great," Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman said. "We were just a little inconsistent. Holy cow, every team that makes it here is able to adjust, and if you don't adjust they can pick you apart.
"Talking to them at the end brought tears to my eyes."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP