Sale Creek overwhelms Lookout Valley in District 6-A final

Sale Creek's Jayda Perry (8) attempts a save late in the final game at Lookout Valley during the District 6-A tournament final.
Sale Creek's Jayda Perry (8) attempts a save late in the final game at Lookout Valley during the District 6-A tournament final.

If the senior doesn't get you, then the junior will.

Or so that's how it seemed Tuesday for Lookout Valley trying to defend Sale Creek's multifaceted attack in the District 6-A high school volleyball championship match at Lookout Valley.

The Lady Panthers ended up cruising to a 3-0 victory by set scores of 25-6, 25-17, 25-11.

Sale Creek got to the final by beating South Pittsburg 3-0 by set scores of 25-6, 25-10, 25-16. Lookout Valley's 3-0 semifinal win over Whitwell was by scores of 25-17, 25-22, 28-26.

Both teams will advance to next week's Region 3 tournament.

Sale Creek (36-5) often set for its senior leader Ariana Smith in the first set. That's when many of her 15 kills in the match came.

"Everything was clicking," Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill said of the fast start. "Our passing was on target. The sets were right where we wanted to go with them. We got Ariana going early, and she just killed it."

As the match went on, the Lady Panthers found success feeding junior Gracie Janow with several short sets. She ended up leading Sale Creek with 16 kills.

"You've got to be really good and quick to do that," Lookout Valley coach Dan Basler said of the quick-set offense. "They run it really well. They look really smooth with it. You've got to know what's going on ahead of time."

The best bit of success Lookout Valley (13-19) had was in the second set. But the Lady Yellow Jackets' run of seven consecutive points didn't come until Sale Creek was sitting on set point.

"We passed the ball one little stretch," Basler said. "They have a good serving team, a good hitting team, and they play good defense. They're a hard team to play. You can't do much with it."

Morgan Weatherford led the Lady Panthers with 26 digs and six aces. Bailey Nelson totaled 24 assists and Jayda Perry added 13. Smith also contributed 21 digs and three aces and was chosen the tournament's most valuable player.

The Lady Jackets were led in kills by Caitlin Pruitt and Tenille Rogers with five apiece. Rogers also led in digs with 14. Raven Smith was the assists leader with 10.

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.

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