Cleveland's Emma Flowers (21) puts back a shot from Ooltewah's Aubbie Collake (15) in the second game Tuesday at Oolteway. Cleveland scored a big volleyball victory at Ooltewah. Walker Valley was credited with an assist.
The Lady Raiders hadn't beaten Ooltewah since 2010 until Tuesday, but now they sit alone in the perch the Lady Owls have occupied for so long atop the District 5-AAA high school standings. Cleveland won 3-0 with the set scores being 25-17, 25-21, 25-12.
Both teams came in with 5-0 district records. One of the league wins for Cleveland (15-6) was 3-0 at Walker Valley on Aug. 25.
The Lady Raiders and Lady Mustangs met again over the weekend in the Choo Choo Tournament. This time Walker Valley edged them.
"I think we kind of needed that to happen," Cleveland coach Trish Flowers said. "It was a humbling experience."
The Lady Raiders looked like a focused team against Ooltewah (16-8). The Lady Owls took a 4-1 lead in the first set, then led by three again at 5-2. They never owned as much as a three-point lead in any set the rest of the way.
"You can't expect a blowout," Flowers said. "This was a little bit of a shocker."
Flowers' daughter, Emma, sparked Cleveland with her all-around play that included 19 kills, 12 assists and 21 digs. Tears of joy were streaming down her face afterward.
"We played probably the best game we've ever played," the 6-foot-2 junior said. "Every player worked their butts off. Our serving was there. We served really well, Hannah Longley especially. Our hitting was there, and not just from me. There wasn't just one part of our game. Everything was on tonight."
Mom was a little reluctant to go that far, but she liked what she saw in Monday's practice and how that carried over in a key district match.
"I think we've got a few players still trying to reach some personal goals, which would help us get more points on the board quicker," the coach said, "but our offense is getting stronger.
"We passed very well. The hitters definitely need to give a shoutout to our passers, because they couldn't have done what they did without them."
Anna Renshaw and Amber Morman contributed seven kills apiece and Renshaw led the Lady Raiders with 21 assists. Lauren Lee was the digs leader with 26, and Longley's 16 service points were a team-high with five of them aces.
"Cleveland has a good team," Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen said. "You've got to come with your 'A' game against them, and I don't think we did that. I think we made too many unforced errors. Hopefully we'll be ready for them next time."
Sidney Killingsworth had eight kills, Macy Milliken had 11 assists and Courtney Swafford had 20 digs for Ooltewah, which hadn't lost a district match since 2012.
"We knew we had a big problem with the girls feeling they may not be as good as some of the teams in the past," Peigen said. "We've got to start believing we can be. We've just got to pick up our level of play."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.