Several area high school volleyball teams would like to take a peek at Soddy-Daisy’s blueprint on how to beat Walker Valley.
The Lady Trojans improved their District 5-AAA record to 6-2 on Tuesday by defeating the Lady Mustangs 3-0. Game scores were 25-8, 25-21, 27-25.
Walker Valley has won two-thirds of its 30 matches and, despite now owning a 5-3 league record, was the highest-finishing team from 5-AAA last weekend in the Gold bracket of the Tennessee Tandem tournament. However, it did have a pool-play loss to Soddy-Daisy, which is now responsible for half of the Lady Mustangs’ 10 losses this season.
“It’s always about who’s on that day,” Walker Valley coach Judy Pruett said of the competition in the district, “and for some reason when we play Soddy-Daisy we’re not on. I think it’s a mental game now. But we play them really close. At least we did the last two games today. That third game definitely should’ve been ours, but we let it slip right through our fingers. They finished and we didn’t.”
Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson said the Lady Mustangs have their particular style of play and cautions her players not to get caught up in it. In spite of the perceived mastery over them by the Lady Trojans, who are now 24-11 overall, Johnson said things haven’t come easily.
“I know they’re tired of looking at us,” Johnson said. “They’re so scrappy. They’re smart players. They’re hard to beat. We’ve never had as many aces against them as we had today.”
Kelsey Nunley led in that category with six, including three in succession during a run of 12 consecutive points in the first game. She also topped Soddy-Daisy with 21 digs.
Walker Valley started the first game 6-1 and the second game 7-1, prompting timeout calls by Johnson.
“We weren’t thinking,” she said. “Our sets were tight, we were getting blocked and that will frustrate you. We have power, and when we use that power it’s going to wear on you sooner or later.”
The Lady Trojans’ main power source is Hayli Raines, whose 17 kills came from all over, including some from the back row. Nunley added eight kills and Rachel Shaughnessy contributed four kills and four blocks. Sarah Davis and Olivia Holden teamed for 19 assists.
Pruett said the Lady Mustangs’ problems stemmed from not receiving serves well, which led to bad passing and thus a lack of hitting. Their leaders were Kayla Sewell with three kills and four blocks, and Caitlin Geren with three blocks and five assists.
“We’ll probably see them again,” Pruett said. “It’s really all about the district tournament. It’ll be whoever’s playing best then.”