Signal Mountain had a long scoring run in each of the first two games Tuesday and defeated Sale Creek 3-0 in the championship match of the District 6-A high school volleyball tournament at Signal Mountain. Game scores were 25-12, 25-21, 25-21.
The Lady Eagles advanced to the final by defeating South Pittsburg 3-0. The Lady Panthers also won their semifinal 3-0 over Lookout Valley.
Signal Mountain (43-17) owned a 15-12 lead in the first game of the final, then won a point and sent Sydni Abbajay to serve. With three of the last four points coming on kills by Callie Hildebrand, Abbajay served out the game.
The Lady Eagles turned an 8-3 deficit in the second game into a 15-8 lead. Again it was Abbajay’s serving complemented by seven kills by Hildebrand.
Hildebrand ended up with 24 kills and 24 digs. Abbajay had four aces to go with five kills and six digs. Georgia Paturalski set for 32 assists and also had two aces and eight digs.
“We stuck with our strong points, which is serving and hitting,” Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman said. “Sydni can rail off a lot. Georgia can rail off a lot. If we have three hitters on the front row, we feel pretty confident.”
Beating Lookout Valley, which split with Sale Creek (24-13) during the season, gave the Lady Panthers a region berth.
“We played a great game all the way around the floor,” Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill said of the semifinal. “We talked. We passed well. We got some good swings at the ball and put them down.”
Erin Hill and Chelsi Roark led the Lady Panthers in the final with 11 kills each, and Hill also had 14 assists and three aces. Roark and Baileigh Bailey had eight kills each in Sale Creek’s victory.
n District 5-A: At Grace Academy, Boyd-Buchanan defeated the host school 25-15, 25-13, 25-15 in the championship match.
Lady Bucs coach Amber Nolen said she’s been pleased with her team’s performances down the stretch of the season and had particular praise for hitters Rachel Harper and Maggie Brown. Harper had 22 kills, 18 digs and four aces in the final and Brown had nine kills and four digs.
“We’re just playing really good volleyball right now,” Nolen said. “With the season coming down to the end, everything is coming together for us. We’re serving well. We’re passing well. We’re swinging well. There’s not a hole right now.”
Jessica Kirk had 24 digs and five aces for Boyd-Buchanan (36-19-2). Kristen Reynolds had 27 assists and six digs.