Not even the sixth time was the charm.
Walker Valley came into its semifinal in the District 5-AAA high school volleyball tournament having won twice as many matches as it had lost, but nearly half of those 12 losses were to Soddy-Daisy – the tournament host and the Lady Mustangs’ opponent Tuesday.
Once again Walker Valley was no match for the Lady Trojans, who advanced to the final by winning 3-0. Game scores were 25-21, 25-17, 25-17.
In the other semifinal, Cleveland defeated Ooltewah 3-1 by game scores of 25-22, 25-23, 24-26, 25-21. Today’s championship match is at 6 p.m.
Soddy-Daisy started the match scoring the first four points and never trailed in either of the first two games. Walker Valley took a 3-0 lead in the third game, which stayed close until the Lady Trojans increased their 15-14 advantage with a run of six consecutive points.
“I think if we ever played Soddy-Daisy a good match it would probably be close,” Walker Valley coach Judy Pruett said. “We just haven’t ever done that.”
Lady Mustangs middle hitter Kayla Sewell managed seven kills and five blocks, however didn’t get a great deal of help at the net. Pruett didn’t lay blame on Karis Terpstra, but noted she’s a little undersized for an outside hitter and has had her share of struggles against Soddy-Daisy.
“You’ve got to respect Walker Valley,” Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson said. “They’re tough. They play hard. We’re just a little bit bigger. We’ve got a little more power. We just kind of have a little upper edge on them.”
Soddy-Daisy’s primary power source is Hayli Raines and she delivered 16 kills and Kelsey Nunley added 12. Sarah Davis had 22 assists and five aces and Megan Ware drew Johnson’s praise after pacing four in double-digit digs with 25.
“We covered their tips very well tonight,” Johnson said.
Defense has been Cleveland’s strong suit all season. In need of offense, the Lady Raiders got a career-high 33 kills Tuesday from senior Kristen Pickett.
“She was just amazing,” Cleveland coach Trish Flowers said. “She was a powerhouse tonight.”
Flowers said her team had the lead in the third game but let that one slip away. She said something they changed late in that game helped them win the next game.
“I think the girls put so much heart into it,” Flowers said. “They wanted it so bad. We adjusted our lineup a little bit and it just happened to work for us.”
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653.