Traffic caused the Riverdale High School volleyball team to arrive an hour late for its Class AAA sectional at Soddy-Daisy.
The Lady Trojans waited patiently and were gracious hosts – for a while.
Soddy-Daisy beat the Murfreesboro team 3-2, advancing to the Class AAA state tournament by sweeping the final three games Thursday night.
“I don’t know who we play,” Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson said. “All I know is that the state tournament starts Wednesday in Murfreesboro and we’ll be there. I don’t know what time. I don’t care what time. We’ll be there.”
Soddy-Daisy (45-17) will be making its second appearance in the state tournament. Riverdale (40-13) concludes its season with a school record for victories.
Senior hitter Hayli Raines led the Lady Trojans with 33 kills and 24 digs while Sarah Davis had 34 assists. For Riverdale, junior hitter Chelsea Ross had 25 kills and 16 digs.
“I was determined to win and I was not going to lose that fifth game,” Raines said. “We lost to them twice already, and we weren’t going to let it happen again.”
The two-hour trip that turned into three and a half hours helped Soddy-Daisy take a 15-3 lead in the first game. But Riverdale roared back to win it 25-23 with Ross scoring six kills and an ace.
Ross powered Riverdale to a 26-24 win in game two.
“We squeaked out two great games,” Riverdale coach Jerry Snider said. “Then emotionally we let up, and that opened the door for Soddy.”
Soddy-Daisy won game three 25-17, then won game four 25-22 to set up the deciding race to 15.
Raines finished the match with two straight kills for a 15-9 win that sent the Soddy-Daisy bench screaming onto the court. Snider gathered his emotional team in a hallway after the game.
“We had a great year and we hate to lose our seniors,” Snider said. “They set the standard for Riverdale volleyball.”
n Class A sectionals: At Signal Mountain, the host Lady Eagles swept Friendship Christian by game scores of 25-7, 25-8, 25-21 and earned a return trip to the state tournament.
Callie Hildebrand paced Signal Mountain (47-15) with 13 kills and 11 digs. Georgia Paturalski set for 21 assists and equaled Sydni Abbajay with four aces.
At Gainesboro, defending state champion Boyd-Buchanan needed five games but defeated host Jackson County 25-23, 18-25, 24-26, 25-16, 15-13 and is headed back to Murfreesboro.
Rachel Harper’s 27 kills, 22 digs and seven aces were all team highs for Boyd-Buchanan (38-20). Jessica Murrell led with 26 assists, and she also contributed 18 digs. Maggie Brown supported Harper at the net with 15 kills and served five aces.