Boyd-Buchanan’s Rachel Harper has accepted a volleyball scholarship offer from Carson-Newman College and will sign during the November signing period.
Harper helped the Lady Bucs win the Class A state championship last season and was an all-state selection. Her regular-season totals as a junior were 418 kills, 644 digs and 174 aces, and through 122 games this season she already has more kills (573) and aces (189) and has 585 digs.
Boyd-Buchanan coach Amber Nolen said playing club volleyball in the offseason helped Harper’s game tremendously. The coach said the standout outside hitter has blossomed from the shadows four seniors left behind last year.
“She was taking a leadership role, as far as playing, already,” Nolen said. “When we talked a couple of weekends ago, I told her, ‘Everybody is looking to you to become the leader of this team,’ and since then she absolutely has. She’s stepped above and beyond what’s she’s been asked.”
Harper, who is considering majoring in physics, first visited the Jefferson City campus about five months ago.
“I had already visited a few other schools,” Harper said. “Not that there was anything wrong at those other schools, but when I went to Carson-Newman it was an amazing feeling.”
Baylor first to clinch
Baylor defeated Father Ryan last Friday and beat Ensworth and Pope John Paul II on Saturday to win the Division II-AA East/Middle Region volleyball championship.
“We played extremely well,” Baylor coach Sarah Lail said. “The girls knew what that one meant and had all engines going.”
In Division I races, Signal Mountain (33-10, 6-0) has secured at least a tie for first in District 6-A and can capture the championship when its hosts Sale Creek this afternoon. Boyd-Buchanan (30-17-2, 8-0) is in a similar situation in District 5-A. It needs a victory over Arts & Sciences on Thursday or at Silverdale Baptist next Tuesday to earn the title outright.
Chattanooga Christian (21-13) went through the first half of the District 7-AA schedule 4-0 and Notre Dame was 3-1. The rematch is Oct. 7 at Notre Dame at 5:30.
Red Bank (26-9, 5-0) leads District 6-AA and has a district match today at East Hamilton. If the Lady Lions win, East Ridge (3-0 in 6-AA) would have to win its next three district matches to set up a decisive match next Tuesday at Red Bank.
Ooltewah (28-18, 7-0) has a two-match lead in District 5-AAA and hosts Walker Valley today and Cleveland on Thursday and plays next Tuesday at second-place Soddy-Daisy. Each of those opponents has at least 20 victories overall, but the Lady Owls defeated all of them in district play the first time around.
Lady Jackets double up
Lookout Valley is in the Notre Dame Invitational volleyball tournament Saturday. The Lady Yellow Jackets also are in the tournament Bledsoe County is hosting.
For the second time this year, coach Pat Conard has entered Lookout Valley’s varsity squad in one area tournament while she takes the junior varsity to Pikeville to play against varsity competition. Assistant Kristen Clounch coached the varsity players in Hixson’s tournament on Aug. 28 and will be with them at Notre Dame on Saturday.
Led by seniors Chandler Brooks, Aimee Byers, Devan O’Dell, Caroline Ware and Hannah Walraven, Lookout Valley is 13-5 overall and 5-1 in District 6-A. The B-team Lady Jackets are 9-7 – which includes the varsity matches they played at Bledsoe a month ago – and have not lost to another JV team from their district.
Conard looked at the two weekends as chances to allow the varsity to face some tough competition in preparation for postseason while also getting her younger girls some seasoning.
“This is next year’s varsity,” Conard said. “I want them to know what they’re going to be going up against next year.”
Baylor fourth in Maymont
The Baylor girls’ cross country team finished fourth this past weekend in the Maymont Invitational in Richmond, Va. Senior Tenley Godfrey led the Lady Red Raiders with a seventh-place finish, and Hannah Jumper was 17th.
Baylor still on top
The Baylor girls’ soccer team remained in first place in TSSAA Division II-AA in the latest Eurosportscoreboard.com soccer rankings. The Lady Red Raiders, currently 25th in the ESPN Rise national rankings, are 10-0 going into tonight’s match against rival GPS.
Soddy-Daisy (13-0) is third in Class AAA.
Soccer showdowns
District 7-A/AA has three of the state’s top 10 girls’ soccer teams in that classification: No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 4 Chattanooga Christian and No. 7 Signal Mountain, and the pecking order will take shape this week with two rivalry battles. CCS plays tonight at Signal Mountain and on Thursday hosts Notre Dame, which already defeated Signal.