Seven Chattanooga-area players were selected to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association all-state volleyball teams for 2019. East Hamilton's Madison Hayes and Hillary English are joined on the Class AA all-state team by Hixson's Abby Rector, while Sale Creek's Allison Smith was named in Class A. Baylor's Elaine Redman and Tess Margio are on the Division II team, and Cleveland's Joy Douglass is the lone area member of the AAA team. Hayes led her team in kills and is a three-time all-region player, and English led the Lady Hurricanes in assists and was a dominant shot blocker. Rector, a Bryan College signee, led the area with 598 kills, 518 digs - both program records - and 78 aces. Smith had 1,083 digs in 30 matches to lead Sale Creek to the state tournament for a fourth straight season. Redman, a Toledo commitment, had 515 kills, 449 assists, 338 digs and 46 blocks, while Margio - a 6-foot-2 middle blocker - had 245 kills and 62 blocks in a 30-win season. Douglass was the Region 3-AAA MVP after finishing with 494 kills and 514 digs in 38 matches.
Track & Field
' Bryan College had only two women's track and field athletes qualify for the Appalachian Athletic Conference indoor meet last year. After the Lady Lions' first meet this winter, they already have three qualified - in four events. At the ETSU Invitational this past weekend in Johnson City, Bryan freshman Kelsey Henderson from Soddy-Daisy ran an AAC qualifying time of 10.07 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and sophomore Sarah Welch from Dayton qualified in the 800 (2:29.11) and 3000 (11:28.36). Sophomore Aalliyah Worley qualified with a 9.64-meter shot put. Two Bryan guys came close to AAC qualification: Jon David Nelson from Mentone in both the 200 and 400 dashes and Birchwood's Nathen Vander Wilt in his first mile run.
Swimming
' Sewanee's swimming and diving teams ended their home seasons this past weekend with losses to Birmingham-Southern's nationally ranked squads: 160-128 to the No. 24 BSC women and 172-89 to the No. 19 male Panthers. Kate Mabry got 27 of the points for the Sewanee women with wins in the 100 backstroke, 200 back and 100 butterfly, and Gabby Acker won the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. Freshman Virginia Hudspeth won the 400 individual medley and scored points also in the 100 and 200 backs, and Paisley Simmons won the 3-meter diving and was second to teammate Olivia Durfee in 1-meter. For the Sewanee men, James Hoyt finished first in the 100 fly and 400 IM and Anthony Carbone won the 100 freestyle. The Tigers close out the regular season this Saturday against Rhodes at Tunica, Mississippi.