After falling 1-0 in Tuesday's Division II-AA East region battle to Knoxville Catholic, Baylor coach Curtis Blair emphasized the importance of continuing to work hard even through times of struggle.
The Lady Red Raiders missed several chances to finish around the net and gave up the game-winning goal on a counter attack as Kelsey Miller scored in the 54th minute for the Lady Irish.
"We have a great group of girls who are working hard to get better," said Blair whose team is 2-5 overall albeit against a very difficult schedule. "Everyone wants instant gratification, but just because you put in the work doesn't always mean you will get the results you want. You have to come back and work at it the next day to get better. That's what this team will come out and do tomorrow."
The Lady Red Raiders - comprised mostly of freshman and sophomore starters - were very close to drawing first blood.
Evie Culbreath's cross to Elizabeth Stophel in the ninth minute was nearly put away as the Baylor freshman's shot rolled just past the front left post.
A pair of line drive shots from junior Zoey Mize were turned away, while Mize's free kick in the 38th bounced off the cross bar and a rebound shot could not be booted past the keeper.
Knox Catholic (6-2-1, 2-0 region) kept pressure away more in the second half led by the stellar play of Bella Flask and Hazel Mitrik.
"We have to do a better job in the final third. We got the ball in the spaces we wanted, but we couldn't connect on the final ball. We played with effort and energy, now we just have to execute in those big moments," added Blair, whose team has to win one of its last two region contests against GPS (Sept. 30, road) and Chattanooga Christian (Oct. 10, home) in order to make the postseason.
* East Ridge goalie Nia Barnes posted a clean sheet victory, saving 15 shots in a 1-0 victory over Hixson. Alejandra Argueta provided the game-winning goal for the Lady Pioneers.
* Walker Valley defeated Bradley Central 11-2 as Macy Gibson led the way with a hat trick to go along with one assist, all coming in a nine-goal first half.
* East Hamilton defeated Sequoyah, 8-0, as Malia Drumeller scored two goals and assisted another. Seven different players scored for the Hurricanes who took 23 shots.
VOLLEYBALL
Baylor 3, Chattanooga Christian 0: The Lady Red Raiders won by the scores of 26-24, 25-21 and 25-23. Baylor was led by Tess Margio's 13 kills while Elaine Redman totalled 20 assists. CCS' AJ Johnson had 17 kills while Emily Day led all with 30 digs.
Boyd Buchanan 3, Collegedale Academy 1: Boyd Buchanan fought to 28-26 and 26-24 wins in the second and third set before putting the match away in the fourth. Reagan Sanders had eight aces, 13 digs and 12 assists while Cali Sandhoff had 10 kills, nine digs and 14 assists in the win. Calla Brady had 20 digs and nine kills, while Isabella Messer led all with 28 digs.
Notre Dame 3, Silverdale 0: McKenna Brown starred with 20 kills and 14 digs. Lindsay Burns did a little bit of everything totaling eight digs, seven kills and six aces in the sweep to lock up the regular season district title for the Lady Irish (22-3, 7-0). Mary Fillauer helped set up the attack with 40 assists. Silverdale's top performers were Ashlee Kugler (25 assists) and Savannah Williams (9 kills).
Sequatchie County 3, Bledsoe County 0: The Lady Indians improved to 10-2 overall as Zoe Smith and Sarah Brown combined for 17 kills and were set up by Jayla Johnston who had 19 assists.
Sale Creek 3, Marion County 0: Lillie Morgan had 14 kills and eight digs to help improve Sale Creek to 15-4 overall and 9-0 in region play. Desiree Higgins added 14 assists and five aces in the victory.
Grace Academy 3, GPS 2: After dropping the first two sets, the Lady Golden Eagles stormed back winning the final three sets 25-22, 25-16 and 15-12 on Monday night. Victoria Betrous had 14 kills and three blocks, while Sidney Alumbaugh had eight kills and 10 digs in the victory. Other standouts for Grace included McKenna Pickett (10 digs, 6 aces), Lainey Barrow (11 kills), Maddy McGaughey (15 assists) and Miriam Ateca (4 aces).
GOLF
Baylor's Eetu Kilpwen shot a 37 at Brown Acres to highlight a sweep of CCS on Tuesday. CCS' Emily Solomon was the medalist in the girls match, which Baylor won by one stroke.
SOFTBALL
* Heritage 5-16, Pickens 3-2: The Generals (17-4, 11-0) remained a game ahead of Central-Carroll in Region 7-AAAA as Bailey Christol had six hits in the two games, driving in three in game two. Lexi Duckett had three hits and Bailey Davis three RBIs in game one. Ace Rachel Gibson, after sitting out the team's previous five games, returned in game two and pitched a five-inning two-hitter with nine strikeouts. Riley KoKinda was 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, with Carmen Gayler, Madeline Stone and Morgan Phillips driving in two runs each.
* Central-Carroll 12-8, Northwest Whitfield 0-0: The Lions (15-4, 10-1) took firm control of second place in 7-AAAA as ace Karley Fuller pitched a pair of mercy-ruled shutouts. Hayden Salter drove in seven runs for the winners, while Mia Sewell collected two hits in the nightcap for the Lady Bruins (11-11, 5-6).
* Cedartown 9-8, Southeast Whitfield 1-0: The Lady Bulldogs (14-8, 8-6) jumped past Northwest Whitfield for third place in Region 7-AAAA with the doubleheader sweep of the Lady Raiders.
* Sonoraville 8, Murray County 0: Taylor Long pitched a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts while also driving in a pair of runs for the Region 6-AAA leaders. Taylor West and Taylor Dotson drove in two runs each for Sonoraville (8-5, 9-2).
* Ringgold 16, North Murray 1: The Lady Tigers (13-8, 9-4 in 6-AAA) rolled as Baleigh Pitts and Riley Nayadley combined for five RBIs, each hitting a home run, while Zoey DeFoor was 2-for-2 with three RBIs and Alyissa Sue 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
* Rockmart 9, LaFayette 1: Rockmart (13-5, 8-3) remained in a tie for second place in Region 6-AAA with the win over the Lady Ramblers, who lost despite two hits from Summer Burkett.
* Gordon Lee 15, Armuchee 1: Emma Minghini pitched a four-inning one-hitter with nine strikeouts while also going 2-for-2 with a triple and double and two RBIs. Jordan Dyer added four RBIs and Ashlyn Schmidt three for the Lady Trojans (19-3, 6-0 in 6-A public).
* Trion 22, Drew Charter 3: Ransley Lawrence was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored and Jenna Mosley had two hits, three RBIs and three runs scored for the Lady Bulldogs (7-5, 4-3 6-A public).