Red Bank girls volleyball players celebrate after winning the second set during their 3-match domination against Hixson at Central High School in Harrison, Tenn., on Tuesday, October 7, 2014.The intensity was there from the start. So was the enthusiasm.
And when the Red Bank volleyball team put both together with their skill Tuesday night, the Lady Lions were pretty hard to stop.
They secured the District 6-AA tournament championship with a 3-0 victory over regular-season champion Hixson at Central High. Set scores were 25-22, 25-18, 25-16.
Both finalists advance to next week's Region 3-AA tournament at Red Bank.
Red Bank (25-25) had been pushed to the brink of elimination a round prior by host Central before taking a five-game victory in a back-and-forth match, but the Lady Lions never let the Lady Wildcats get into the championship match. Red Bank took large early leads in the first two sets before a big run in the middle of the third helped put the match away.
"I challenged the girls to take the district back to Red Bank," coach Mandi Munn said. "We've had our ups and downs this year, but we had to dig deep to be able to pull the championship out."
Munn said the team really took a step forward this past weekend in a tournament at Franklin County.
"We changed our lineup around a little bit and were able to figure each other out better," Rachel Thornbury said. "We knew after [the weekend] that we could come out No. 1. We focused from the start tonight, and even though we were worn out, we played to the level we were capable of."
A Thornbury ace gave Red Bank an 11-10 lead, and Munn's team used the momentum to stretch that advantage to 22-13 before settling on the three-point first-game victory. The Lady Lions never trailed in the second set, scoring 11 of the first 13 points and leading by as many as 10.
The third set was much tighter, but after Hixson tied the match at 10, Red Bank scored 11 of the next 13 points and claimed the nine-point win.
Caitlyn Jenkins had nine kills to lead the winners, while Marjorie Smith had eight and Allison Walker seven. Thornbury had 19 assists. Paige Lawson led Hixson (22-20) with seven kills, while Tatyona Staten had six blocks.
"It wasn't the way we expected to play. Red Bank is an excellent team with a lot of tradition, and we're just starting ours," Hixson coach Janet Tate said. "I'm proud of my girls. They're great kids; we just didn't have it tonight.
"Hopefully we'll meet them again."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.