Grace Academy's Claire McMasters slams the ball across the net during the Region 3-A volleyball semifinal between Grace Academy and Sale Creek at Boyd-Buchanan School on Monday. Grace will face Boyd-Buchanan for the region title.Grace Academy's young volleyball team grew up a little more Monday night at Boyd-Buchanan.
The Lady Golden Eagles defeated District 6 champion Sale Creek 3-1 in the second of the semifinals in the Region 3-A high school tournament. Set scores were 25-21, 25-19, 24-26, 25-16.
District 5 champ Boyd-Buchanan edged Lookout Valley 3-2 in the first semifinal. Set scores were 25-21, 21-25, 25-12, 23-25, 15-9.
Grace (18-13) will play Boyd-Buchanan (30-14) tonight at 6 for the championship. Both teams will move on to Thursday's state sectionals.
Alexandra Smith paced the Lady Golden Eagles with 30 kills and 36 digs and equaled Claire McMasters with five blocks. Kexi Horne had 38 assists. Krissy Aruca, who had 13 digs, is the team's only senior.
"I feel like we learned in the district-championship loss," Grace coach Hillary Waters said. "That helped us refocus and made us feel like we could do something."
Jordan Duncan led the Lady Panthers with 13 kills and five blocks. Lauren Smith had 22 digs and Bailey Nelson had 22 assists.
Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill said she was proud of the leadership her upperclassmen showed this season to the many youthful players who got significant time on the court. Monday just wasn't their night.
"We didn't pass well, but a lot of that was because they hit the ball really well," Hill said. "We didn't have an answer for their attack. We just couldn't find it."
Lookout Valley coach Pat Conard said her assistant, Dan Bassler, made the observantion after scouting the Lady Buccaneers that he was looking at a mirror image of the Lady Yellow Jackets.
"They played with a lot of heart and they're a scrappy team,"
The Lady Bucs didn't secure it until winning the final six points of the night.
"We had to match their intensity," Dodd said. "I think we did that at the end of the game."
The Lady Bucs were led by Asia Kirkman's 16 kills and Sarah Emrey's seven aces. Halie Williamson had 24 assists and Katie DeLay led with 37 digs.
Savannah Walker paced the Lady Jackets with 19 kills and 27 digs. Annie Marr led with 31 assists.
Afterward, Conard raved about the unselfishness her team displayed throughout the year, and the purpose they played with in the final.
"They gave me every bit of effort they had," Conard said. "I couldn't ask for more effort."
Ooltewah in final
Ooltewah and Cookeville won semifinals in the Region 3-AAA tournament at Cookeville and will play tonight at 6 EDT for the championship.
The Lady Owls defeated Rhea County 3-0 and the Lady Cavaliers beat East Hamilton 3-1. Set scores for Ooltewah were 25-9, 25-10, 25-20.
Courtlyn Ison topped Ooltewah (48-7) with 13 kills, 3.5 blocks and four aces. Hanna Matthews set 26 assists and Josie Cain and Kailin Higgins each made 10 digs.
"I hope we're ready with our 'A' game tomorrow night," Ooltewah coach Elaine Peigen said. "We played well but we were sloppy in places. I think we just played a little bit relaxed. We'll need to play with more intensity tomorrow night. Cookeville plays a much faster game, and they're a great serving team."
The problems for the Lady Hurricanes, who owned a 17-3 lead in the first set, started in the second set when they were already trailing and all-state candidate Emma Lenoir went down with an ankle injury. She did not return.
"When you've got somebody that they're used to depending on and being on the floor -- you've got the pressure of being here and knowing you need to win or you're done -- then the fact that one of your main people goes out, it's a lot (to overcome)," East Hamilton coach and Emma's mother Kristy Lenoir told the Cookeville Herald-Citizen.
Samantha Headrick led East Hamilton with eight kills. Lenoir added five kills and three aces. Tori Harris led the defense with six digs and directed the offense with 14 assists.
"This is our second year in triple-A,"
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.