The Chuckey-Doak volleyball team started a busy week on Monday with an emphatic win over cross-town rival South Greene.
In the clash of two teams that advanced to the state tournament a year ago the Lady Black Knights were in complete control as they swept the Lady Rebels 3-0, 25-13, 25-21, 25-22.
“I was very impressed, there was a big difference from how we played last week. I’m excited to go into tomorrow and into the rest of this week and keep getting better,” Snapp said.
Chuckey-Doak took command of the first set early when Isabelle Karriker stuffed a South Greene swing and then hammered home her own attempt to knot things at 2-2. South Greene sent a kill attempt out of play on the next play and the Lady Knights played from in front the rest of the way.
Karriker was a force at the net that South Greene had no answer for in the early going as she scored on four kills and a block on the way to a 10-5 lead.
After her hot start Karriker finished the night with 12 kills and six blocks.
“She set the bar for us and that allowed the other girls to see what was working. That brought up the confidence of everybody,” Snapp said.
With Haylee Bird serving South Greene was able to close the gap to 10-8. Then Jacey Taylor started to get going for Chuckey-Doak and she put down a kill from the back row, then the left side and then she snuck a tip past the Lady Rebels as the lead increased to 15-8.
Emma Padgett used some big swings to try to get South Greene back in the game, but the Lady Rebels could not get around Karriker enough to close the gap in a 25-13 loss.
“Volleyball is a mental game and a momentum game and it was big to get off to a good start,” Snapp said. “The fact that we were able to set the bar high at the beginning carried into the second and third sets.”
In the second set South Greene was able to play from in front early. The Lady Rebels took the lead at 6-5 when Padgett crushed a ball down the line. Jaelyn Fillers followed with a block.
South Greene’s Lead reached 13-9 when Padgett found a void to land a tip.
Karriker scored on consecutive blocks to even the score at 14-14, and from there the teams traded points.
South Greene got slams from Padgett and Kinley McCaslin, but in the closing stretch errors doomed the Lady Rebels. With things tied at 21-21 the Lady Rebels banged one off the rafters, missed a kill and next went into the net.
Karriker finished the Chuckey-Doak 25-21 win by sneaking over a tip.
The third set was again tightly contested with no one ever really taking control.
A kill by Taylor and an ace from Karriker put Chuckey-Doak in front 11-8, but South Greene came back and took a 12-11 lead on an ace by Padgett.
Jayden Myers gave the Lady Black Knights a block and a kill as the lead flipped to 17-15 in Chuckey-Doak’s favor.
Padgett got into a battle with the Lady Knights’ defense but after a long volley that saw her take four big swings the sophomore finally landed one to tie things at 20-20.
In the final stretch Taylor was calling for the ball and finished the night with two emphatic kills that gave Chuckey-Doak a 25-22 win.
“That’s not an easy thing to do, to pull away at the end, especially when you are playing that close with a team that is that aggressive,” Snapp said. “To be disciplined in getting balls up, and Chloe (Kirkpatrick) moving the ball around with her setting was great execution. I was really thankful they pushed through that hard.”
Taylor finished the day with 15 kills, 15 digs and two aces.
“Jacey has this dog east dog mentality. She is just vicious out there. I would not want to be on the other side of the net from her. I love watching that from her,” Snapp said.
Macy Church had 14 digs, and Chloe Kirkpatrick had 21 assists for the Lady Knights. Padgett had nine kills for South Greene.
Chuckey-Doak now heads into two big District 1-AA games, hosting Greeneville on Tuesday and going to Sullivan East on Thursday. South Greene will be back in action on August 31 at home against Volunteer.
