CHATTANOOGA – West Greene volleyball made it to sectionals for the second-straight season, but watched its season end in a familiar fashion at a familiar location as they were swept by Chattanooga School Of Arts and Sciences on Thursday afternoon.
The Lady Buffs came up just short on their quest to reach the state tournament. They fell to the Lady Patriots in straight sets a year prior and were looking to change the outcome this year. A pair of close sets could’ve gone either way, but CSAS managed to close out the sets and sent West Greene away with the dreadful season-ending loss 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-23).
“It wasn’t our best day. We definitely had some moments, but we had a few things throw us out of system with a few changes. Some were struggling a little more than usual. I think we got in our heads a lot and let a little bit of the pressure get to us at times. I know they fought, it was just tough to see them struggle,” West Greene Head Coach Raven Borie expressed after the loss.
The Lady Buffs ended a successful season by tying for the regular season District 1-A Championship and finished runner-up in the District 1-A Tournament and Region 1-A Tournament.
Five seniors will graduate in May and played their finals games for West Greene on Thursday. Coach Borie spoke about seniors Addy Peters, Aubree Everett, Cassidy Hill, Baylee Lowe, and McKensie Morrison. “I’m proud of my seniors for their four years and they’ve worked really hard to help build this program to be where it is and make it to sectionals the last two years.”
Amanda Gardner started the day with an ace and made her presence known early. Cassidy Hill made sure to make her presence known next with a pair of kills and a block to help West Greene win four-straight and take an early 6-3 lead. Morgan Moody was money from the service line and helped maintain the streak. Journey Lamons collected a kill to lead 8-6, but a block by Naomi Williams tied it at 8-8.
The Lady Buffs never fell far behind and points from Hill and Lamons helped keep their deficit at one. Addy Peters stuffed a spike attempt and sent Lamons to the service line to deliver an ace to tie it again, 17-17. Williams broke the tie with a momentum-shifting kill. Coach Borie called timeout to talk things over after three-straight from CSAS.
Hill’s block and Peters’ ace helped string together three-straight that tied it once again at 20-20. Gardner broke the tie with a kill and kept CSAS out front until the finish. A clutch block by Hill tied it at 23-23, but back-to-back plays by Savanna Moore scored the final two that CSAS needed to steal the win. The Lady Patriots won the first set 25-23.
Moore picked up right where she left off in the first set with back-to-back kills to begin the second set. She scored four-straight bridging from the first to second set.
Cassidy Hill scored West Greene’s first point with a kill and made it 3-1. Journey Lamons was next and helped keep the Lady Buffs close behind. Aleea Aiken had some big moments early in the second and delivered back-to-back aces to draw them even closer and then tied the score at 7-7 with a quick dump over the net. The Lady Buffs would quickly lose momentum and fall behind 15-8. CSAS strung together 6-straight to gain a large lead.
The closest West Greene could trim their deficit to was five points and never gained the momentum and game-changing plays to make a comeback. They dropped the second set 25-18.
“Coming into it I felt like they were more confident. I think we started out with confidence. But then when we hit those moments of struggle, we just kind of reverted back to some bad habits and then got ourselves in situations we couldn’t get out of,” Coach Borie expressed.
The Lady Buffs started the third set with a lead after Cassidy Hill smashed a spike into the hardwood. Savanna Moore scored two-straight for CSAS and put them ahead 2-1. The Lady Buffs powered back with kills from Hill and Peters and regained the lead at 5-3. The Lady Patriots fought back to tie it 6-6, but Addy Peters made a huge difference at the service line. She served up an ace, served a ball over the net that wasn’t returned in three hits, and followed that with another ace to make West Greene’s lead 11-9.
The Lady Buffs got up by three before CSAS scored three-straight to tie the score at 16-16. Hill and Peters managed to pull them back out to a two-point lead before the Lady Patriots won back-to-back and tied it at 18-18. The Lady Buffs caught fire and lifted themselves ahead 23-19, but the fire died out as quickly as it started.
The Lady Patriots scored six-straight to end the third set and came from behind to win 25-23 and effectively end West Greene’s season in the sectionals round for the second-straight year.
“I’m proud of the fight they put up. Just really, really hate that it ended the way it did. Especially being so close in the first and third and not being able to pull those out,” Coach Borie mentioned.
