BLUFF CITY – Chuckey-Doak appeared in a Region Championship volleyball game for the first time in 31 years on Tuesday night. The Dyer Dome was the site and the Sullivan East Lady Patriots were the hosts. The Lady Black Knights looked to be in control and on their way to their first ever region title, but Sullivan East rallied back from down 2-0 to complete the reverse sweep and crowned themselves Region 1-AA champs with a 3-2 (24-26, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-9) win.
The Lady Black Knights were on a quest for their first region championship in school history on Tuesday night, but came up just short in a five-set thriller with Sullivan East. Chuckey-Doak looked to be in the driver’s seat and on their way to claiming gold for the first time, but the Lady Patriots home-court advantage and deep playoff experience came into effect.
“I definitely think it did. It’s difficult to, first of all, win two sets the way we did there at the beginning and then continue with that same energy,” Head Coach Marissa Snapp explained.
Both teams were tied in the third set until Sullivan East finished the set on an 8-3 run and then rallied from down four points late in the fourth set to finish on an 11-2 run and force the deciding fifth set.
The Lady Patriots started with a momentum-changing kill in the fifth set and used that spark to crush Chuckey-Doak’s hopes of claiming gold for the first time.
Although the Lady Knights hung their heads after Tuesday’s defeat, there is more volleyball to be played. Chuckey-Doak reaches the sectionals round for only the third time in program history and have an opportunity to reach the state tournament for the first time. They travel to Seymour on Thursday night for a 7 p.m. date with the Region 2-AA champion Lady Eagles.
“I don’t even know if there’s really words to put my excitement into, but I’m extremely excited just for the opportunity. I’m just hoping we can use this as a learning moment and take that into practice tomorrow so that no matter where we go or who we play against on Thursday we just prepare ourselves to the best of our abilities,” Coach Snapp mentioned.
The first set began with Sullivan East’s Audrey Easley delivering two-straight aces. The Lady Knights strung together a set of three in-a-row aided by a kill and an ace from Jacey Taylor. Everyone got involved in the first set with Jayden Myers, Carlene Bishop, Belle Karriker, and Addy Pruitt all providing kills. Macy Church stepped up to the service line and did what she does well and served up an ace.
Sullivan East senior Sophie Johnson slammed down a kill to reel them back within two. Chuckey-Doak’s own mistakes tied the game at 14-14. They’d pull ahead by two, but two-straight kills from Makayla Moore tied it again at 18-18. The Lady Pats took a 20-19 lead, but a huge string of back-to-back kills from Taylor gave Chuckey-Doak the lead again. The score was knotted at 23-23 until Taylor struck again to break the tie. The set ended with Jayden Myers serving up an ace from the line to hand Chuckey-Doak a 26-24 win.
The second set started the same exact way the first set started with Sullivan East going up 2-0 before Jacey Taylor made her presence known with a kill. Carlene Bishop helped send them ahead 4-2 and finish a 4-0 run. Chuckey-Doak held a steady 3-point lead with more kills from Taylor and Bishop. Makayla Moore’s kill made it 12-11, but the Lady Knights went on a 5-3 run to take a 17-14 lead and force Sullivan East to take a timeout. Belle Karriker and Chloe Kirkpatrick delivered kills in that span.
The score tightened to 18-17 after three-straight from Sullivan East, but Chuckey-Doak finished strong on a 7-4 run to end the set and take a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 win. The second set ended the same way the first one did with Jayden Myers securing an ace from the service line.
The Lady Knights were just one set away from tasting gold for the first time. They started well in the third set and Myers got it started with a kill. Sullivan East scored three-straight capped off with a kill by Makayla Moore. Carlene Bishop scored two-straight for the Lady Knights and tied it. Jacey Taylor scored two-straight moments later to make it 8-7. Three in-a-row by East put them ahead 10-8. A huge two-point swing occurred in the middle part of the set that hurt Chuckey-Doak on the scoreboard. A serve by the Lady Knights seemed to fall in bounds, but was called out and gave Sullivan East a serve. Their serve landed behind the back line and was called in on another close call on the line. Both points went in favor of Sullivan East and put them ahead 13-9.
Chuckey-Doak won 8 of the next 12 and tied it 17-17. Sullivan East shut the door on them by winning 8 of the next 11 after that to win the third set 25-20.
The fourth set was the true definition of “a game of runs.” Sullivan East started the set red hot and led 11-4. Chuckey-Doak won five-straight to pull within two at 11-9. They then fell behind 14-10, but won 8-straight to lead 18-15 and looked to be in control. Tournament MVP Natalie Holt ended the run with a kill and delivered another kill moments later to tie it 18-18. Coach Snapp called a timeout, but Sullivan East’s momentum never wore off. They went on an 11-2 run to end the set and forced the deciding fifth set with a 25-20 win in the fourth.
Sophie Johnson’s kill started the fifth set and signaled what was to come during the set. Chuckey-Doak scored four-straight after falling behind 2-0, but that 4-2 lead was the only time they were in control. Chuckey-Doak couldn’t keep up on the scoreboard and could only score once for every two or three points. They were down 8-6 with a fighter’s chance, but lost 7 of the last 10 and watched the gold slip out of their grasp.
Chuckey-Doak’s run still continues into Thursday with a date with Seymour in the sectionals round. The Lady Black Knights are hoping to advance to the state tournament for the first time in school history with a win on Thursday. The TSSAA has set the game time for 7:00 PM.
“We’re making history for Chuckey-Doak here and as long as we keep going and keep our season alive, we can do anything we set our minds to,” Coach Snapp expressed.
The Lady Black Knights got up 2-0, but Sullivan East battled back to win 3-2 and snatch the Region 1-2A Championship from Chuckey-Doak’s reach. Hear Coach Marissa Snapp talk about what’s next for her Lady Knights as they continue their historic season. pic.twitter.com/FuN5F1Fdfy
— GreeneSportsZone (@GSportsZone) October 15, 2025
