On Monday afternoon the District 1-AA Tournament began at Chuckey-Doak High School and Chuckey-Doak and Greeneville both began with a pair of sweeps to start out right and move on to the next round.
On Tuesday afternoon, the opposite happened. Chuckey-Doak and Greeneville were both fell 3-1 to Sullivan East and Elizabethton in a disappointing Tuesday night for both programs.
Chuckey-Doak will now play Greeneville in a win-or-go-home elimination game with the season on the line Wednesday at 6 PM.
The action began with No. 4 seeded Greeneville tipping off opposite of No. 1 seeded Sullivan East, who is undefeated in league play.
The Lady Devils trailed early and never gained any momentum to form a comeback. After falling behind 9-4, Greeneville scored 4-straight to only trail 9-8 before three-straight by Sullivan East created more separation on the scoreboard. Greeneville called a timeout down 17-11, but Sullivan East came out of the short break still carrying the momentum and extended the lead to 19-11. Sullivan East won set one 25-17.
Greeneville played with a lot of intensity in the second set and it showed on the scoreboard with a 25-17 win of their own. The set was tied 4-4 in the beginning before Leah Ford, Katie Johnson, and Natalie Knight rattled off a string of 3-straight kills to give Greeneville the early advantage. Gabby Atchison came up with back-to-back huge blocks at the net to extend it to 12-8. Knight and Riley Ireland added kills to make it 15-12 and Sullivan East would later call a timeout down 19-14. Aubree Honeycutt kept the momentum on Greeneville’s side with a kill after the timeout. The Lady Devils finished the set strong with kills from Knight and Katie Johnson and a block from Honeycutt to tie the match, 1-1.
“They came out in the second set with a fresh start. They didn’t let losing the first set dictate how they approached the first few points and it put them in a good flow and they stayed in that,” Greeneville Head Coach Sara Aiken said.
Greeneville started red hot in the third set with four aces from senior Riley Ireland and led 5-0. The lead was quickly trimmed down to a slim 6-5 margin soon after. It was back and forth with multiple ties and lead changes in the middle part of the set. Ford’s kill broke a 10-10 tie, Atchison’s kill broke a 12-12 tie, Knight’s kill tied it 14-14, and Johnson’s kill broke the 14-14 tie. 8 ties later and Sullivan East scored 4-straight to gain the upper hand, 18-15. Ireland stopped the bleeding with a kill and Knight’s ace would cut the deficit to only one, 19-18. The Lady Devils called a timeout down 22-20, but the worst was to come. The Lady Patriots achieved back-to-back aces out of the break and would take the third set, 25-20, and lead 2-1 going into the fourth.
Greeneville didn’t find much success in the fourth set and suffered a 25-14 loss to end the match. The scorer was tied 2-2 after Natalie Knight’s kill, but Greeneville lost 6 of the next 7 to create a deficit too much to overcome. A timeout was called down 12-6, but Sullivan East won 6 of the next 9 before Greeneville called another one trailing 18-9.
The Lady Devils couldn’t overcome the deficit and fell in four sets, 25-17, 17-25, 25-20, 25-14.
“There were some really good points and there were some really bad points. It was an up-and-down kind of game for us. I feel like we let our emotions get the best of us and control how we played,” Coach Sara Aiken stated.
Both teams exited stage left and onto the floor stepped No. 3 seeded Chuckey-Doak and No. 2 seeded Elizabethton.
The regular season series was split with each team winning at home. Although Chuckey-Doak won the previous matchup in Afton this season, Elizabethton got their revenge with a 3-1 decision on Tuesday.
From the early stages of set one Chuckey-Doak’s gymnasium was electric. After falling behind 2-0, Kallie Dobson started with a kill and Isabelle Karriker followed with another to tie it. The unlikeliest of scorers, Chloe Kirkpatrick, snuck one over the net to keep the streak going. Karriker helped string together a run of 5-straight with a pair of kills and a block. Elizabethton called a timeout down 8-4.
The Lady Cyclones came storming back and won 6 of the next 7 to regain the lead. The lead reached 13-11 before Chuckey-Doak won 4-straight highlighted by kills from Dobson and Jacey Taylor. Kirkpatrick surprised the Elizabethton defense with another shot over the net, but Betsy won 4 of the next 5 to take a 20-18 lead. Chuckey-Doak called a timeout, but the run continued and the Lady Cyclones led 23-20 in the closing moments. The Lady Knights built a small comeback with kills from Karriker and Taylor, but a quick dump over the net by Elizabethton found an open area between Chuckey-Doak’s defense and ended the set with Betsy winning 25-23.
Chuckey-Doak evened the match up with a win in the second set. A tight race early was won by the Lady Knights with a strong run to send them ahead 10-5. Elizabethton called a timeout and it worked in their favor as Betsy later tied the score 13-13. Chuckey-Doak fell behind 18-16 and clawed from behind to win the set. Isabelle Karriker’s kill and Hayden Kenney’s ace knotted the score at 18-18 and Karriker’s next kill pushed Chuckey-Doak ahead. Karriker was clutch in the late stages and tied it, 22-22, after Elizabethton scored 4 of the last 5. Karriker was who everybody had eyes on when the ball was set into the air, but it was Jacey Taylor who scored twice with two huge kills late into the set to help Chuckey-Doak reach the finish line. The Lady Knights won set two, 25-22, and tied the match.
The third set was full of runs, but it was Elizabethton who had the longer runs and delivered the bigger blows to come out on top. Chuckey-Doak trailed 8-5, but kills from Karriker and Taylor tied it 8-8. Elizabethton scored 3-straight again before Karriker’s block ended the run. The Lady Knights fell behind 15-11 and called a timeout, but the score kept getting away and reached 21-14 before another timeout was called. Chuckey-Doak found offense from the arms of Kallie Dobson and Isabelle Karriker, but Elizabethton’s steady pressure resulted in a 25-17 win in the third set.
Trailing 2-1 entering the fourth set, the Lady Knights desperately needed a win in the fourth set to avoid falling into the loser’s bracket. Elizabethton was quick to jump out front 3-0 and never looked back. Chuckey-Doak couldn’t find any success offensively and trailed 10-4 before a timeout. Jacey Taylor’s kill cut it to 13-8 later, but a run of 4-straight sank Chuckey-Doak into a 17-8 hole. The Lady Cyclones outscored Chuckey-Doak 8-1 down the stretch and ended the afternoon with a 25-9 win in the fourth set to win the contest, 3-1.
“Obviously the fourth set was a little disheartening, but I don’t want that to reflect their performance from the first three sets. That was just a hard game. They have such a scrappy defense. It’s hard to put anything down and we fought so hard,” Coach Marissa Snapp expressed.
Chuckey-Doak and Greeneville will square off in an elimination game on Wednesday at 6:00. The winner will advance to play the loser of Sullivan East/Elizabethton at 7:30 in another elimination game.
Both teams were in the same game and same situation last season with Chuckey-Doak gaining the upper hand and eliminating the Lady Devils. Coach Snapp described how much last year’s win and experience will play a factor on Wednesday. “We’re putting ourselves in the same spot that we were in last year. Yes, that fourth set was disheartening, however I don’t want them to forget we were in this same situation and we preserved anyways.”
Both coaches explained what the mindsets are heading into Wednesday’s elimination game.
“The mindset is you come out hungry to play and ready to play giving all you have. Not on our heels and not playing timid. That’s the mindset that we need to come in with,” Greeneville Head Coach Sara Aiken mentioned.
“Having that mindset of not wanting it to be over. To fight for every single ball and to play like it’s your last because, especially for our seniors, it could be,” Chuckey-Doak Head Coach Marissa Snapp stated.
Before Chuckey-Doak and Greeneville tip off, Elizabethton and Sullivan East will play at 4:30 and the winner advances to the District 1-2A Championship and the Region 1-2A Tournament.
