The Chuckey-Doak volleyball team is gaining confidence as the postseason approaches, and on Monday the Lady Black Knights got another boost after earning a 3-0 sweep of South Greene, 25-21, 25-22, 25-20.
Monday’s win comes after the Lady Black Knights finished last week with a win over Greeneville. Both victories ended decade-long losing streaks and have Chuckey-Doak coach Marissa Snapp feeling good about the strides her team is making this season.
“We are making history, that’s the best way I know to put it,” Snapp said. “They are playing so smart, they are doing everything that they can, and they are doing correctly. I knew they had this in them, but they had to believe in themselves. It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten these team, and knowing that they have this in them is inspiring. I think we are getting comfortable with being confident, we are comfortable with being good. I think that is really important going into the postseason, but we need to make this our baseline. We have to make sure we are always playing at least this well.”
The game was originally scheduled to be played at South Greene, but the gym floor at South Greene is being repaired which forced the game to be moved to Eastview Rec Center.
In Monday’s first set the teams traded points almost the whole way with neither team leading by more than two points until Chuckey-Doak’s Jacey Taylor froze the defense by rising high and dropping over a tip to make 20-17.
Prior to that the day’s first set had 13 ties and seven lead changes.
“I don’t know that people understand how difficult it is to trade points like that. You are constantly rotating and never playing from the same position. You have to count on everybody to make sure you don’t get stuck when you are in those situations,” Snapp said.
Regan Arrowood scored on a tip to get South Greene going again, and then a tip by Sadie Trammell put the Lady Rebels in front 21-20.
Snapp called a timeout and out of it Taylor found her groove swinging from the left side. The freshman put down three kills in a row and Addy Pruitt followed with an ace before the Lady Black Knights claimed a 25-21 victory.
Taylor had huge day at the net for Chuckey-Doak and finished the match with 18 kills.
“Jacey brings us so much energy. Those big kills light a fire under everybody,” Snapp said. “That makes everybody want to jump higher and swing harder, and be in that with her. South Greene serves so well and got us in a few ruts, but those big swings can be a momentum changer.”
In the second set South Greene gained the first advantage at 3-2 after a tip and a block by Davanie Tarlton. Baylee Jennings came up with a kill and Tarlton scored on another tip before Ava Brobeck landed an ace for an 8-3 lead.
South Greene stayed in front at 13-9 when Trammell landed a tip.
Pruitt then stepped to the service line and turned the set in Chuckey-Doak’s favor. In the six-point swing Taylor put down two kills and Pruitt landed two aces as the Lady Black Knights claimed a 15-13 advantage.
“Addy’s serves are crazy, she has that float serve,” Snapp said. “When she goes back there I can take a beath. She has worked so hard on her serve. She was great last year and now she’s even better. That low float serve that she can get to drop and turn is huge.”
Errors by Chuckey-Doak gave the lead back to South Greene before a block by Tarlton and a kill by Jennings pushed the advantage to 20-18.
Consecutive aces by Kendra Key gave Chuckey-Doak the lead again and then two Lady Rebel errors put the Lady Knights in front 23-20. Harlee Richardson and Taylor finished the set with a kill each on the way to a 25-22 win.
The third set started with Taylor’s swings getting even harder and she scored Chuckey-Doak’s first two points. Pruitt followed with two aces that quickly put South Greene in a 4-0 hole.
Key scored on a first-hit tip before Richardson and Belle Karricker each had kills on the way to a 9-4 lead.
Jenning got the Lady Rebels going with a tip and kill that closed the gap to 9-6, but then Chuckey-Doak scored the next four points.
Taylor crushed a trio of consecutive swings to stretch Chuckey-Doak’s lead 17-10. Tarlton got South Greene going again when she landed a kill from the middle as the gap closed to 17-16.
Two more kills from Tarlton kept South Greene close at 19-18, but then two errors gave Chuckey-Doak a 21-18 cushion.
Karricker smashed a kill to make it 23-18, and Carlene Bishop finished the 25-20 win at the service line.
“Our defense is going crazy right now,” Snapp said. “Cristen (Bishop) our libero has grown so much since last year. I couldn’t more proud of back row play tonight. They are communicating and playing so well together.”
