Greeneville avenged a regular season loss on Tuesday afternoon by knocking off No. 2 seed Chuckey-Doak in straight sets (25-9, 25-16, 25-19) to advance into Wednesday’s winners’ bracket finals of the District 1-AA Tournament.
“We were really proud with how aggressive our attacking was. That’s something we are very proud of,” Greeneville Head Coach Sara Aiken stated after the win.
The Lady Devils are playing their best at the right time with dominant wins to help them face off with a familiar opponent on Wednesday. They meet Elizabethton on Wednesday with a chance to advance into the championship round and a spot in the Region 1-AA Tournament on the line.
“We need to play our game. We need to know what we’re good at. We need to shorten up our weaknesses. They do have some big weapons that we have to be aware of so we need to be aware of that and be ready for that,” Aiken mentioned.
By gaining the win, Greeneville forced Chuckey-Doak into an elimination game with Sullivan East that followed immediately after. Although they led 2-0 through the first two sets, the Lady Black Knights would end up dropping the last three and had their season ended on Tuesday night.
Greeneville started strong in the first set with a 9-4 lead early. After an ace by Kyla Jobe, the Lady Knights called a timeout to discuss things. Belle Karriker helped revive them for a moment with a kill.
The Lady Devils strengthened their lead by winning six of the next seven points and took a 16-6 lead. Natalie Knight gained a pair of tip kills and Emma Shelton collected an ace during the run.
Chuckey-Doak’s breakout freshman Jacey Taylor rose up for a spike to cut it to 17-8, but would leave the game two volleys later after suffering an injury on the court. She missed the rest of Tuesday’s action.
Greeneville put the first set to rest with three-straight aces from Manning Click to win it 25-9.
“I am very proud of her serving tonight and I’m also very proud of her consistent communication which is number one priority for somebody playing her position,” Coach Aiken bragged. “Super proud of Manning and great to have her back.”
Chuckey-Doak jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set through an ace by Addyson Pruitt and spikes from Macy Cox and Kendra Key. Greeneville was quick to take the lead back after a kill from Jobe and another ace from Click.
Isabelle Karriker helped the Lady Knights knot the score at 8-8 with a kill and block at the net.
Greeneville showed their dominance again and won 12 of the next 15 points to pull ahead 20-11. Kinley McCaslin, Leah Ford, Kyla Jobe, and Destani Bailey all contributed with kills during the run. Manning Click delivered two more aces.
Tralyn Southerland gave Chuckey-Doak some offense with a kill to make it 22-14 and the Lady Knights drew back to within seven points at 23-16 after forcing Greeneville to make a few errors.
The Lady Devils would still win the set 25-16 and move into the third looking for the sweep.
Chuckey-Doak made them work harder to capture the third set. After Click’s kill put Greeneville ahead 2-0, Kendra Key’s spike threw the Lady Knights in front 4-3. Jobe tied the score with a spike and yet another ace from Click gave them a 5-4 lead. Key blocked another kill attempt at the net to keep it at a one-point margin at 7-6.
Greeneville went on another strong run in the middle stage to pull out to a lengthy 21-11 lead. Destani Bailey started it with a kill and was followed by a pair from Kinley McCaslin. Trudi Aiken provided an ace and Leah Ford provided a kill. McCaslin’s three-straight aces and Jobe’s kill capped off the run.
Although they trailed by ten, Chuckey-Doak made it interesting at the end. Harlee Richardson aced a serve to cut it to 21-15. Pruitt’s tip kill and another ace from Richardson cut it to 21-17 after a run of six-straight points.
Jobe would get them back on track with a tip kill, but Karriker came back with one of her own to set the score at 22-18. Emma Shelton inched them closer to the win with a tip kill and McCaslin followed up with another.
Greeneville would edge out Chuckey-Doak 25-19 in the third set to sweep the Lady Knights and force them into a win-or-go-home scenario with Sullivan East.
“From two weeks ago to this week is a night-and-day difference and I’m super proud of them cause they have to make that change and they have to make the fixes. They care enough to do that and that’s really cool,” Coach Aiken mentioned.
Things started smoothly for Chuckey-Doak with a 2-0 lead through two sets, but Sullivan East would come storming back to eliminate the Lady Knights and put an end to their season after defeating them in five sets 16-25, 25-27, 25-16, 25-18, 15-9.
“I’m honestly just so proud of them,” Chuckey-Doak’s Head Coach Marissa Snapp mentioned. “The improvements just from last year alone and the way that these girls have learned and absorbed all the information we’ve thrown at them and seen them take it and apply it and do the things they’ve done this season has been unreal. It’s been an honor to watch. It’s been an honor and a privilege to coach them,”
For a moment it looked as if Chuckey-Doak would be living to fight another day. But the Lady Knights’ season would come to an end after their heartbreaking loss to the Lady Patriots in a five-set marathon.
“Today is not a reflection of our season. We were missing two of our starters and then one of our girls went down hurt so the odds just weren’t in our favor today,” Coach Snapp said.
Chuckey-Doak managed to win the first set through great offensive play by Kendra Key, Macy Church, and Belle Karriker. Church’s ace opened up the contest and Kendra Key’s first kill had them ahead 5-3. Key stepped to the service line and delivered an ace next. Karriker’s kill followed that to stretch their lead to 11-6. Church served up another ace to strengthen their lead even more at 16-7.
Kendra Key and Madison Shelton delivered back-to-back blows to help pad their lead at 23-11. They’d finish the first set with a 25-16 win.
In the early stages of the second set, Sullivan East led by as much as 7-1 and started to show signs of a comeback. Tralyn Southerland pushed a kill over the net to cut it to 7-3, but their deficit would soon become 10-4.
They worked hard to cut it back to two at 15-14 with back-to-back aces from Macy Cox and a kill from Addyson Pruitt.
After Sullivan East called a timeout, Belle Karriker delivered two blocks to help Chuckey-Doak seize their first lead of the set at 18-17. “Those arms are like magnets that’s what I tell her,” Coach Snapp expressed. “We had some new people playing in the back row today so having her arms up there to slow everything down was huge.”
Chloe Kirkpatrick secured an ace immediately after. Tralyn Southerland’s tip kill kept things tied 20-20 after a short run from Sullivan East. The Lady Patriots briefly took a 22-20 lead before Chuckey-Doak would rally from behind and win the set. Karriker’s tip kill brought them within one. A pair of Lady Patriots didn’t communicate properly on a ball hit in the air and let it drop between them to help tie the game at 23-23. After that mistake, Pruitt’s ace gave Chuckey-Doak the advantage.
Sullivan East would go ahead 25-24, but a wise timeout proved to be beneficial for Chuckey-Doak. They tied the game and vaulted back in front with a perfectly placed kill to the back left corner by Southerland. A shot sent out of bounds by Sullivan East ended the set with Chuckey-Doak escaping 27-25.
The beginning of the third set featured a back-and-forth affair with each team living off one another’s mistakes. Sullivan East would string together four in-a-row to take a 12-7 lead.
Kendra Key provided two kills when needed and Karriker’s long arms helped secure a block at the net. Chloe Kilpatrick’s ace cut the lead to 16-12 before East won three of the next four to pull ahead 19-13. Karriker and Pruitt tried fighting back with kills, but Sullivan East would grab the third set 25-16.
The fourth set was another scenario where Chuckey-Doak let the lead slip away in the opening stages and couldn’t catch up at the end. Belle Karriker tied the set at 9-9, but three-straight aces by Kyndl Hodge and another two volleys later put Sullivan East on top 14-9.
Offense was hard to come by for Chuckey-Doak. Key helped deliver a kill to cut it to 17-11, but back-to-back aces from Asia Cairns stretched it back to a 20-12 lead. The Lady Knights managed to win four-straight with the help of Southerland and Karriker and cut their deficit to only four. Their own mistakes would catch up to them and they’d drop the fourth set 25-18.
The Lady Patriots emphatically broke out to a 6-0 lead in the pivotal fifth set. Macy Cox and Harlee Richardson helped give Chuckey-Doak some quick offense, but they soon fell behind 8-2. They did all they could to get some offense on the board with a kill from Kendra Key and an ace from Chloe Kirkpatrick, but Sullivan East’s momentum never broke and they reigned victorious 15-9 in the final set.
The Lady Black Knights watched their season come to an unfortunate end in that moment. They finished fourth in the District 1-2A Tournament.
“These seniors are amazing. I’m going to miss them on the court and their jokes and all of our things that we have and we say. Just their energy and their spunk. I just couldn’t have asked for a better group of captains, leaders, seniors, girls, and students. They’re amazing. I love them dearly,” Coach Snapp ended with.
