The third-seeded Chuckey Doak Lady Knights set the tone early and left little doubt about the outcome as they completed the sweep and eliminated Unicoi County from the District 1-2A volleyball tournament, 25-13, 25-9, and 25-12.
“I felt like we came out firing on all cylinders tonight,” said Lady Knight coach Marissa Snapp. “Our back row was passing very consistently in front of the 10-foot line, and our hitters were putting it away as they mixed up their shots. Doing all the little things is what makes it look like a really great game.”
The Lady Knights jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead, forcing the Lady Blue Devils to call a timeout in an attempt to slow the momentum.
That slowdown would be short-lived, as Chuckey Doak picked up an ace from Jayden Myres and kills from Isabelle Kariker and Jacey Taylor to pull away and take the opening set, 25-13.
Snapp felt getting off to a fast start was key to the way her team performed in the opening round.
“That was great because we were then able to get in our flow and rhythm and not play as tense,” said Snapp. “Starting off with the lead is a goal.”
Chuckey Doak did not let off the accelerator, jumping out to a 9-1 advantage behind two aces from Taylor and a kill from Hayleigh Seidl before pulling away for the 25-9 win in the second set. Chloe Kirkpatrick picked up two of her three aces on the night during the set.
Both teams began the third set exchanging points, with neither able to take advantage of the other’s mistakes. With the set tied at 4-4, Chuckey Doak erupted on a 14-4 run, fueled by five of Taylor’s 16 kills on the night, to take an 18-8 lead before going on to seal the 25-12 sweep.
Kirkpatrick, who was honored prior to the match for recording her 1,000th career save, was instrumental in moving the ball around the court. She finished with 23 assists, consistently getting the ball into the hands of the Lady Knights’ big hitters throughout the night.
“Chloe did a great job setting the ball and moving it around tonight, and boy did Jacey come to life tonight,” said Snapp. “She was hitting that ball so hard. I definitely would not have wanted to be on the receiving side of those hits tonight.”
Chuckey Doak will now advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, where it will face second-seeded Elizabethton at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“We want to take the minimum number of errors that we had tonight against Unicoi into tomorrow, but we also want to make sure that we are mentally checked in the whole time,” said Snapp.
