Clarksville, TN – Both West Creek High School and Clarksville High School volleyball teams had their season’s come to an end, October 14th, in the semifinal round of the Region 5-AAA Tournament.
West Creek (37-13), the number-one seed out of District 10-AAA lost to Beech High School (34-7) in five games, 21-25, 25-16, 25-10, 21-25 and 15-11; while Clarksville High (16-7) – the number-two seed from 10-AAA lost in four games to Portland High School (31-16) by scores of 18-25, 25-20, 25-13 and 25-10.
But the Lady Bucs would go on a 7-0 run to go up 14-7 – highlighted by a kill and an ace from Chloee McDaniel.
The Lady Coyotes would battle back into the game, behind the play of Shayla Smith, who recorded two kills, a block and an ace to cut the Beech lead down to one point, 18-17.
Beech would then score the next three points, to extend its lead back out to four, 21-17, but that would be the final points that the Lady Bucs would score in the first game with West Creek’s Aliah Mcphaul recording three straight kills in the Lady Coyotes 8-0 run to close out the opener and take a 1-0 lead.
Mcphaul led West Creek with 10 kills.
Game 2, would start much like the opening game, with both teams trading points with six ties over the first 22 points – including at 11-11.
Beech would then take control of the game with an 8-0 run to go up 19-11, with McDaniel recording three kills over the run.
McDaniel would lead all players with 14 kills in the match.
But unlike the opener, West Creek wouldn’t get any closer than six points the rest of the way and Beech would level the match 1-1.
“Beech runs a very fast offense and t gave us fits,” West Creek coach Josh Stoeckl said. “We made some adjustments, but we also made too many errors tonight.”
The Lady Bucs would carry the momentum into Game 3, scoring the first four points and never trailing in the game, as they ran away for a 25-10 win to go up 2-1.
But West Creek wouldn’t go down without a fight, as the two teams battled the entire game, with the Lady Coyote breaking away from a 20-20 tie to score five of the last six points to win Game 4, 25-21, level the match 2-2 and force a winner-take-all Game 5.
McPhaul would get West Creek off to a quick start, recording two kills in the Lady Coyotes first three points in building a 5-2 advantage.
But Beech would respond with an 8-0 run – including two aces from Corinne Olund and two kills from McDaniel – to go up 10-5.
West Creek would try to get back into the match, getting as close as close as 14-11, but Beech was able to record the final point and end the season for the Lady Coyotes, 15-11.
“We got into a rotation that we had a problem with and couldn’t get out of it and that turned out to be our downfall,” Stoeckl said. “But we had a great season, won the district and district tournament for the first time, but tomorrow it’s back to the drawing board and getting ready for the 2015 season.”
In the other semifinal game between Clarksville High and Portland, the Lady Wildcats came out of the gates with a bang – scoring the first seven points in Game 1, including two aces from Abby Anderson – on their way to building an 11-4 advantage.
“We came out very strong,” Clarksville High coach Johnna Connors said. “We communicated well and played with great confidence.”
Portland would keep the Lady Wildcats within reach, getting as close as three points 21-18, but Clarksville High scored the final four points – including two kills from Sarah Lindsay – to give CHS a 25-18 win and a 1-0 lead.
Lindsay would lead Clarksville High with 11 kills.
The Lady Panthers would respond behind their best player, Abby Akins, to get out to a 7-2 lead in Game 2 – with Akins recording three kills and a block.
Akins led all players with 16 kills.
But Clarksville High wouldn’t let the defending region champion run away with the game, narrowing the gap to as close as 21-20.
But Portland got three straight kills from Akins and an ace from Devan Goss to win the game and level the match 1-1.
“Akins is a great player,” Connors said. “I don’t think she really killed us on the court, but it was the mistakes on our part, rather than her swing away.”
Game 3 came down to two big runs by Portland, as the Lady Panthers broke open a 7-7 tie with a 7-0 run, followed by a 5-0 run later to build a 19-9 lead over CHS.
Clarksville High wouldn’t get any closer than nine points the rest of the way and dropped the game 25-13 to trail Portland 2-1.
Unfortunately for Clarksville High they couldn’t slow Portland in Game 4, with the Lady Panthers using a 9-0 run to power its way to a 25-10 win to advance to the finals.
Beech would upset the defending region champions in the finals 3-2.
Region 5-AAA All-Tournament Team
Beech: Morgan Rippy (MVP), Corinne Olund, Chloee McDaniel
Portland: Abby Akins, Sydney Minnis
West Creek: Shayla Smith
Clarksville High: Abby Anderson
