CLEVELAND, Tenn. – It was a rematch of the District 6 volleyball championship from a week ago, but the finals in the Region 3-AAA here at Bradley Central High School’s Jim Smiddy Arena was a match for the ages.

The Bradley Bearettes won that district match in three straight sets over the Lady Trojans from Soddy Daisy, but the region final was much closer as Bradley had to battle for five tough sets before winning.  Match scores were 25-22, 15-25, 26-24, 16-25 and 15-8.

With the win, Bradley will be at home on Thursday for the sectional round against a yet-to-be determined opponent as they improved to 35-5.  Soddy Daisy will be on the road Thursday and now stands 21-12 after winning one and losing one on Monday.

Both of these teams advanced to the championship match with sweeps over Rhea County and Cleveland, respectively.  Bradley defeated the Lady Golden Eagles by scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-19 while Soddy Daisy thumped the Lady Blue Raiders by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-17.

Bradley coach Christy McElhaney has already announced that she’s retiring at the end of the season, her 28^th at Bradley, but she’s thrilled that she has one more match at home with the winner advancing to Murfreesboro next week for the state tournament.

“That was a tough match and I knew it would be.  I had an idea it would go five sets,” McElhaney said afterward as the gym continued to clear.

“It seemed like neither team was willing to go away, but we just kept fighting and believing in ourselves.  It took the contributions from all 14 players to make this happen, but this is the first time for us to ever host a sectional match and that thrills me.

“I know we have some stuff to clean up before Thursday, but it was just a matter of who wanted to host on Thursday more.  Coming out on top tonight was the first step and now we have to show up ready to play in the sectional match,” she concluded with a smile.

Soddy Daisy coach Marjorie Smith could only shake her head and wonder what if after her team came within a whisker of claiming the region title.

“I thought we played well, but we just don’t serve receive well at the start of matches,” she began.

“I think we played scared the last time, but this was probably our best match of the season.  We just wanted to take advantage of our opportunities and I feel like we did that.  We gave it our all, but volleyball is a game of momentum.  They had it at the end and we didn’t,” Smith nodded.

Bradley scored the first point of the first set, but Soddy Daisy took the lead and held it until back-to-back blocks from Addi Staton allowed Bradley to even the score at 21-21 before taking a 22-21 lead.  The Lady Trojans never recovered as another block from Maryah Greenwood gave Bradley the first set.

The Bearettes then scored the first point of the second set before the Lady Trojans took charge, leading by scores of 13-7 and 19-12 when Bradley used both of its timeouts.  A kill from Wetherly Barker put the Lady Trojans at set point before winning on a hitting error by Bradley.

The third set may have been the best of the match.  Bradley led 18-12 and appeared to be on  its way to another set win, but Soddy Daisy battled back and knotted the score at 22 on a Bradley hitting error.  The Lady Trojans then went up 24-22 before the Bearettes tied it at 24.

A block from Tabitha Eaves gave Bradley the lead while an ace from Lexi Patterson put the Bearettes up, two sets to one.

One might of thought that that might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but Soddy Daisy never backed down and came back in the fourth set with more determination than ever.  For the fourth straight set, Bradley scored the first point before Soddy Daisy took charge, six service points from June Finnell turning a 5-4 deficit into a 10-5 lead.

It never got much closer as the Lady Trojans kept their foot on the gas pedal and won convincingly, 25-16 with a kill from Gracie Simpson evening the match at two sets apiece.

Who knows exactly what McElhaney said during the break between the fourth and fifth set, but her girls responded in a positive way and played the best they had played all night as they bolted to a 6-2 lead and never looked back, winning a really tough match when Staton recorded her sixth block of the match.

Greenwood finished the match with 15 kills and 24 digs while teammate Wyatt Powell had 33 digs.  Lilli Winters had 19 assists while Staton had the six blocks.

Leah Morgan played another great match and finished with 19 kills, 23 digs and two aces.  Farrah Hilliard had 34 digs while Barker had 46 assists and 16 digs.  Emmy Barker and Finnell joined Morgan with two aces each.

Greenwood was named the tournament MVP and was joined by teammates Tabitha Eaves, Anay Phillips, Powell and Staton.  Soddy Daisy’s three picks included Hilliard, Morgan and Wetherly Barker.  The other two honorees included Cleveland’s Gigi Williams and Rhea’s Keisha Graham.

Individual stats for the championship match only included:

SODDY DAISY:

Farrah Hilliard – 1 ace, 34 digs

Ava Simmons – 1 ace, 15 digs

Gracie Simpson – 1 ace, 14 kills, 4 digs

June Finnell – 2 aces, 2 kills, 7 digs

Rowan Simpson – 1 kill, 1 dig

Leah Morgan – 2 aces, 19 kills, 23 digs

Emmy Barker – 2 aces, 2 kills, 14 digs

Wetherly Barker – 1 ace, 2 blocks, 6 kills, 46 assists, 16 digs

Mary Hampton-Howell – 2 blocks, 6 kills, 2 digs.

BRADLEY:

Jena Belcher – 1 ace, 24 digs

Tabitha Eaves – 8 kills, 2 digs, 1 block

Adelyn Goins – 2 digs, 1 block

Maryah Greenwood – 15 kills, 24 digs, 1 block

Allie Hagy – 3 kills, 2 digs

Elisea Messer – 8 digs, 15 assists

Lexi Patterson – 1 ace, 6 digs, 11 assists

Anay Phillips – 5 kills, 8 digs

Wyatt Powell – 33 digs

Addi Staton – 6 kills, 1 dig, 6 blocks

Elizabeth Volynets – 8 kills, 4 digs

Lilli Winters – 1 kill, 4 digs, 19 assists.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)