Oakwood Christian has to settle for SCAA runner-up trophy
For the sixth straight season, the Oakwood Christian Academy Lady Eagles reached the championship match of the Southern Christian Athletic Association volleyball tournament.
And for the third straight season, the Navy-and-Gold had to settle for second place.
After finishing as runner-up to CAYA in the SCAA South Region tournament last Tuesday, the Lady Eagles would meet their rivals again in the conference finals on Thursday, only to once again come up short.
OCA cruised past Rhea County Academy in a South Region semifinal match in Collegedale.
Tori Hall served up a 7-0 run by the Lady Eagles in the first set of their first match, while libero Kylie Hall added four kills from the back row as OCA beat the Lady Warriors, 25-14, in the first set. Kylie Hall had a 7-0 run of her own in the second set, including three straight aces, as the Lady Eagles finished off the match, 25-15.
Kylie Hall collected six total kills and five aces in the match. Tori Hall had two kills and two aces, while Lexie Asher had three kills.
Facing the host school in the regional final, OCA swapped leads on several occasions, but found itself down 24-23 with CAYA on serve to win the set.
But Tori Hall delivered a pinpoint shot down the line to tie things up before she served up an ace to get OCA to set point. One final shot by Annika Green couldn’t be returned as the ladies from Chickamauga picked up the 26-24 victory.
However, CAYA’s height and power advantage on the front row started becoming a factor in the second set. Down 2-1 early, CAYA ripped off eight unanswered points and never looked back as they knotted the match at a set apiece with a 25-13.
Then the wheels fell off for OCA in the third set as CAYA’s frontline began to dominate. OCA had to hit the ball high at the net to get over the outstretched arms of the CAYA blockers, allowing the back row a chance for easy kills and passes, which the front row began to finish off with authority.
CAYA scored the first nine points in the deciding set and stretched their lead out to 19-4 before coasting to the 25-8 victory.
Kylie Hall had five kills and three aces in the final match. Green added four kills, an ace and a block, while Asher contributed seven kills.
Returning to Collegedale on Thursday, the Lady Eagles faced North Region champion Apostolic Christian Academy in the SCAA semifinals and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 25-22 and 25-20 victories in the first two sets.
However, Apostolic would rally to win the next two sets, 25-18 and 25-14, tying the match. Playing in a fifth-set tiebreaker, the Lady Eagles pulled out a 1614 victory to advance to the finals.
As they did two days earlier, OCA won the opening set against CAYA, this time by a 29-27 count. But just as they did on Tuesday, the other Lady Eagles would answer, winning the next three sets, 25-20, 25-21 and 26-24, to claim the championship.
Individual statistics from Thursday were not available.