Difficult schedule paying dividends for OCA program
The Oakwood Christian GAPPS team won its first Region 1 match of the season with a three-set victory over visiting Unity Christian of Rome, 25-12, 25-8 and 25-9, in a match played on Aug. 20.
The Lady Eagles had 22 aces on the night, including a team-high eight from Lily Green, who also added 12 kills, three blocks and two digs. Mana Gilchrist served up five aces to go with eight kills and a pair of digs, while Avery Green had three aces, four kills, five digs and 23 assists.
Other contributors included Olivia Guest (3 aces, 6 digs, 2 assists, 1 kill), McKenley Baggett (1 ace, 5 kills, 5 digs, 2 assists), Raleigh Suits (1 ace, 2 digs, 1 assist) and Anslee Tucker (1 kill, 1 ace, 3 digs).
OCA was back on the court last Monday as they dispatched Chattanooga’s Berean Academy, 25-10, 25-14 and 25-22, in a match in Chickamauga.
Lily Green recorded 11 kills and three aces for OCA. Baggett had five kills, seven digs and an ace. Gilchrist picked up eight kills to go with six digs, three aces and two blocks and Avery Green added 22 assists, five digs, two blocks, a kill and an ace.
Tucker had 10 digs and two aces. Guest collected five digs and three kills, while Elliana Hammond picked up four digs.
After not having a match again Unity, the Lady Eagles’ SCAA squad scored a 25-12, 25-11 over Berean as Natalie Overton had five aces. Cadyn Cahill had four aces, three kills and a block. Caroline Tindell had three blocks and a kill to go with her four aces. Sarah Deakins picked up three kills and Cheyenne Simpson had one. Callie Vona and Aby Whitlock had four aces apiece.
Just 24 hours after taking care of Berean, the Lady Eagles faced another test from a Chattanooga-area private school as they hosted Silverdale Baptist Academy. OCA fell 25-8 to the powerful Lady Seahawks in the opening set, but rallied back to win 29-27 in the second set. SBA would take the final two sets in the best-offive match, but by narrow and identical 25-23 scores.
Lily Green had 14 kills, 12 digs, five blocks and two aces in the loss and Avery Green collected 20 assists, 14 digs, six kills, three blocks and an ace. Gilchrist finished with nine kills, 10 digs and a block and Guest helped out with 10 digs.
Baggett had 13 digs, two kills and an ace. Tucker picked up 14 digs and one ace and Suits added an assist as the Lady Eagles dropped to below .500 on the season.
OCA’s SCAA squad took the first set against the Silverdale Baptist JV team on Tuesday, 25-17, but lost the second set, 25-11, before a 15-10 loss in the tiebreaker.
Individual statistics were not reported as of press time.
Oakwood closed out the week with matches against Lookout Valley and Ridgeland in Rossville on Thursday.
The Lady Eagles’ GAPPS team (5-6) put up a 25-16, 25-20 win against Lookout Valley, but suffered a very narrow loss to the Lady Panthers, 26-24, 25-23, in the first-ever volleyball matchup between the two county neighbors.
Tucker had nine digs, two aces and a dig for OCA. Gilchrist had 13 kills, 11 digs, three assists, three blocks and one ace, while Avery Green finished the night with 27 assists, six aces, six digs, a kill and a block.
Baggett had 16 assists against Ridgeland to go with three digs, two aces, three kills and a block. Lily Green had a team-high 16 kills while adding 14 digs, three assists and one block. Guest ended her night with 17 digs, two aces and two kills.
The Oakwood SCAA team (5-4) picked up two victories as they beat Lookout Valley’s JV team, 25-18 and 25-11, before they outlasted Ridgeland’s JV team, 22-25, 26-24 and 15-8.
Individual statistics from those matches had not been reported as of press time.