The Notre Dame girls volleyball team had a rough week last week losing games to district rivals Signal Mountain and CCS. The Lady Irish didn't look like the same team on Wednesday in both of their district tournament games including the championship. Notre Dame beat CCS in the semifinals and went on to beat Signal Mountain in the finals to earn the District 7-AA championship.
Notre Dame did not lose a game on Wednesday beating CCS 25-20, 25-13, 25-12 and Signal Mountain 25-22, 25-20, 27-25.
Notre Dame jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game one. Signal Mountain got back in the game and led 10-9 after a kill by Laura Holland.
That would be the last lead in game one for Signal. Randi Clement put last points on the board for the Lady Irish with a kill to win 25-22
In game two, Signal Mountain came out strong and led 9-3 before a Notre Dame time out. The Lady Irish battled back into the game and found themselves with their first lead at 14-13.
Tournament MVP Kylie Gange then served five straight points including two aces to give the Lady Irish a 19-13 lead. Notre Dame went on to win game two 25-20.
Game three remained even early on. Notre Dame gained a 12-7 lead and then led 17-11 before Signal Mountain evened the score at 21. The game would be tied at 21, 23, 24 and 25 before Gange served another ace to give Notre Dame at 26-25 lead. A bad pass by Signal Mountain gave Notre Dame the final point and the win at 27-25.
Notre Dame head coach Tyler Baldonado was glad to see her team play well.
"We served tough tonight," Baldonado said. "I told them before the match that the difference would be our first contact on serve and serve response. We played amazing tonight and are peaking at the right time."
The Lady Irish had been playing with out captain Stephanie Bouchard who has been out for two weeks. She finished with seven kills and 10 digs.
"We missed her when she was gone." Baldonado said.
"We lost four seniors last year and knew this would be a rebuilding year," she said. "We didn't know they would turn it around in a week."
Notre Dame and Signal Mountain will advance to region play next week.
Notre Dame Stats:
Ellen Sawyer 11 digs, 8 kills, 2 aces
Kylie Gange 17 digs, 5 aces
Stephanie Bouchard 10 digs, 7 kills
Mattie Strozak 21 assists, 3 aces
Mallory Hein 4 kills
Kaylee Stone 4 kills
Signal Mountain Stats:
Lana Bednavczyk 7 digs
Taelor Kellum 7 kills, 5 digs
Shelby O'Quinn 6 kills
Laura Holland 7 kills, 4 blocks
Carolyn Thielges 19 assists
Alaina Avery 4 aces
CCS Stats:
Erin Jackson 10 kills, 10 digs
Lindsay Rudisill 7 kills, 1 ace, 2 blocks, 4 digs
Sarah Beth Riggs 7 kills, 2 blocks, 2 digs
Emily Henderson 4 kills, 1 ace, 6 digs
Gracie Smith 1 kill, 1 ace, 25 assists, 7 digs
Hannah Stewart 1 ace, 17 digs
Bailey Brady 1 kill, 2 digs