Crockett County wins own volleyball tournament

ALAMO – When Crockett County has made runs to the state volleyball tournament in the past, the Lady Cavaliers have played in a regular season tournament – usually in Memphis – when the team started clicking.

Crockett County didn’t play in a Memphis tournament this weekend, but they did play well in a tournament. Their hope is that momentum gained in this tournament will carry over through the next couple of weeks.

The Lady Cavaliers beat South Side 25-17, 25-21 in the championship match of the Crockett County Classic on Saturday.

“This team is a roller-coaster,” Crockett County coadch Bobby Rawson said. “If we were playing for a spot at state today, I like our chances, but there is a lot of time still to go.

“The girls did find something special today. I hope we use this as the season moves forward. This is a good place to be right now.”

This wasn’t a tournament that was set up for Crockett County (20-8) to easily win a title, as five of the teams ranked in the volleyball Elite Eight participated in the tournament.

“The teams were good,” Rawson said. “Camden deserves the No. 1 ranking [in the Elite Eight], and I believe they still do. I knew South Side wasn’t at full strength. This was a long day of volleyball, so I was glad we were able to stay strong throughout.”

The Lady Cavaliers won all three matches in Pool B – Middleton, University School of Jackson and Scotts Hill – to earn a bye into the tournament semifinals.

“For me, this is the first time since I started playing varsity that we won our tournament,” Crockett County senior Brooke Burress said. “To us seniors, this win means everything right now.

“I think we came together today. We made some good plays.”

The other two pool winners were South Side, who beat Milan, Millington and Halls, and Camden, who beat Trinity Christian Academy, Ripley and Trenton Peabody.

In the semifinals, Crockett County faced Camden, who had one loss on the season heading into the tournament, and the Lady Lions took the first set.

The Lady Cavaliers had to win two straight sets to reach the championship.

In the other half of the bracket, TCA beat USJ in three sets to reach the semifinals. But South Side beat the Lady Lions in straight sets to set up the championship match.

Rawson and South Side’s Tommy Dean are the two longest tenured coaches in West Tennessee with a combined 1,000 wins between them.

The Lady Hawks were hurt with two starters out after suffering concussions previous to the tournament, but South Side put up a fight in the championship match.

“Playing this competition, you have to respect these teams,” Burress said. “We had not seen Camden, but we knew they had some awesome players. And the same is true with South Side, so we had to respect their play.”

But Crockett County spread the court and kept South Side on its heels to win the tournament crown.

“I think we learned about staying postive through the negative,” Rawson said. “When it is good, we are good. But when things go sour, we sometimes struggle to get through it.”

One week remains in the regular season before the Lady Cavaliers will see if momentum gained on Saturday will continue into the postseason.

Middleton won the Silver Bracket championship with wins over Ripley, Halls and Peabody in bracket play.

Michael Odom, 425-9754