Soddy Daisy wins Tandem tournament

[PHargis]

Soddy-Daisy Rallies To Win Tennessee Tandem Tournament

by Jaime Barrett

posted September 18, 2011

 

The Soddy-Daisy volleyball team would've stayed in the GPS gymnasium all night if that was what it took to win the Tennessee Tandem tournament.

 

It almost was.

 

After holding off seven match points in a pair of thrilling, three-game comeback victories, the Lady Trojans finally headed home with a championship trophy after 11 p.m. on Saturday night.

 

Soddy-Daisy advanced to the title match with a 25-18, 20-25, 18-16 semifinal win over North Cobb. The Lady Trojans, whose day began at 9 a.m. with the first of their seven matches, then finished off a 14-25, 26-24, 18-16 victory against Blackman at 10:56 p.m.

 

 

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"We won our pool, but then lost two of our three matches this morning," Soddy-Daisy coach Lorri Johnson said. "To be able to rebound from that with a new lineup shows that we've grown a lot this weekend. This is our last tournament, so it was our last chance to do that. I feel like we've got everybody in the right place now."

 

North Cobb reached the semifinals of the 32-team tournament by beating Ooltewah 25-19, 27-25 in the quarterfinals, but Soddy-Daisy pulled away from the Georgia school late in the first game to win 25-18. In game two, North Cobb finished out a 25-20 victory, then started the third game on a 5-1 run. Its powerful hitting, combined with costly Soddy-Daisy mistakes, put the Lady Trojans in a 13-6 hole.

 

Facing elimination at 14-9, two kills from senior Rachel Shaughnessy gave Soddy-Daisy a spark, and she pounded out two more to force North Cobb to take a timeout with its lead reduced to one point. The Lady Trojans kept the momentum after the break, as Alex Schafer and Olivia Holden contributed kills before Shaughnessy's ace secured an 18-16 win for her team.

 

Soddy-Daisy again fell behind in the championship against Murfreesboro Blackman, which had eliminated GPS in the semifinals. The Blaze cruised to a 25-14 win in game one before the Lady Trojans rallied to a 26-24 game-two victory on kills from Rebecca Johnson and Kelsey Nunley.

 

In the deciding game, Soddy-Daisy faced a 10-6 deficit and the teams traded the lead five times. Kills from Shaughnessy and Schafer kept the Lady Trojans alive three times with Blackman at match point, and after Shaughnessy's hit tied it at 16, her team scored the next two and celebrated the 18-16 victory and the Tennessee Tandem title.

 

"You've just got to focus on one point at a time," Johnson said. "I told them during one of the timeouts in the semifinal that this is where character is built. I can't create that in practice. They fought back and handled that pressure. It was huge. This was really incredible, and it was great volleyball from both teams."

 

(E-mail Jaime Barrett at jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)

 

Soddy-Daisy statistics (championship match): Olivia Holden 29 assists, 7 digs; Rachel Shaughnessy 2 blocks, 9 kills, 1 ace; Alex Schafer 2 blocks, 8 kills, 5 digs; Laura Jenkins 1 block, 2 kills, 2 digs; Kelsey Nunley 6 kills, 2 aces, 11 digs; Becca Johnson 5 kills, 2 digs; Sarah Davis 15 digs, 1 ace; Megan Ware 5 digs; Hannah Robertson 2 digs, 1 kill, 1 assist.

 

 

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[chattdaddy]

I was out of town this weekend so what happen to Baylor, Red Bank, GPS, Ooltewah, Farragut, and Riverdale at the Tn Tandem? Who beat Soddy?

[vbinsider44]

Games were really nice at Baylor and GPS Saturday, Riverdale seem to play 3 games with everyone. The #1 pool at GPS had Soddy, GPS, Blackman and Ooltewah. Both Ooltewah and GPS beat Soddy, Blackman beat Both Ooltewah and GPS, Soddy beat Blackman. North Cobb has some nice players and won the pool at Baylor with Farragut, Riverdale, and Baylor in it. Soddy put Farragut out in first round at GPS. I didn't see Baylor at GPS so I don't know who beat them. The Riverdale and GPS game was a nice match, #10 for RD, # 6 and #9 for GPS were laying down some shots, but in game 3 the game ended on a judgement call on the line with GPS winning. Riverdale coach got into trouble with refs. I was told ref chair lady told him he had to leave the gym. The coach was just asking questions it seemed and acted like most coaches after a tough loss. North Cobb and Soddy match was a great match. The Blackman and GPS match wasn't as good, it seemed GPS ran out of gas from the Riverdale match. Coach Brock did a real nice job with the tournament. The nice thing I saw him do was one of his club buddies and him were the line judges allowing parents to watch their kids play during the championship match between SD and Blackman, after Coach Brock had been there the whole day. He gets my vote for class and Chattanooga should be proud. All playes on both teams for Blackman and for Soddy gave a heck of a championship match.

[ERidger]

I thought GPS looked good. Soddy Daisy was ok, and played great to win, but they looked inconsistent. Changing the roation seemed to make a difference. They had a big hitter who carried them when they needed it. GPS coach is a class act.

 

Saw Soddy beat Farragut pretty easily. I watched this same match at the choo choo, Soddy had improved Farragut looked slow, a lot of hype on this board for an average team, not a state level team.

 

Soddy, GPS, Baylor should all make state.

[PHargis]

Well, I thought I knew who won the Championship but now on the above queston, who won the Tournament over who? The caption say Soddy won the match. I guess they won it over Blackman. Blackman must have played well up to that point. Blackman is capable of doing that this year. Riverdale's coach was asked to leave the gym. Did he leave and was he able to return?

Observation: Soddy's coach changing their rotation was a definite good move IMO. Playing at the BIVT the week before and being beaten was an eye opener. They are stronger. Good coaching.

Observation: Blackman's play really shows how strong they are. Three schools in 7AAA that are strong competitors. Riverdales issues with officiating goes back to substate last year in Chattanooga at Soddy when Riverdale won the first two games and Soddy came back and won the last three, and went to State. Really hard to forget that and the comment made by the poster was a good one. After watching both coaches, Blackman and Riverdale, they went to win. Anyone interested in seeing some great matches between Blackman, Riverdale or Siegel the upcoming weeks only need to check the schedules. You will not be dissapointed.

Observation: Anyone can disagree as much as they want, But the road to the State, these few years, will come from playing and retooling in the Middle Tennessee Tournaments and refining the Chattanooga. Too many are doing it and finding things have to be changed. This site is making you aware of it.

Edited September 19, 2011 by PHargis

[OldCoach1]

Red Bank played very poorly friday night, placing them into the silver tourney. A much different team appeard saturday morning at Ooltewah; winning the silver bracket without dropping a game.

[ERidger]

Coach, I agree. Red Bank looks really strong, and I think could win a state championship. They don't have the parents or coaches that get on here and post blowing teams up. I made a point to watch the Farragut team team because a couple of posters were talking about how great they were. I knew that had beaten them earlier in the year, but then I saw where they beat Soddy at the choo choo and I thought they might have something. After watching them play I can only assume Soddy took the day off.

 

Red Bank looks good!

[PHargis]

I know my AA rankings are coming and I would think some others are coming also and yes Red Bank is on the list but others are also.

[AdmiralGlasgow]

I didn't attend the tournament but I know the Farragut team was very disappointed in themselves for the way they performed in the later matches. They thought they could have done alot better. They were especially upset to find out that Blackman would have been their opponent had they made it to the finals, as they have beaten them twice already this year. Some of the Soddy parents chose to heckle the Farragut players during their serves which I think is out of line in a highschool match...students maybe, parents probably not. Show some class and cheer for your team, not against the other. No sour grapes here though. Farragut knows they could have and should have played better. That performance doesn't rule them out of state though becuase none of those teams will stand in their way in post season qualifying.

[ERidger]

I watched the entire match and I didn't see any heckling. I actually sat with some of the Farragut fans and they were more concerned about why certain players weren't included more in the offense. I never heard or saw anything out of line.

 

I am surprised that you beat Blackman. Also, you have some really good teams to get past before talking about making the state tournment.

 

I really liked your big outside hitter, what is her name? She is fantastic. The other hitters had problems putting the ball down. Several of the parents were critical of some of the coaching moves.

 

I also liked the setter. The girls seemed really nice, and I thought showed alot of sportsmanship during a rough day. It is hard when you are so overmatched.

[PHargis]

It is very likely Farragut played Blackman early. Blackman is playing better as of late and their improvement is very noticeable. They will rise on the improved play list as is evident in Tournament play and District play.

[loyaladmiral]

I watched the entire match and I didn't see any heckling. I actually sat with some of the Farragut fans and they were more concerned about why certain players weren't included more in the offense. I never heard or saw anything out of line.

 

I am surprised that you beat Blackman. Also, you have some really good teams to get past before talking about making the state tournment.

 

I really liked your big outside hitter, what is her name? She is fantastic. The other hitters had problems putting the ball down. Several of the parents were critical of some of the coaching moves.

 

I also liked the setter. The girls seemed really nice, and I thought showed alot of sportsmanship during a rough day. It is hard when you are so overmatched.

SD parent kicking a ball at Farragut player, calling her a "twit" and saying "I hope you miss your serve" and pounding the benches during serves is what a good sport would consider heckling. Heckling a line judge several plays after what is considered a "controversial" call is also a show of poor sportsmanship....Shouldn't the parents and coach set the example? The only worse example of unsportsmanlike conduct came from the Riverdale coach who was yellow carded twice and did his best to derail momentum by picking arguements with the down refs so as not to call a time out to achieve the same thing. BTW....it didn't work and Farragut beat Riverdale and the team played well...all of the hitters and passers... The girls are their own worst critics and they know when they didn't play to their potential without someone who watched one match calling them "weak" or "slow".

It is a competitive sport and it is about winning and it goes without saying that everyone gets caught up in the excitement of a tight match but observe good sportsmenship....Farragut did when they beat SD both times at the choo choo and didn't find it necessary to heckle the refs, line judges or players.

These girls have worked hard and continue to challenge themselves...Reading on CoachT...when every other team Farragut beats "just has an off day" or "it was just early in the season", etc., a loss for Farragut is they are "weak" or "slow" or just lots of "hype"...They were not overmatched they just had a rough game and learned another valuable lesson.