Lady Raiders take down Tullahoma in five sets

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Coffee County volleyball continued its road slate with a trip down to Tullahoma Tuesday evening.

Just like the last the time these two teams met in Manchester on Sept. 4, the match went a full five sets. Also like the last time these two teams faced off, the Lady Raiders came out on top to complete the regular-season sweep of their cross-county rival.

“First set, we didn’t play to where we should have. Second and third, we got back up. We kind of slacked off a little in the fourth but came out in this one,” Coffee County coach Jon Spears said. “That’s what you’ve gotta do on that fifth one. You’ve gotta jump out and get a good lead and make them use everything they’ve got to come back, so I’m proud of my girls. Like I said from day one, we don’t give up.”

After falling 25-23 in the first set, Coffee County found itself in an early hole to start the second. The Lady Raiders were able to climb back into it, eventually taking the lead after a 17-17 tie before the Lady Cats once again took control at 24-23. Coffee County successfully held off Tullahoma from winning the set point and forced a tiebreaker.  Tied at 28-28 shortly after, the Lady Raiders proceeded to win to the next two points to win the set 30-28 and tie the match at 1-1.

Coffee County continued to find its groove in the third set, jumping out to a 10-3 lead to start things off. The Lady Raiders continued to remain ahead and never trailed on the way to winning the set 25-16 to take the match lead.

Now one set win away, Coffee County fell behind the Lady Cats early before taking the lead at 5-4. Tullahoma would end up retaking control at 12-11 and did not look back, winning 25-17 to tie things up at 2-2.

A close start to the decisive fifth set saw the two teams tied up at 5 points apiece early on before Coffee County began to distance itself. Up 11-7, the Lady Raiders’ lead quickly shrank from there to 11-10 before taking the next point to stop the Tullahoma advance. Coffee County continued to maintain a narrow lead from there and held on to win the set 15-13 and claim the match.

Tonight we played good on the road, so I’m happy,” Spears added.

Allysa Goon led the team in kills with 11, finishing just ahead of Hayleigh Harris with 10. Morgen Spears added seven. Carrington Saner followed with six kills. Up next was Danni Hillis with five. Paisley Dyer had three kills.

Spears was the team’s ace leader, coming away with three. Taylor Brinkley followed with two. Hillis, Jenslee Nogodula and Andon Selvog all had one ace each.

Saner and Dyer both shared the top spot in blocks with three each. Spears finished with two, just ahead of Harris with one.

Selvog led the way in assists with 16, two ahead of Brinkley’s 14. Nogodula was credited with five. Hillis had one assist.

Nogodula was the team’s digs leader, recording 22. Hillis added 15. Harris and Selvog both notched seven digs each. Spears added three. Goon and Brinkley each had two digs. Saner had one.

Coffee County (14-6) returns home to host Grundy County at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Lady Raiders previously defeated Grundy County 3-0 on the road in their season opener on Aug. 18.