Viqueens claim District 9-A volleyball tourney

It was a roller-coaster ride of emotion that led to a plethora of first-evers for the Community volleyball team in Unionville on Thursday night.

After sweeping Middle Tennessee Christian in the District 9-A tournament semifinal, the Viqueens advanced to the championship against Eagleville and earned a berth into the Region 5-A tournament.

The Lady Eagles, who swept both Community and MTC in regular season matches, quickly jumped out to a two-set lead with 25-20, 25-22 wins early on in the title match.

Four unanswered points put Eagleville ahead 8-7 in the third set, forcing Viqueen coach Allison Layne into a timeout.

"We were playing too tentative at that point," Layne said. "I called a timeout and said, 'It's all on the line right here. Either you can play tentative and we can play defense the whole night, or you can turn this around.' I felt like we were having to react to the ball and to what they were doing instead of them reacting to us.

"At the end of the timeout, when I walked away, I said, 'It's up to you whether you want it or not.' I heard them when I left that they did want it."

Saying the ladies in Purple and Gold "wanted it" is an understatement. They responded with five consecutive points and took the third set 25-15.

Community fell behind 3-0 early in the fourth set and looked lethargic. They rallied with another five-point stretch but quickly fell behind again, trailing 18-12 late. A furious comeback appeared to fall just short as Eagleville needed just one more point for the district title up 24-23. However, a kill from Megan Busbee sparked a three-point swing to give them a 26-24 win.

With the lively crowd hanging on every set and swing, the Viqueens found a chink in the visitors' armor and utilized an 8-1 spirt to carry them to 15-9 win in the deciding fifth set.

The 3-2 victory gave Community the school's first-ever district crown.

"It's unbelievable, words can't describe it right now," Layne said. "It hasn't sunk in really. I guess it will sometime later on. The girls played hard. It's all about them. They did an excellent job, and they were wanting it. They've been telling me the last 3-4 days that they wanted it, and they proved it tonight."

It was also the first time they came from two sets down to win a match this season.

"I can't describe how I feel," said district most valuable player Kassidy Lane, one of seven Viqueen seniors. "I still want to cry. It's amazing. It's a historic moment."

Despite being a single point away from having to settle for second, Community (4-13) rebounded to secure the school's first-ever 'W' over the neighboring Lady Eagles (4-25).

"They're fundamentally sound. It says a lot for our team to beat them. That's the sign we've been looking for to get over that hump," Layne said of Eagleville.

Devoting roughly an hour of practice time each day this week to passing paid dividends as the Viqueens were able to get into a bump-set-spike rhythm and take full swings at the net rather than lollypopping balls over the net. The results forced Eagleville to flop and dive all over the hardwood just to get balls up.

"You don't get to hit if you don't make a good pass," Layne said. "That's what we did good tonight: we actually passed the ball, our setters set and we hit. We have really good hitters on the team, and we want to make sure we get a hit every time the ball comes over."

Community's Megan Busbee came up big in the middle, totaling 17 kills and four blocks. Lane banged down nine kills and 10 service points. Georgia Ralston piled up 16 points, six kills and five aces. Katie Maselter pitched in with 11 points, eight kills and four blocks. Lauren Freeman provided eight kills. Tiffany Davis served up 12 points and seven aces. Ashley Orlando had seven points.

The Viqueens host the Region 5-A tourney on Tuesday night. Eagleville faces District 10-A champion White House-Heritage at 4. Community takes on Nashville Christian at 5:30. The winners square off in the final at 7.

Community 3, MTC 0: In the semifinal, Ralston came up with 24 service points, 11 aces and five kills to lead the way. Busbee contributed eight kills. Maselter and Lane added five kills.