MORRISTOWN, TN – No. 9 Walters State kept their season alive on Tuesday evening in their first match in postseason play, sweeping Cleveland State 3-0 (25-11, 25-12, 25-20).  

It was the third time this season that the Lady Senators swept the Lady Cougars. With the win, Walters State moves on to the Region 7 Championship match on Thursday where they will take on Chattanooga State.  

The Lady Senators came out firing on Tuesday night, knowing that their season was on the line. For head coach Megan Blaylock, that was exciting to see. 

"We have just been talking about not letting off the gas in postseason play," Blaylock said. "We can't have such a dominant regular season like we have and then let off the gas in the postseason. I think they did a good job, we started off strong." 

For the Lady Senators, while everyone who saw the court played exceptionally well, one individual really stood out to Blaylock. 

"Hannah Daniel played her butt off," Blaylock said. "She played great. We worked this past weekend in practice about being aggressive at the net offensively and she took it to heart. She did a great job."  

The Lady Senators really set the tone in set one as they very quickly jumped out to a 4-1 lead. The Lady Cougars would try and fight back, taking a 7-6 lead, but Walters State immediately answered with a 6-0 run that gave them all the momentum they needed. 

From there, Walters State got the lead to 22-10 before closing out the first set with a 25-11 victory. 

In set two, the Lady Senators saw more of the same as Cleveland fought toe to toe with them at first, tying the set a 4-4, before an 11-0 run suddenly made it a 21-9 lead for Walters State. While Cleveland State rallied off a few points to make it closer, the Lady Senators easily closed out set two 25-12. 

With their season on the line in set three, Cleveland State actually held the lead early on at 8-7 before the Lady Senators responded yet again and took a 12-8 lead. This time, the Lady Cougars continued to fight and wouldn't allow Walters State to fully pull away. However, Cleveland State could never get close enough to make it interesting as the Lady Senators took home the final set 25-20 to secure the match. 

UP NEXT: 

Walters State will be back in action on Thursday at home in the Region 7 Championship match against Chattanooga State at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Senators have won all four contests this season against the Lady Tigers.  

"We just have to keep fighting and want it and work for it and not take it for granted," Blaylock said. "I think that is the biggest thing we are trying to continue to work on as we move forward."  

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics