CHATTANOOGA, TN – Falling three times in the regular season to Chattanooga State, Walters State were determined to not make it a fourth on Saturday afternoon.
Taking on the Lady Tigers in the Region 7 Championship match, Walters State went down two sets to one but battled back, taking the final two sets to win the Championship in incredible fashion, 3-2 (30-28, 19-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-8).
With the win, Walters State improved to 15-12 on the season. The Lady Senators now advance to the Southeast District Championship on the road against the Region 10 runner-up next Saturday with a chance to punch their ticket to the NJCAA DII National Tournament for the second time in three years.
Bella Webb was the MVP of the Region 7 Tournament for the Lady Senators.
The two teams split the first two points of the match as Jordan Moore had a massive kill. Moore added a block on the next point to give the Lady Senators an early lead. Then, after Chatt State tied it up again, Mackenzie Sweigart had another kill and Moore recorded an ace to make it 4-2.
The two teams traded points after with Chatt State tying the set at five before a tip from Bella Webb made it 6-5. After a couple ties, Chatt State took their first lead of the match and went up 11-9 before the Lady Senators scored twice to tie it back up and then took a 13-12 lead.
Chattanooga State continued to try and take control, but Walters State kept battling and another Webb kill and shot out gave the Lady Senators a 16-14 lead. Chatt State evened it again, but Webb was there to get the lead back. Moore then had back-to-back kills, and Walters State led 19-16.
The Lady Tigers tied the set at 19 but, after a timeout from Walters State, the Lady Senators scored twice to take the momentum back and force a Chatt State timeout. After two Chatt State points tied it up at 21, Moore added another kill but Chatt State tied it again at 22.
Sweigart gave Walters State a 23-22 lead and, after they traded points, Webb gave the Lady Senators set point at 24-23. However, the Lady Tigers fought it off and then fought another one off at 25-24 and another at 26-25 and another at 27-26.
The Lady Tigers finally had set point of their own but Maddie Rockrohr tied it at 28 with a kill. Moore then had an ace, and Sweigart tipped one over to give Walters State the first set, 30-28.
With all the momentum, Walters State came out firing in set two with a kill and block from Moore. Then, Faith Heskett and Webb made two unbelievable saves before Heskett, from her knees, hit a shot over the net that fell for a point to make it 3-0.
Walters State kept it going from there and back-to-back kills from Rockrohr made it 7-3. However, Chatt State found life and scored five straight to go up 8-7.
Neither team could find much separation after that until Chatt State got a 16-12 lead and forced a Walters State timeout. Rockrohr stopped the bleeding out of the timeout with a kill and Moore added an ace before Chatt scored four more to make it 20-14.
Walters State made one final rally in the set to make it 21-19 before Chatt State closed it out with a 25-19 second set win.
In the third set, the two teams were even until Walters State scored two straight to go up 6-4. However, Chatt State scored seven of the next eight points to go up 11-7.
Chatt State kept that lead but allowed Walters State to creep back into it thanks to a handful of kills from Moore. Walters State eventually made it 13-12 and forced a Chatt State timeout. Walters State forced an error on the point following the timeout to tie the set.
Chattanooga State built their lead back up again to 18-15, but Walters State battled again with a tip from Webb making it a one-point deficit before a shot out tied the set back up.
Once again, Chattanooga State took command with a 23-19 lead but a kill and block from Moore highlighted a 4-0 run to tie the set up. But Chattanooga State scored the final two points to go up 2-1 in the match.
In the fourth set, both teams traded points again with Walters State holding a slight advantage early after a block from Sidney Keck made it 6-4. Walters State remained in the lead after that until Chatt State tied it at 11.
Not deterred, the Lady Senators retook the lead 13-11 with a Moore kill and Brittany Kitchens ace. The lead grew to 16-13 after an ace from Moore and Chatt State used a timeout. After the timeout, Walters State kept going and a Hannah Freeman ace and Webb kill made it 19-14.
The lead from Walters State went to 22-16, but the Lady Tigers forced a timeout after scoring three straight points. Three more points following the timeout made it 22-22.
Jordan Moore stopped the run with two straight kills to make it set point and a tip by Sweigart clinched the set and sent it to a deciding fifth set.
In the final set, Walters State dropped the first point but scored two straight to go up 2-1. The lead went to 4-2 after monstrous kills from Sweigart and Moore. An ace from Kitchens then made it 5-2 in favor of the Lady Senators.
Walters State continued to hold the lead and got it to 9-6 after a Rockrohr ace and then 10-6 on an error by the Lady Tigers. Following a timeout, Keck made it 12-7 with another kill and Haylee Richardson added another point to get Walters State two points closer.
Walters State then got set point and, after a long point, Moore ended the match with a kill.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics