The Warren County High School volleyball team (18-6) clinched a region tournament berth Monday night as the Lady Pioneers first defeated Rhea County in five games and went on to another victory over White County in three during District 6-AAA Tournament play at Stone Memorial in Crossville.
It is still up in the air who will be district champions as Warren County played Cookeville Tuesday night for the district title with results not available at press time. Either way, the first and second place teams advance to the region tournament.
“For the first time in six years, WCHS volleyball has made it to the region tournament,” said coach Katie Rogers. “I can’t describe how proud I am of this group. Three years ago they were struggling and won five matches. After that season, these girls decided to put in the work, dug themselves out of the trenches, and now here we are ready to play in the district championship and region tournament.”
Rhea County put up an extreme challenge, with the match going five games. The breakdown comes out: 24-26, 25-16, 24-26, 25-17, 15-10.
“Rhea County definitely showed up to play. They played some very scrappy balls and caught us off guard several times. We hung in there with them and persevered to a hard-fought win,” Rogers said.
Warren County’s match with White County didn’t take as long as Rhea County as the Lady Pioneers won in three games to win the match.
“White County has been our thorn in our side all season,” said Rogers. “They beat us twice in the regular season causing us to fall into third place in the district. Warren County was definitely fired up and ready to beat them at all costs. I guess third time is a charm because we were able to pull out a 3-0 win over them to clinch a berth in the region tournament.”
Individual honors:
All-district 1st team: Bethany Fye and Emily Mikkola
All-district 2nd team: Hope Mullican and Hailey Wood