Heading to the Choo Choo tourney, the Lady Pioneers were hoping to board the train to success. It seems like the WCHS volleyball team took the struggle bus back home though. 

Warren County went 0-5 over the weekend in its annual trek to Chattanooga, extending its losing streak to nine games. After starting the season 4-1, the Lady Pioneers are now 4-10 after losses to Bradley Central, Soddy Daisy, Upperman, Stone Memorial and Ooltewah last Friday and Saturday. 

The losing streak has put added pressure on the Lady Pioneers as they are still trying to find a way to harness their immense talents and turning their flashes of brilliance into sustained success.

“We just simply couldn’t play consistently,” said coach Erin Blalock. “We changed up the rotation some, which seemed to work fine but we just weren’t consistent. At his point, I feel that these losses are my responsibility. I haven’t done what I need to do to get them prepared to finish these close matches.”

The Lady Pioneers went to Chattanooga with a chip on their shoulder after losing four consecutive matches, including three district tilts. In all four losses, Warren County held leads in every single set, some even in the 20s before falling in the final points.

It’s a problem that persisted in Chattanooga.

“They play amazing volleyball, but only for about 20 points. We’ve got to finish and not get down when we drop a couple of points. We seem to be playing well, then we give up 2-3 points and the heads drops and we can’t recover,” said Blalock.

Warren County seemed to improve over the course of the weekend, but still wasn’t able to come out with a win. The Lady Pioneers lost in straight sets in all three of their Friday matches, but had a chance to play a deciding set against Stone Memorial and Ooltewah Saturday.

The Lady Pioneers defeated Stone Memorial 25-23 in the first set, but then lost 14-25 and 7-15 in the next two. Against Ooltewah, Warren County bounced back from losing the first set 21-25 to win the second set 25-21. In the final set, the Lady Owls stormed back to close out a win with a 15-10 decision.

Missed serves were part of the culprit for Warren County’s struggles to finish as the team had 35 miscues behind the line throughout the event. Still, the Lady Pioneers had some standout performances too.

Big hitters Ally Beneke and Mia Hobbs finished with 22 and 21 kills, respectively. They also tied for the team lead with four aces apiece. Supper setters Kennedi Pegg (28 assists) and Lydia Netherton (23 helpers) commanded the offense, while Jessie Young was defensive demon with 46 digs. Hobbs had 27 digs, while Marissa O’Hara added 24.

Warren County was hoping to bust out of its slump at home Tuesday against District 6AAA foe Shelbyville. Results weren’t available at press time. The Lady Pioneers will travel to Franklin County Thursday for another district matchup. Action starts at 4:30 p.m.