The Cleveland girls won six of eight matches in weekend play to improve to 21-8 overall on the season. The Lady Raiders are 4-3 in district play and 52-23 in overall games.
Cleveland’s volleyball team was scheduled to play at Rhea County today, and will entertain county rival Walker Valley Thursday afternoon.
“We played well this weekend,” Flowers said of Tandem competition.
“After playing two big district games last week against Ooltewah and Soddy-Daisy, the girls were drained,” she added. “I wish we had made it to the semifinals or even championship, but we got knocked out by Walker Valley. We have some things to work on, but we are going to be fine.”
Flowers said her team could have easily gone undefeated. “We struggled to make things happen on offense in a couple of rotations,” she emphasized. “We are working on our versatility in the front row. We are beating ourselves, so once we sharpen things up, we should be good to go.”
In Tandem competition, the Lady Raiders defeated Oakland, 25-15, 25-5; lost to Red Bank, 25-23, 15-25, 8-15; then followed with wins over Sale Creek, 25-11, 25-11; Harpeth Hall, 25-15, 25-21; Knox Catholic, 25-17, 25-15; Oak Ridge, 25-13, 25-12; and GPS, 25-23, 21-25, 15-9. Walker Valley then defeated the Lady Raiders, 25-20, 23-25, 13-15.
Pacing Cleveland in statistics were Q’Abdullah-Muhammad with 10 receptions, four digs, 22 kills and 12.5 blocks. Amber Botts had four receptions and eight kills; and Jessica Davenport added six aces, 60 receptions, 58 digs, 12 assists, 23 kills and 10 blocks.
Other statistics have Kayla Gash with an ace, a reception, 17 digs and 33 kills; Marissa Langford with three receptions, three digs, a kill and 6.5 blocks; Brooke Miller with five aces, 52 receptions and 44 digs; Kristen Pickett with 14 aces, seven receptions, 58 digs, 41 assists, 82 kills and 4.5 blocks; Ayesha Rock with 23 aces, 13 receptions, 58 digs, 75 assists, 25 kills and a block; Zanna Thompson with four aces, three receptions and five digs; Payton Tipson with nine aces, 83 receptions, 104 digs and five kills; and Courtney Whitlock with 10 receptions and five kills.
