HARRIMAN, TN – For the seventh time in program history and third straight year, the Walters State women's volleyball team are TCCAA/Region VII Champions.
Taking on third-seeded Chattanooga State on Saturday in the Championship, top-seeded Walters State took the first two sets of the match and then held on in set four for a 3-1 (25-20, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19) victory.
With the win, the Lady Senators improved to 25-5 on the season. Walters State will take on Cleveland Community College next Friday in the Southeast District Championship, with a spot in the NJCAA DII Tournament on the line. The match will be held at Richard Bland College at 3 p.m. ET.
"I'm really proud of the way the girls came out and executed our gameplan today," Walters State coach Megan Blaylock said. "We studied film a lot last night, and the girls did exactly what they were supposed to. We had a slip in the third set, but we bounced back really well. I am very proud of them."
The Lady Senators were led in Saturday's match by Lauren Mims, who was named the Tournament MVP following the match.
"Since I have been coaching, I have never had a player as consistent as Lauren Mims," Blaylock said. "We rely on her heavily with her leadership. The way she produces is incredible. The girls really look to her, and she's been excellent all year."
Walters State came out hot to start the match, breaking out to a 5-1 lead thanks to kills from Mims. Chattanooga State tied the set up at five, six and eight before taking a 10-8 lead, but Walters State hit back with back-to-back kills from Alyssa Campbell to tie it back up.
Those two points were the beginning of a 12-0 run for the Lady Senators to go up 20-10. During the run, Mims had three aces while Catherine Sweeney and Finley Surber punched home kills. Chattanooga State broke the run and tried to cut into the lead. However, at 24-20, the Lady Senators converted set point to go up 1-0.
The second set was again close early on, but Walters State scored five straight at 6-5 to grab a comfortable advantage. Chattanooga State broke the run with a point, but Walters State scored four more to go up 15-6. During the run, Surber had two kills while Campbell and Mims had kills as well.
Chattanooga State again tried to make things interesting, but the closest they could get was 24-17 as Veda Barton converted a kill the next point to grab the set to go up 2-0.
The third set was all Chattanooga State early as they built an 8-3 lead. The Lady Senators slowly came to life, cutting the lead to 10-9 on a kill from Campbell. Chatt State answered with three straight and then went up 15-11. The Lady Senators got back-to-back kills from Sweeney and Campbell to cut the lead and took a 16-15 lead on a kill from Barton.
Walters State continued to charge and a kill by Mims made it 20-18. Unfortunately for the Lady Senators, that was the last point they got as Chatt State scored seven straight to take the set 25-20.
The final set saw the Lady Senators break out to an 8-2 lead thanks to two kills and a block by Rylee Haynie. The lead grew to 12-5 after a kill by Campbell and was 16-7 after another Haynie kill. Back-to-back kills from Barton then extended the lead to 19-8, and Mims had a kill to make it 20-10.
At 23-13, Chattanooga State made one final rally, but Walters State grabbed a point and then took match point to win it 25-19.
