PHOTO GALLERY: Lady Falcons to host district volleyball

CHURCH HILL — The Volunteer Lady Falcons will host the District 2-AA volleyball tournaments this week, starting with the one-day junior varsity tournament on Saturday, Oct. 5, and continuing Oct. 8-10 with varsity competition.

Varsity play-in games will be held Monday, Oct. 7, with the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed.

Volunteer, the defending District 2-AA champion and the top seed in this year’s tournament, gets a first-round bye, as does No. 2 seed Gibbs. They’ll await the winners of the play-in games, the matchups of which will be decided after Thursday’s regular season makeup games.

Gibbs’ Lady Eagles defeated Cherokee 3-0 (25-13, 15-12, 25-13) on Wednesday, Oct. 2, in Rogersville to secure the No. 2 seed. The Lady Chiefs’ JV team defeated Gibbs 2-0.

Volunteer was scheduled to host Grainger in a makeup game on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. A win would secure the Lady Falcons’ second straight perfect season in Twin Lakes Conference action. Since moving to District 2-AA with TSSAA realignment in 2023, Volunteer has lost just one set to a conference foe.

Stateline Slam

BRISTOL — The Volunteer Lady Falcons won their pool and reached the gold bracket of the second annual Stateline Slam on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Viking Hall before falling to eventual champion Tennessee High in the semifinals.

The remnants of Hurricane Helene prevented several teams from traveling and reduced the field from 22 to 12 teams for the tournament, which included pool play and bracket elimination matches.

The Lady Falcons recorded pool play wins over West Ridge and Rhea County and lost to Dobyns-Bennett in a crossover match. Finishing No. 1 in their pool, the Lady Falcons then defeated Knox Webb in the quarterfinals before losing to Tennessee High 25-17, 25-18 in the semifinals.

Tennessee High went on to defeat Daniel Boone 25-15, 25-22 in the championship match.