By Ken Lay
After Central High School won the District 3-3A Volleyball Tournament semifinal Tuesday night, coach Susan Davidson was congratulated because the Lady Bobcats advanced to the region tournament.
But Davidson made it clear that her team wasn’t satisfied because it had one more match to win.
“We’re not done,” Davidson said after the Lady Bobcats defeated Powell in four sets at Halls High School. “We still have work to do.”
Top-seeded Central would eventually win the district championship, culminating a long and late night with a sweep of third-seeded Clinton, which advanced to the title match with a grueling five-set win over Anderson County in its semifinal match.
An exhausted Lady Dragons squad put up a battle but in the end, the Lady Bobcats were too much as they captured a 25-18, 25-11, 25-19 victory to claim the district title that eluded them in 2025.
But after Central hoisted the championship plaque, Davidson had another message for her team.
“Tonight is a night to celebrate but tomorrow, we’re going back to work,” she said. “We have more work to do to get to where we want to go.”
Junior setter Pyper Clevinger, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, finished with 32 assists, 11 digs and four kills. Like Davidson, she said the Lady Bobcats have some unfinished business.
“We definitely want to savor this,” Clevinger said. “But you can’t relish this and stop right here.
“If we want to keep winning, we’ve got to keep working.”
The Lady Bobcats (32-4) will next be in action on Tuesday in the Region 2-3A Tournament. They’ll play Hardin Valley Academy in an elimination semifinal at Maryville High School. Clinton (25-12) also advances to the region tournament and will play District 4-3A champion and host Maryville in the other elimination semifinal. The winners will play later Tuesday night.
The Lady Rebels defeated the Lady Hawks to win the District 4-3A Tournament Thursday night at HVA. The Lady Hawks upset William Blount in the loser’s bracket final.
Against the Lady Dragons, Central boasted a balanced hitting attack as Ally Bryant led the way with 11 kills. She also had seven digs, two assists and one block.
Trinity Brooks added 10 kills, while Malia Moore chipped in with eight kills and one block.
Defensively, Rhealee Haunhorst had 15 digs, while Kaylin Wiley finished with 12 digs.
Clinton coach Lorri Johnson said she knew that her team would face a tall order against Central after the marathon match against the Lady Mavericks in the semifinals.
“They’ve got a few more horses in the race than we do,” Johnson said. “But we’re catching up.”
District 3-3A coaches recognize top volleyball players
Central High School recently won both the District 3-3A regular-season title and tournament championship.
The Lady Bobcats were heavily represented on the All-District 3-3A Volleyball team that was released last week.
Lady Bobcats’ coach Susan Davidson was named Coach of the Year. Central’s Ally Bryant earned Player of the Year honors and Malia Moore was named Blocker of the Year. Pyper Clevinger was named Setter of the Year.
Central’s other all-district selections included: Trinity Brooks; Rhealee Haunhorst; Lennox Hinton and Kaylin Wiley.
Powell’s Rhaley Williams was also named to the team along with Gibbs High’s Rebekah Spierdowis and Halls High’s Autumn Appleby.
All-district honorable mentions went to Central’s Jolie Sheddan along with Powell’s Chloe McCarty and Taylor Williams. The Lady Devils boasted a pair of honorable mentions in Scout Jordan and Nicole Powell. Camille Santiago Santos earned an honorable mention from Gibbs.
The Lady Bobcats also had four players named to the all-academic team including Sheddan, Haunhorst, Kaylin Wiley and Miley Huskey.
Powell had five all-academic selections including Williams, Karina Lopez, Emersyn Mayes, Taylor Merrick and London Smith,
