By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Though down, Union City is not out of contention for honors in the state volleyball tournament.
The Lady Tornadoes were bumped to the consolation bracket of the Class 1A event following a 3-0 loss to Gordonsville Tuesday afternoon at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro.
UC (24-7) – though eliminated from the state title chase – remains alive in the competition for third place and will play Chattanooga School for Arts & Sciences (CSAS) on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The contest will be a rematch of last year’s meeting when CSAS edged the Twister girls 3-1.
Should Union City win, it would advance to Thursday’s consolation semifinals. A loss would effectively end the Lady Tornadoes’ record-setting season.
UC was on the verge of breaking through against once-beaten Gordonsville in Tuesday’s opening-round game before a critical rotation violation by the Purple and Gold broke a 22-all tie and allowed the Lady Tigers to claim a 25-22 triumph.
Gordonsville then won Game 2, 25-13, and closed out the match with a 25-16 victory in a third game in which Union City led by as many as five points early.
“I don’t believe we ever recovered from that (rotation violation) in the first game,” UC head coach Jessica Graham said following the match. “It’s happened to us before in big situations – something crazy happens to us, that doesn’t happen very often, and we get down and let it linger rather than fighting through it and past it.
“It’s frustrating.”
The Lady Tornadoes did show tremendous grit in Game 1, coming up with several tough digs and blocks of potential Gordonsville kills to keep points alive.
Gracie Sims recorded three straight blocks to help UC build a three-point lead twice early, before the set was tied six times – the last at 22 before a rarely-called rotation violation that turned the contest in Gordonsville’s favor.
Gordonsville was in control from the outset in Game 2, fueled by UC errors, and won going away.
In Game 3, the Lady Tornadoes held leads of 4-0 and 9-4 with Addison Carr and Ca’Lae Ervin serving, but couldn’t sustain that momentum. G’ville put together a 15-4 run to make up that deficit and pull away to its 25th win in 26 matches this season and first in its initial trip to the state tourney.
Union City posted season highs in digs (23), saves (18), and blocks (9) in the contest – a sign of their hustling play in most of the match.
Clare Atwill came up with 15 digs, while Madie Theobald had 14 assists and four saves. Gracie Sims pounded home 11 kills and had a team-best six blocks, while Carr ended up with three saves and three digs.
“We had some good stretches, just not enough of them, and they weren’t consistent,” Graham added. “The grit we showed in the first set proved we can do well here. It was a great atmosphere, and we need to learn to use it.
“I’m excited to come back and play tomorrow. I’m sad it’s in the consolation bracket, because we came here with the attitude that we wanted to go for something bigger. Last year, we won a game at the state level for the first time. We want more this year. We’re capable of doing that.”
HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY
The Union City boys completed a spectacular regular season by winning their sixth meet of the season at Martin Westview.
The Tornadoes, who also recorded a first-place tie and a second-place finish in their other two competitions, had four medalists to best a large field.
In all, there were 29 teams, with 192 boys’ runners and 143 girls’ participants.
Woodrow McKinnis (17:46) was the best of the Twister bunch with a ninth-place finish in the 3.1-mile race. Rushdon Howell (17:46) placed 11th, Madix Turner (17:59) was 14th, and Miloh Turner (18:08) came in 16th.
Owen Waggoner (35th), Bryce Daniels (50th), Camden Watts (59th), Matvii Kostanian (82nd), and Wrigley Harder (84th) also competed for the Purple and Gold.
Ainsley Sadler (23:01) came in 12th to medal for the UC girls, as did Ainsley Beard (23:23), who posted a personal record time to place 14th.
Hadlee Duncan came in 50th.
Union City will run in the regional meet next Tuesday, with top qualifiers in both individual and team competition moving on to the state meet at Shelby Farms in Memphis on Nov. 4.