Dyer County advances to fourth straight district title game

Dyer County's Teagan Reed goes up for a kill during the Lady Choctaws' win over South Gibson on Tuesday in the District 13AA Semifinals in Newbern.

Photo/Jason Peevyhouse

By JASON PEEVYHOUSE

Sports Editor

The road to the District 13AA Tournament Championship will again run through Dyer County as the Lady Choctaw volleyball team punched its ticket to its fourth straight district championship match with a three-set sweep over South Gibson on Tuesday in the semifinals in Newbern.

Lady Choctaws Erin Foster (15) and Ava Huke (10) leap for a block during the Dyer County win.

Photo/Jason Peevyhouse

“The key was to be able to run our offense, stay relaxed, not feel any pressure and to just play our game,” Dyer County Head Coach Shanna O’Bright said following the win. “We’re just going to work on continuing to get better, play relaxed, and control the ball on our side of the net.”

The Lady Choctaws took an early lead only to have South Gibson rally to tie the game at 8-8 moments later. But, with Kennedy Hill on the serving line, the Lady Choctaw offense put its foot on the gas pedal. Two kills from Blair Acree as well as two more from Emma Wray and a block from the junior were added to a Rylee Key block which helped the Lady Choctaws rattle off 13 straight points and take a 21-8 lead. After a quick rally from the Lady Hornets, Dyer County got two kills and a block from Key to take the first set 25-13.

Dyer County set the tone early in the second set with a pair of Wray aces to take a 7-2 lead. Another Wray ace after a South Gibson timeout extended the Lady Choctaw lead to nine. Dyer County continued to add to its advantage with kills from Teagan Reed and Ava Huke to go along with an Evie Rogers ace, extending the orange and white lead to 18-3. South Gibson added points later in the match before a Wray kill and a key tip helped seal Dyer County’s 25-10 win in the second set.

South Gibson was able to keep it close early in the third set before kills from Key and Reed helped set the tone. Dyer County pulled away as a Key kill and a Reed tip helped seal the 25-11 win in the third set for the Lady Choctaws and clinch the three-set sweep.

The win puts Dyer County in the district championship game for the fourth time in as many seasons since moving down from AAA to AA back in 2021. The win also assures the Lady Choctaws of a spot in next week’s Region 7AA Tournament which will be played at the winner of District 14AA Tournament.

Dyer County will face Crockett County in the District 13AA Finals for the second straight season on Thursday night at 6 p.m.