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Chambers Academy hosted Lee-Scott Academy and Edgewood Academy for a tri-match on Tuesday. The two matches did not go the Rebels’ way as they lost both in straight sets. 

The match against Lee-Scott went 25-9, 25-23 and 25-5. Chambers Academy held a late lead late in the second set before relinquishing it in the final stages. 

The match against Edgewood went 25-10, 25-6 and 25-21. The Rebels held a two-point lead in the third set before a late rally from the Wildcats. 

Despite the two losses, Head Coach Jessica Patterson took several positives away from her team’s performance. Firstly, the Rebels could not have faced better opponents. Lee-Scott is a perennial playoff team and Edgewood has won four straight state championships. 

Just getting to host those two teams, and actually have a tri-match, was important to Patterson coming into the season. 

“I love it,” Patterson said. “I know that today, obviously, didn’t go how we wanted it to, but it’s fun. I miss tri-matches. We don’t do a whole lot of those anymore. It’s great for our school. I love having that, I hope we can do more.” 

Haley Yarbrough was the leading attacker for the Rebels with seven kills on the night. Kelsea Harmon followed her with four kills. 

Several younger players have been stepping up over the past couple of weeks for Chambers Academy. When Lizzie McManus went down with an injury, Patterson was forced to make changes to her lineup. Sophomore Talley Carter was thrust into being the team’s primary setter, and Morgan Newman had to move to play as a middle hitter. Carter has stepped up mightily in her new role. 

“Her setting ability has never been a question,” Patterson said. “I knew last year what I was going to have with her. She covers miles and miles of court. It was probably one of the best changes that we’ve made. Morgan loves hitting middle.”

Several other young players such as Kayla Howard and Halle Hurst have seen their roles increase over the past few matches. The Rebels host Trinity on Thursday for their last match of the season.
The way the young players have stepped up has given Patterson an immense amount of hope for how her team can look next season. Losing seniors like Harmon, McManus, Mackenzie Gilliland and Newman is going to be hard to replace. However, Patterson believes the underclassmen have the ability to fill those spots. 

“We’re going to obviously lose a lot of height,” Patterson said. “My underclassmen are so gritty. They really take everything that you say and apply it right then, which is kind of rare to have players like that. They know what it’s going to take, the work it’s going to take to put in. I think we’re going to do it. I think we’re going to keep climbing every year.”