CROSS PLAINS Either East Robertson or Middle Tennessee Christian School was going to make history Tuesday night because neither had ever won a Region 5 title in school history.
Monica Gardner led her team to a fifth game victory in the Region 5-A final.
After ending a curse earlier in the night, it was the Lady Indians that made history, winning the Region 5-A title and will now host Loretto on Thursday and MTCS will travel to Summertown.
“This is a game of momentum and MTCS clearly had it in the middle of the match,” East Robertson coach Clifton Horn said. “Winning the first game of the match was important because I think we were able to get ourselves back into the match and win the fourth game and then we kept that momentum in the final game to get the win.
Tied 2-2 and down 6-1 to MTCS, East Robertson went on a 14-1 run to win the fifth and final game 15-7.
“Not taking anything away from East Robertson, but I think we just ran out of steam there in the fourth game,” MTCS coach Troy Berry said. “We had just finished the region semifinals and then went straight into the finals, so that’s a lot of volleyball to be playing at one time.”
The Lady Cougars might have fallen, but Berry said he needs his players to understand this isn’t over.
“Usually when you lose in a tournament you’re done,” Berry said. “That’s not the case this time, we still have, what I hope, is a lot of volleyball left to play.
“We have to put this one behind us and come out ready to play Thursday.”