Prep Roundup: NW star helps in near upset

Published 11:36 pm Thursday, June 17, 2010

With former Northwest Whitfield multisport standout Christy Robinson turning in a solid performance, Georgia came close to winning for the first time in the Tennessee-Georgia All-Star Volleyball Classic on Thursday at Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga.

Georgia won the first two games and led late in the third before Tennessee rallied to win 21-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-11. Georgia was up 21-20 in the third game before Tennessee started its comeback.

The Volunteer State girls now lead the series 7-0. It was the first five-set match since the first summertime showdown in 2004.  

In her final high school athletic event before heading off to Samford University to play basketball, the 6-foot-3-inch Robinson had 10 kills, two aces and a Classic record six blocks to earn the Georgia Player of the Game award.

“It was fun,” Robinson said. “I was proud of the effort we had against them. I don’t think they expected to be down two games to us, but they came back and played hard in the other games. It was  good atmosphere, very competitive.”

It marked the third straight year an area player has earned the top award for Georgia. Southeast Whitfield’s Heather Payne won it in 2008 and Dalton’s Emily Broadrick in 2009.

Northwest’s Kelsey Kirk, playing competitively for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury in November that required reconstructive surgery, had five kills and five blocks for Georgia.

Southeast’s Cassey Adams had six kills and two aces while the Lady Raiders’ Casey Crump added six kills and one ace and Cassey Blackwell two blocks and one ace.

Red Bank’s Courtney Lawson led Tennessee with 13 kills and four aces and was named the match’s Most Valuable Player. Soddy-Daisy’s Andrea Johnson, who had a record 18 kills, was the Tennessee Player of the Game.

Swimming

The Dalton Dolphins, with five swimmers earning the maximum 19 points, rolled past Ringgold 458-273, in Chattanooga Area Swim League action.

The Dolphins have won two straight meets after dropping the season opener to Signal Mountain.

“We looked good,” Dalton coach Charles Todd said. “Now we face Stuart Heights, one of the league’s stronger teams after it merged with Colonial Shores on Monday.”

Piling up 19 points for the Dolphins were Stephen Jones, Reese Bingham, Romina Mendoza, Ninive Arriola and Chas Jones.

Alex Mashburn had 18 points, Tanner Storey and Emilio Valdez scored 17, Oscar Chenard and Anna Rodriguez had 16, and Taylor Mathis finished with 15.

Scoring 14 points were Caroline Mathis, Ethan Young, Rebecca Davis and Hunter Mulkey. Jacob Myers and Lindsey Mulkey each had 13, Josephine Conley and Alan Trejo each had 12, Oli Valdez scored 11 and Raul Valdez 10.

“We had some really good swims,” Todd said.