For most of the Tennessee team, Thursday night’s volleyball match felt more like a reunion than an all-star game.

Many of the players who took the court for the latest installment of the Tennessee-Georgia series were former Choo-Choo City club teammates, and their experience playing together showed.

In the fifth annual matchup between recently graduated standouts from the Chattanooga area, the Tennessee players earned their fifth victory with a quick 3-0 sweep of their Georgia counterparts at Ridgeland High School.

“It was really fun,” MVP Courtney Cotter said. “I was definitely looking forward to it. It was pretty much like playing with our Choo-Choo team all over again.”

The Ooltewah graduate was among the group of players to reunite with club coach Paul Brock, who headed the Tennessee team Thursday after leading GPS to a Division II state title last fall.

Tennessee AllStars player Erica Shrupshire (3) spikes the ball while playing against the Georgia AllStars in Friday's volleyball match. Tennessee won over Georgia with a final score of 3-0. (The georgia player is #6 but is not on roster so wrote around it.)

“We were blessed with a lot of talent,” Brock said. “They’re very good. Everybody on this team had the opportunity to play in college. All of these girls are very skilled, and they all love the game. Most of them played club ball together, so the chemistry was already there.”

The Tennessee team cruised to a 30-7 win in game one, then fought off a late Georgia rally to clinch a 30-25 game-two win on a service error. An ace from Cotter sealed a 30-14 win in game three and the second straight sweep for the Tennessee players.

The East Tennessee State University signee is spending the summer training and working out to be ready to join her new teammates in August.

“I’m excited and scared at the same time,” Cotter said. “I’m sad to leave everyone I’ve played with since sixth grade, but college is going to be a whole new experience.”

Heather Payne of Southeast Whitfield was named the Georgia player of the game, while Soddy-Daisy graduate and Bryan College signee Lauren Traub earned the honor for the Tennessee team.

Tackling leads boys’ win

Ooltewah graduate Daniel Tackling was named MVP of the Tennessee-Georgia boys’ all-star soccer game after his early goal led Team Tennessee to a 2-1 win Thursday night at Dalton.

McCallie’s Cartter Kerr scored Tennessee’s other goal on a free kick, and Baylor’s Kelly Smith was voted the Tennessee player of the game. Dalton’s Osvaldo Fraire scored the goal for Georgia, and Northwest Whitfield’s Frankie Jimenez was the Georgia player of the game after making 10 saves in goal.

In the girls’ game, Georgia scored its first-ever goal in the all-star series, then went on to its first win. Model’s Shari Langley scored a goal and had two assists in the 4-3 win and was named MVP.

Ridgeland keeper Taylor Benefield was the Georgia player of the game with six saves, three to preserve the lead in the last five minutes after a score from Catie Lester of GPS got the Tennessee Team within a goal. Ooltewah’s Morgan Shelton, who scored in the 30th minute, was the Tennessee player of the game.

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