The Copper Basin Lady Cougars volleyball team showed their determination and strength against Polk County Oct. 6 during the opening district tournament at home. They dominated the game and won in three sets 25-13, 25-11 and 25-17.
The Lady Cougars lost to the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences (CSAS) in Tellico Plains Oct. 7 in three sets 25-13, 25-22 and 25-16 to end their 2025 season.
Against Polk, Alexis Hyatt led offensively with nine kills and six aces. She had a good defensive effort with four digs. Addison Hyatt was solid for the Lady Cougars with six aces, four kills and five digs.
Riley Akens had a good night with six kills, four digs, and four aces and Claire Ledford played solid with three kills, 10 digs and three assists.
Offensively, Kendra Deal had 16 assists, two kills and eight digs. Cora Kimsey contributed three assists, six digs and a solo block, and Savanna Bloodworth came off the bench and provided one assist and five digs.
Against CSAS, Deal was 90% from the line. For the night, she had eight assists and eight digs.
Akens had a .333 hitting percentage and had five kills and five digs to add to her stats. In serving, she was at a solid 88.9%.
Addison Hyatt had two kills, 10 digs and one ace to add to her numbers. Alexis Hyatt had three kills, four assists and two digs in the game while Ledford had four kills and three digs and Cora Kimsey had four kills and eight digs.
Deal, Alexis Hyatt, Addison Hyatt and Akens were selected as all-district players.
Deal ended the season with 288 assists, 171 digs, 64 aces, 31 kills and had a serving percentage of 94%.
For the year, Alexis Hyatt had 160 kills, 120 digs and 78 aces while Addison Hyatt finished the season with 107 kills, 185 digs and 50 aces. Akens ended the season with 202 digs, 66 kills and 48 aces. Akens and Deal were also chosen as all tournament players.
“I am extremely proud of the way our girls competed in the district tournament,” said Head Coach Lindsey Hyatt.
Lindsey Hyatt said after securing the win Monday, she knew CSAS would be tough, but the Lady Cougars never backed down. “They played hard, stayed positive and most importantly, had fun with it.”
Coach Hyatt also said it was special to see the six seniors enjoy volleyball one last time. “They truly left it all out on the court and have nothing to be ashamed of. This group represented Copper Basin with heart, pride and determination, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”