By GALE CAVNESS
pressbox1.com

DYERSBURG - It won’t make the next edition of The Sporting News and video highlights won’t be seen on ESPN, but Dyersburg Middle School and Covington Crestview have developed a pretty heated volleyball rivalry.

And lately, it’s been all Dyersburg.

The Lady Trojans handed the visiting Grizzlies doubleheader losses Monday night, pushing the Crestview losing skid to six against the troops from DMS since the middle of last season. And the six losses are the only losses suffered by the Crestview team in that span.

Dyersburg took two of three games to win the first match, then claimed two straight in the second match to make it a double header sweep. The Lady Trojans won the opener 27-25, 24-26 and 15-10. In the nightcap, DMS won 25-18, 25-10.

Dyersburg won both regular-season meetings last season over Crestview, bested the Grizzlies in the West Tennessee Athletic Conference title game and again in the Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association’s West Tennessee Championship.

The latest DMS wins, which push the streak to six, leave this year’s WTAC standings in a three-way tie. Dyersburg has two losses to Brighton, Crestview handed Brighton its only losses and now Crestview has a pair of setbacks to DMS.

The WTAC tournament will be held at Brighton on Sept. 27-28.

According to Dyersburg coach Bubba Cobb, his girls turned in their best performance of the season Monday night to take two from Crestview.

"They played great," he said following the intense competition. "The girls really worked hard. I’m really proud of their effort."

With Mary Evelyn Peckenpaugh serving, Dyersburg took an early lead in the first game of the first match. Crestview responded with a 7-0 run that put DMS on the short end of a 10-7 score. The Lady Trojans kept it close, and then used a streak of their own to force a nail-biting finish.

Down 20-14, Shelby Andrews stepped to the service stripe and booked four straight points for the home team. Good passing and set-up work by Claire White, Clair Newbill and Peckenpaugh helped pull the Lady Trojans close.

Jessica Thompson was serving with DMS down 21-19. Crestview couldn’t handle a good, hard serve to cut the deficit to one and the Grizzlies hit Thompson’s second effort into the net to knot the score 21-21.

A good defensive effort by White and her ensuing serve gave Dyersburg a 23-22 lead before the game was tied again at 23. Crestview’s serve went into the net, giving the Lady Trojans a 24-23 lead.

The Grizzlies battled back again and booked two points to pull ahead 25-24. With the serve and a change to take the first game, the Lady Trojans stayed alive and tied it up with good teamwork. Sydney McNeill made a nice dig to keep the play going and Andrews blasted a shot at the net that Crestview couldn’t handle.

Up 26-25, McNeill got her serve over the net and off a Crestview player to give Dyersburg the first game.

Game two was equally intense with a five point lead by Crestview (24-19) the widest margin of the round. Good work by Andrews and her teammates pulled Dyersburg even at 24, but the Grizzlies scored the next two points to take the win even the match.

Rachel Gauldin and Andrews teamed to give Dyersburg the boost it needed in the third game. Down 5-3, Gauldin’s first serve went off a Crestview player to trim the deficit to one. Andrews then got a spike at the net to knot the score at 5-5.

The Grizzlies went up 6-5, but Andrews got another point at the net to tie it up again. She then took over the serve and the Lady Trojans three straight points to take a 9-6 advantage.

They led the rest of the way.

In the second match, Dyersburg jumped ahead early. After giving up the first point, the Lady Trojans went on an 11-4 run that broke the first game open. With Gauldin, Andrews and Newbill leading the way for DMS, Crestview couldn’t recover.

In the finale, Peckenpaugh gave Dyersburg a quick 4-0 lead the Lady Trojans never trailed. The lead jumped to 14-2 with Gauldin serving and the Lady Trojans were on the way to a sweep.

According to Cobb, competition against a strong opponent requires a solid, all-around effort. Good serves, consistency with hits, reaction to the ball and fast footwork make for winning ways.

"Dyersburg and Crestview are two good programs," he said. "We kept our concentration and tonight, I think we just wore them down."

Crestview won the B-team competition, bouncing back from a 25-18 setback in the first game to take games two and three, 25-5 and 15-12, respectively.