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SEVIERVILLE—Morristown East had to really work for its latest volleyball victory, a 3-1 decision over host Sevier County Tuesday afternoon.

The Lady Hurricanes improved to 15-4 for the season and 6-1 in District Two 3-A action with the win and remained tied atop the league standings.

East staged a huge rally to come from behind and take the opening set, 25-19, before the Bearettes claimed a 25-23 victory. The Lady ‘Canes finished with a big run to earn a 25-16 win in the third set and then took a 25-21 victory in the final set.

Hannah Hall led East with 16 kills and also served six aces and blocked a shot. Riley Forester had 15 kills, four aces and a block while Reagan Forester had 11 kills.

Lilabeth Jordan also had four aces while Hailey Hall and Harmony Sullivan served up two apiece as the Lady Hurricanes wound up with 18 on the night.

Sevier County, now 9-7 for the season and 2-4 in district play, got eight aces from Madison Singleton and seven from Kaliyah Burden. Burden served three aces and Hailey Brown two for the Bearettes.

East coach Courtney Dotson said, “We got off to another slow start. I don’t know why we don’t seem to have the energy we need early in matches.

“We got down and came back to win the first one and then lost the second,” she added. “Whenever we’re playing our game, we’re a good team. When we’re serve-receiving well and playing defense well our intensity is there.

“But it’s tough to sit there on the bench and know how great we could be,” she added. “We practice stuff and when we try to use it in a match, it sometimes just doesn’t connect.”

Dotson went on to say, “I thought Sevier played well tonight. But we were able to get a big win on the road and that’s what’s really important. Winning on the road has been tough for us this year.”

Three of the Lady Hurricanes’ losses have been on the road.

In the first set, Sevier scored four straight points and grabbed an early 7-3 lead. The Lady ‘Canes finally caught up at 11-11 with a 4-1 run sparked by kills from Reagan Forester and Hannah Hall.

However, the home team scored three straight and pulled out to an 18-13 lead.

But East was unstoppable the rest of the way. Sullivan knocked down a kill and Jordan served seven straight points. Kaylyn Jarvis scored for Sevier but East got a kill from Reagan Forester and Hailey Hall served aces for the final two points to cap the 12-1 run.

The second set was tied at the first five points before the Bearettes scored four straight to take the upped hand. The lead reached 11-6 before East started chipping away at the deficit.

A four-point run that featured two aces by Riley Forester and a kill by Reagan Forester tied the match at 16-all. The home team went up by two but East rallied for a 23-21 lead.

The home team scored three straight capped by an ace by Lexi Williams and then closed out the set on a kill by Jarvis.

Riley Forester had three kills and Hannah Hall two as the Lady ‘Canes opened the third set with a 6-1 run and gradually pulled out to a 14-8 lead. The home team fought back to within 14-13 as East had four straight hitting errors.

However after the teams traded a couple of points, the Lady Hurricanes closed with a strong 9-1 run. Hannah Hall had two kills and served a pair of aces in the finishing spurt.

Hannah Hall had two more kills and both Forester sisters one each while Sullivan served an ace to lead East to a 7-1 lead to start the final set. The Bearettes rallied within one a couple of times but a four-point run capped by back-to-back aces by Riley Forester gave East a 14-9 spread.

The teams pretty much traded points the rest of the way with Sevier never getting closer than three. Hailey Hall’s kill provided the match point for East.