MURFREESBORO -- Chattanooga Christian School ended South Greene's state title hopes in volleyball Thursday night here at Murphy Center, coming back to win three straight games after the Lady Rebels impressively took the opening game in the elimination match.

The season ends for South Greene with a 23-3 record, with two of those losses coming here in the state tournament, both against teams from Chattanooga, always a hotbed for volleyball.

"It was winnable, but we would have had to play at a high level for every point, and we weren't able to do that," Coach Amy Hawk said of her Rebels. "You could see the momentum shifting there late in the first game, even when we were ahead, and we just weren't able to get it back. The Chattanooga teams are very talented; we don't see anything like that during the season."

The Rebels came out with plenty of firepower, attacking the net in the first game and quickly pulling away from the Chargers behind some heavy hitting by junior Shelby Hicks, who was getting good looks with perfect sets.

After losing the first game 25-21, Chattanooga Christian seemed to adjust and took over the net themselves, and they rallied late in the second game to take a 25-18 win. They dominated the third game before settling for a 25-18 win, then the fourth game was close until the Chargers again pulled away late and put away the Rebels 25-15.

The opening game was South Greene's after the Rebels opened up a 10-2 lead as the Chargers' first three service attempts were all either in the net or too long.

CCS rallied to cut the lead to 18-14, but Coach Hawk called a timeout for the Rebels and her troops settled down and never led the Chargers get closer than four points. Hicks had four kills and three blocks in the game.

The Rebels managed to hang right in there in the second game and held a 13-11 advantage before things began to change. Kelsey Lochstampfor, Alex Yandell and Taylor Snipes began to take control around the net.

"Shelby played well, but we weren't able to get much hitting from anybody else," Hawk said. "And we didn't block very well, either. But they had three girls that were good hitters."

CCS went to a 17-14 lead before Hawk called time out, but the momentum didn't swing. The Chargers went on to a 25-18 win.

The Rebels never led in the third game, falling behind 4-0 at the outset. They were behind 22-11 before making a spirited late rally with Brandi Crum and then Maelyn Cutshaw at serve, but CCS finished it at 25-18.

Needing a win in the fourth game to stay alive and force a deciding fifth game, the Rebels fell behind at 12-9, then rallied with four straight points to take a 13-12 lead. CCS called time out and it worked, as they regained control of the match with eight straight points to go up 20-13, and South Greene never recovered, falling 25-15.

"I'm really proud of the girls, and we competed well against the best in the state," Hawk said. "These teams come in here having played 60 matches during the year and we play 20 or 25. But it was a great experience and I'm glad the girls got to be a part of the state tournament."

Chattanooga Christian was eliminated later Thursday night by Red Bank, who meets Christ Presbyterian Academy today in the finals of the loser's bracket. The winner there will meet Page for the championship in Class AA.

In Class A, Signal Mountain plays Loretto in the loser's bracket finals today, with the winner facing Chattanooga Boyd Buchanan for the title. In Class AAA, Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett is in the finals, facing the winner of the elimination match today pitting Independence vs. Ravenwood.