Ripley secured its second consecutive Class 4A Region 3 volleyball championship Tuesday, Sept. 29, sweeping Senatobia 3–0 on the road as Walnut added victories on the volleyball court and cross-country course.
The Lady Tigers improved to 6–0 in district play and earned a No. 1 seed for the Class 4A playoffs, according to Tippah County Sports’ report. The Ripley volleyball program also announced the repeat championship under coach Julianna Potts.
Tuesday’s sweep completed a pair of straight-set wins against Senatobia in nine days. Ripley won the first meeting at home Sept. 21, then took all three sets in the return match. The title-clinching victory came one night after Ripley lost 3–0 in a nonconference match at Walnut, giving the Lady Tigers an immediate response with postseason positioning at stake.
Walnut, meanwhile, extended its winning streak to nine matches with a 25–11, 25–12, 25–12 victory at Baldwyn. The Wildcats improved to 28–4 overall and 8–0 in Class 2A Region 1, allowing only 35 points across the three sets.
Baldwyn never reached 13 points in a set. Walnut opened with a 14-point margin and closed with two 13-point margins, matching the 3–0 result from the teams’ Sept. 14 meeting. Across their eight reported district matches, the Wildcats have won 24 sets and lost two, both to Hatley.
The Baldwyn win was Walnut’s fifth consecutive sweep, a stretch that began with Saturday’s county-tournament victories over Ripley, Falkner and Pine Grove and continued against Ripley on Monday. Those five matches produced 12 consecutive set wins.
Walnut’s boys also won the New Site Invitational cross-country meet, according to the team’s Tuesday report. The program recognized James McConnell, Jeremiah McAlister and Landon Jones as its top finishers in the meet at New Site High School. Complete team scores, individual placements and race times were not available Wednesday morning.
