INWOOD -- Musselman brought out its Tadpoles class to start Tuesday's Eastern Panhandle Athletic Conference volleyball match with Jefferson.

The 5-7-year-old girls, who took part in a camp last month, were excited to slap hands with the Applemen players during introductions.

The Applemen gave their young proteges plenty to cheer during a 3-0 (25-12, 25-9 25-12) victory.

Musselman (17-1) began the match methodically, then began to gain some distance in the first set with Bella Hutzler at the service line.

Ada McCoy delivered a pair of kills, Hannah Howard scored and Jefferson suffered a misplay, and the set went from 14-8 to 18-8.

Keleigh Chrisman's kill ended the set.

Musselman maintained control at the outset of Set 2 and took a 4-0 lead.

Caroline Shipey started the set with an ace and Howard delivered a pair of powerful spikes after a misplay by the Cougars, and Musselman led 4-0.

The lead went to 8-2 as Howard took control at the net. She had a block and a kill surrounding a misplay by Jefferson as Madigan Faircloth took her service turn.

The Applemen scored four more points with Hutzler serving once more, then reeled off five more points, including a pair of aces with Shipley at the line.

In the third set, Musselman coach Shawn Martz emptied his bench, and Jefferson stayed tight in the early going.

The Cougars were even at 8 when Ava Dunnigan took her turn serving for what seemed like a half hour.

The Applemen scored 12 points in a row, getting a pair of kills from Ada McCoy and three aces from Dunnigan as part of the run.

"She had a lot of good runs for us this weekend," Martz said. "She'd have six or seven points in a row. She's been lighting it up from the serviceline."

And Martz had plenty of praise for McCoy.

"For a freshman, she had a pretty nice night," Martz said.

Addy Miller's kill after Musselman players, tripping over themselves to save a point on the previous serve, ended the third set and match.

"We were a little sloppy at time, for sure," Martz said. "It was a long weekend, long trip.

"Most of our stuff was self-inflicted hitting the balls out of bounds."

The Applemen returned home Tennessee as first-time champions of the Rocky Top tournament.