(Story has been updated with state tournament pairings)
Signal Mountain literally ran away from Hixson on Thursday night.
The Lady Eagles went on four decisive runs raced past the Lady Wildcats, 3-0, to win a Class AA sectional title and earn another trip to the state tournament.
Set scores were 25-7, 25-6 and 25-18.
Even the third set wasn’t that close.
With senior Taelor Kellum, a 6-foot-2-inch power package with exceptional “touch” around the net, leading the way with 20 kills, Signal Mountain was never threatened while winning its 42nd match against 10 losses.
“Our goal was to play aggressive defense, don’t freak out and just at them strong,” Kellum said, “and that’s what we did.”
The lopsided win over Hixson was Signal Mountain’s fifth straight in the postseason as the Lady Eagles added the sectional win to District 7-AA and Region 4-AA tournament championships.
Coach Jennifer Redman’s squad earned its second straight trip to the state tournament in Murfreesboro and fourth in five years.
The Class AA portion of the tournament begins Wednesday at Stewarts Creek High School and the Lady Eagles will play Page at 1:30 p.m. Win and Signal Mountain will be matched against the Christian Academy of Knoxville-Jackson South Side winner at 6 p.m. Lose and the Lady Eagles would take on the CAK-JSS loser at 9 p.m.
The Class AA championship match is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday at Siegel High School.
“We feel great about accomplishing this goal and it’s awesome,” Kellum said. “We have another goal and that’s to win state.”
Once at state, Signal Mountain knows what to do.
The Lady Eagles won a state championship in 2010, finished third in 2009 and placed fourth last season.
Redman said the Lady Eagles’ fourth-place finish in 2013, spurred them this year to finish strong.
“Since day one, July 9, last year has been on their minds,” Redman said. “One of their goals was to get back to state and do better than fourth.”
It will take a solid opponent with a strong backbone to deny the Lady Eagles their ultimate goal.
With the power-of-the-towers – Kellum, who has committed to Florida and will sign with the Gators on Nov. 12, and 6-0 sophomore Aubrie Johnson -- manning the net, Hallie Hunt serving up aces and Amanda Thielges dishing out 30 assists, the Lady Eagles served notice they will be hard to handle when the state tourney begins next Wednesday.
“The only teams around here like us are Baylor and Ooltewah,” said Johnson, who had four kills and three blocks. “They have some tall girls that jump pretty well.”
In the first set, Signal Mountain used 8-0 and 9-2 runs to dominate the Lady Wildcats.
The Lady Eagles’ play was even more impressive in the second set, as they used a morale-busting 18-0 run to stampede into a 20-2 advantage.
A 7-0 spurt in the finale enabled the Lady Eagles to build a 19-9 lead, a margin Hixson could not overcome with its most solid stretch of the match.
“We were glad to be in the sectional,” Hixson coach Janet Tate said. “Signal Mountain is a wonderful team and I haven’t seen anybody better in all the Double-A tournaments we’ve played this year.”
The Lady Wildcats, who lost to Red Bank in the District 6-AA and Region 3-AA tournament championship games, finish the season at 23-22.
From 5-2 in the first set, the Lady Eagles scored eight straight points – they were aided by six Hixson miscues, either net shots, shots that sailed long, or even a whiff at the net – to grab command at 13-2.
Hixson scored on Courtney Jones’ shot, but Signal Mountain slapped the Lady Wildcats with a9-2 run that was sparked by sophomore Hallie Hunt’s five service points, the last four in a row.
“We came into the match really excited and confident,” Hunt said. “We were ready to work hard and win.”
Signal Mountain’s real hammer banged Hixson in the second set. The match was tied 2-all after Hixson’s Tatyona Staten netted a shot. The Lady Eagles then ran off 18 consecutive points – Kellum had four kills and Hixson was guilty of 11 unforced errors – and had the Lady Wildcats in a stranglehold at 20-2.
“When we’re on a streak, I do feel we sense that,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we tend to let up, but we didn’t let that happen tonight.”
One of Kennedy Collick’s four kills clinched the second set.
Hixson scored more points in the third set than the first two combined, including twice putting up three straight points, but still wasn’t able to seriously challenge the Lady Eagles.
The Lady Wildcats, whose only leads were 1-0 and 2-1 in the finale, trailed 8-4 and got a kill and block by Paige Lawson and Bailey Burba’s service point to climb within 8-7.
Signal Mountain had a 12-9 cushion and put up even straight points to open a 19-9 lead. In that scoring spree, Kellum had a kill and push, Aryn Sanders added two service points and a push and Hixson’s Madison Jett’s kill went long and Staten was called for a double-hit during the streak.
The Lady Wildcats again scored three in a row – Staten had a kill and block and Rachel Cline added a kill – and were within 19-12. A Kellum kill ended Hixson’s short run and the Lady Eagles’ main cog scored four of her team’s final five points to help wrap up the victory.
Johnson’s block provided Signal Mountain with the 25th point.
“It’s huge having Taelor there in the middle,” Redman said. “When she jumps and reaches, she’s a good arm’s length above the net. We’re very fortunate to have her and I would hate to have to defend that.
“Her improvement over the years has been like night and day. Even from last year it has been that way. Just from her confidence, being aggressive and wanting the ball, she’s got her back-row attack down and has become a weapon back there, too.”
Kellum said she plans to enroll at Florida in January and get started on her college career.
STATISTICS
Hixson
Paige Lawson – 1 kill, 5 digs, 1 block
Abby Tipton – 1 ace, 12 digs
Tatyona Staten – 5 kills, 2 digs, 1 block
Bailey Burba – 1 ace, 3 kills, 2 digs, 7 assists
Sam Dove – 1 ace, 3 digs, 2 assists
Courtney Jones – 1 kill, 2 digs
Morghan White – 5 digs, 2 assists
Madison Jett – 1 block
Dakota Rawiszer – 2 kills
Signal Mountain
Taelor Kellum – 20 kills, 8 digs, 1 assist
Aryn Sanders – 16 digs, 2 aces, 1 assist
Aubrie Johnson – 4 kills, 1 dig, 3 blocks
Kennedy Collick – 4 kills, 6 digs
Hallie Hunt – 3 kills, 5 digs, 5 aces, 1 block
Natalie Greve – 2 kills, 7 digs, 1 ace
Amanda Thielges – 1 kill, 6 digs, 2 aces, 30 assists
Kenzie Lewis – 3 digs
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)