Red Bank Earns Seventh Straight State Volleyball Berth

Lionettes Battle Past Macon County In 3-2 Thriller

  • Thursday, October 16, 2014
  • John Hunt

(Story has been updated with state tournament pairings)

The Susan Ingram Thurman gym was loud from start to finish during Thursday’s sectional volleyball match between the host Red Bank Lionettes and the visiting Macon County Tigerettes as both teams brought good crowds for support.

The noise level increased even more about two hours later when Janie Smith’s kill put an exclamation point on a hard-fought 3-2 victory for Red Bank and a ticket to next week’s TSSAA State Tournament for the seventh straight year.

Red Bank will play Knoxville Catholic at 10:30 a.m.

Eastern time on Wednesday at Stewarts Creek High School. That winner/loser will play the Dyersburg-Harpeth winner/loser at 4:30 p.m./7:30 p.m., also on Wednesday.

The Tigerettes were certainly a worthy opponent and they matched the Lionettes point for point for the first four sets.  But with the most important set of the season standing between them and another trip to Murfreesboro, the Lionettes came through in the clutch.

Red Bank won the first set by a 25-22 final before Macon County evened the match with the same score in the second set.  The Lionettes appeared to get the upper hand with a convincing 25-16 win in set three, but the Tigerettees came right back to even the match with a 25-22 win in set four.

Then in the decisive fifth set, Red Bank built a 7-3 lead before the Tigerettes called timeout.  The Lionettes were still ahead at 9-7 when Red Bank coach Mandi Munn called a timeout.  Whatever was said in that final break may never be known, but the Lionettes rallied by scoring six of the final seven points to secure the biggest win of the season so far.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of these girls,” said Munn after her team had improved to 28-25 for the season.

“Macon County came in here gunning for us, but we knew where we wanted to go and how to get there.  My girls just wouldn’t take no for an answer.  Even after they evened the score with the win in the fourth set, we felt like we had them where we wanted.

“If we control the ball, we control the game.  We’ve had more than our share of ups and downs this season, but losing is often part of building a championship team.  We’re peaking at just the right time.  These girls answered when they had to, but everybody is a quality opponent at this point in the season.

“Janie Smith has been our most consistent hitter as she has great ball control on her kills.  And even though she had the final kill, they all stepped up.  We don’t have any one player that we have to count on as they all contribute in their own special way,” Munn smiled.

Macon County coach Brittny Dodson wasn’t exactly the happiest young lady when the final point had been scored.

“The best news is that we didn’t give up, but we made a lot of unforced errors tonight and just didn’t play smart volleyball,” she suggested after her team finished its season at 21-9.

“We just got down on ourselves.  We gave good effort in evening the score, but it’s hard to come back from those big leads that Red Bank built.  I was so proud to have so many of our fans here today.  I just wish that we could have rewarded them with a win.  We could have played better, but for whatever reason, we didn’t,” she nodded.

Allison Walker was certainly a force for Red Bank as she finished with a dozen kills and 33 digs while Rachel Thornbury was equally as effective with 36 assists and 17 digs.

Marjorie Smith, who seems to be gaining more confidence with each match, was also a force up front as she finished with 11 kills, 12 digs and six blocks.  Hannah Wilson and Caitlyn Jenkins finished with 27 and 21 digs, respectively.

Kristy Flippin had 17 kills and 43 digs to lead the Tigerettes while Jordyn Patterson had 37 assists and Jordan Shockley 32 digs.  Kayley Scruggs and Ashton Swindle both finished the match with eight blocks apiece.

THERE WAS A MISTAKE in the story following Red Bank’s regional win over Hixson on Tuesday.  The Lionettes have won two region titles in a row instead of four that was reported, but the seven straight trips to the state tournament is a fact.

MACON COUNTY STATS:

Jordyn Patterson – 3 aces, 37 assists, 8 digs

Sarah Carter – 5 kills, 16 digs

Jordan Shockley – 32 digs

Brandi Garmon – 1 ace, 9 digs

Kayley Scruggs – 1 ace, 9 kills, 8 blocks, 4 digs

Bailie Taft – 3 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs

Kristy Flippin – 2 aces, 17 kills, 1 block, 43 digs

Ashton Swindle – 4 kills, 8 blocks, 1 dig.

RED BANK STATS:

Caitlyn Jenkins – 4 kills, 2 blocks, 21 digs

Allison Walker – 12 kills, 1 block, 33 digs

Rachel Thornbury – 3 kills, 36 assists, 1 ace, 17 digs

Hannah Wilson – 1 kill, 27 digs

Janie Smith – 4 kills, 1 block, 2 aces, 4 digs

Jasmine Simpson – 1 block, 2 kills, 4 digs, 2 aces

Dani Usher – 6 kills, 3 blocks, 2 digs

Marjorie Smith – 11 kills, 6 blocks, 1 ace, 12 digs.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)

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