Signal Mountain Advances To State Finals In Volleyball

Lady Eagles Win Three Huge Matches To Earn Title Shot

  • Thursday, October 23, 2014
  • John Hunt

SMYRNA, Tenn. – As the old saying goes made famous by the late, great Yogi Berra, It ain’t over til it’s over.

That appears to be the philosophy for the Signal Mountain volleyball team as they beat the Harpeth Lady Indians in the opening match here at Stewarts Creek High School in the second day of the state tournament.

Contrary to other print media reports, the Lady Eagles had a letdown in their second match on Wednesday when they lost a heartbreaker to CAK after holding a comfortable lead.

That wasn’t the case against the Lady Indians, who had eliminated Red Bank late Wednesday evening.

Signal Mountain, facing the end of its season with another loss, came out ready to play.  Winning the 3-1 match by scores of 25-17, 25-22, 23-25 and 25-18, that was the first of three titanic victories by the Lady Eagles as they advanced to the Class AA state final where they will face Christian Academy of Knoxville for the state championship.

Friday's championship is set for Siegel High School with a tentative starting time of 4 p.m.

CST. It may have a tint of revenge in it as CAK is the team that sent Signal Mountain into the losers bracket in the first place.

Thursday's second win came against Dyersburg while the final victory came against Knoxville Catholic.

“I feel a whole lot better today than I did last night as we came out ready and finally played to win,” said Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman after her team had improved to 44-11 with the win over Harpeth.

“The seniors had a little pep rally and made it clear that this could have been our last match.  It always helps when teammates do their job to get the others fired up as I guess they’re tired of having me yelling at them.

“But we came out playing aggressive volleyball and we were communicating a whole lot better.  We didn’t have a lot of balls hit the floor like we did last night as we weren’t second guessing ourselves.  And I really thought that Kennady Collick stepped up her game, especially from the service line.

“Now I’ll have to call and make motel reservations for tonight,” Redman smiled.

Taelor Kellum again made her presence felt up front as she finished with 22 kills and 14 digs.  She also had five blocks, two aces and a couple of assists.

Collick had 17 digs and seven kills, but it was her six aces that may have been the key statistic for the scrappy junior.  Amanda Thielges finished with 29 assists.

The scores for the 3-1 win over Dyersburg were 25-27, 28-26, 25-22 and 25-20 while the 3-2 win over Catholic came with scores of 25-23, 25-16, 16-25, 10-25 and 15-13.

The Lady Eagles could finally see light at the end of the tunnel following the win over Dyersburg, knowing that a win over the Lady Irish was the only standing between them and another shot at a state title.

Signal Mountain had played impressively all day, winning with confidence and technique and looking like the best Class AA team in the state.  That kind of play continued into the match with Catholic where the Lady Eagles won a tight first set before breezing to the second-set victory.

Who can explain what happened after that?  Everything that had been working so well quit being used.  It was almost like the Lady Eagles were in a trance where they were scared to do anything. But the good news is that the ladies in red got their act together just in the nick of time and lived to fight at least one more day.

That lackadaisical play allowed the Lady Irish to get back in it with wins in the third and fourth sets.  The stage was set for the ever-important fifth set.

Redman used just over a minute of the three minutes allowed as her girls were back on the court and ready to resume play.

The score was tied six times in the first 10 points before Catholic went up 13-10.  A service error made it 13-11 and sent ever-dependable Aryn Sanders to the service line for the Lady Eagles.  With Kellum stepping up at the most crucial time, the slender senior didn’t need any help as she knotted the score with back-to-back kills before giving her team the lead with a beautiful block.

Then with the thoughts of a championship opportunity within grasp, Kellum ended the match with another kill as the players and fans flooded the court in celebration.

“That was tough,” Kellum said a few minutes later after playing some of her best volleyball ever.

“I was honestly really scared when we were down.  We let them get inside our heads and we broke down, but coach told us during the timeout that it was a new game and we still had a shot at winning.  It certainly wasn’t easy, but we got through it,” she added.

Johnson also had one of her best days of the season and the blonde-headed sophomore also admitted the fear that she was feeling toward the end of the last match.

“That was just amazing.  I’ll admit that I was nervous.  We started feeling like we had it won after the second set, but Catholic upped their play and got back in it.  But this is big as I’m really excited to be playing for a state championship tomorrow,” she added.

Coach Redman had tears of joy streaming down her face as did the players, parents and fans.  It was just an incredible moment in time for Signal Mountain volleyball as they capped off an incredible day with a heart of goal and a never-say-die attitude.

“That was the seniors all day long as it was them not wanting to lose today.  They did all the talking.  I didn’t have to say a word.  Our serve receive kept us in it an allowed us to get the ball to our hitters and we also made a few adjustments with our defense,” Redman explained.

“But we came here with a goal this week and we haven’t reached it yet, but I challenged each of them this morning, telling them to expect a long day as I wanted to see what they were really made of.  I just live their heart,” the coach added.

Kellum was unbelievable in the match with Dyersburg as she finished with 42 kills and 24 digs.  Collick had 28 digs while Thielges had 62 assists.

Then in the heart-stopping win over Catholic, Kellum had 25 kills and 15 digs while Thielges had 30 assists and Sanders 21 digs.

Signal Mountain is now 45-11 for the season while Friday’s opponent CAK is 35-14.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS VS. HARPETH

Aryn Sanders – 20 digs

Kennady Collick – 17 digs, 7 kills, 1 block, 6 aces, 1 assist

Aubrie Johnson – 1 dig, 4 kills, 4 blocks

Taelor Kellum – 14 digs, 22 kills, 5 blocks, 2 aces, 2 assists

Mackenzie Lewis – 1 dig

Hallie Hunt – 7 digs, 1 ace

Maia Rackel – 1 dig

Sidney Lapinski – 2 digs

Amanda Thielges – 7 digs, 1 kill, 2 aces, 29 assists

Natalie Greve – 6 digs, 1 kill, 1 ace.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS VS. DYERSBURG:

Aryn Sanders – 23 digs, 1 ace

Kennady Collick – 28 digs, 8 kills, 1 ace, 1 assist

Aubrie Johnson – 2 digs, 10 kills, 5 blocks

Taelor Kellum – 42 kills, 24 digs, 3 blocks, 4 aces

Hallie Hunt – 15 digs, 1 kill

Maia Rackel – 3 digs, 2 kills, 2 blocks

Sidney Lapinski – 2 digs

Amanda Thielges – 6 digs, 1 kill, 1 ace, 62 assists

Natalie Greve – 15 digs, 1 kill.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS VS. KNOX CATHOLIC

Aryn Sanders – 21 digs

Kennady Collick – 13 digs, 3 kills

Aubrie Johnson – 2 digs, 5 kills, 2 blocks

Taelor Kellum – 15 digs, 25 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace

Mackenzie Lewis – 1 dig

Hallie Hunt – 11 digs, 1 kill

Maia Rackel – 4 digs, 1 kill, 3 blocks

Sidney Lapinski – 1 dig

Amanda Thielges – 8 digs, 30 assists

Natalie Greve – 6 digs, 3 kills.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)

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