There’s no question that Signal Mountain and Notre Dame have played some great volleyball matches against each other in recent years but they played one of their best ever at Notre Dame's Jack Steiner Sr. Gymnasium on Tuesday.
With first place in District 7-AA on the line, the Lady Eagles improved to 16-4 overall and 4-0 in the district to stay in first all by themselves after the stirring 3-2 victory in a match that could have gone either way.
Notre Dame is now 7-7 overall and 2-2 in the district after coming up just a little bit short on a day when the spirit was high and the volume was too.
But when the last point had been scored, Signal Mountain emerged victorious.
Signal Mountain won the first set by 25-18 before breezing to a 25-10 victory in number two. Then with their backs to the wall and facing the prospect of getting swept, the Lady Irish got into gear and started playing like they're capable.
Notre Dame then won the third and fourth sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-20 to force the fifth and final set to 15.
With senior Taelor Kellum wrapping three kills around a pair of aces by Kennedy Collick, the Lady Eagles bolted to a 5-1 lead and looked like they might retake the momentum that had carried them earlier in the match.
But the Lady Irish weren't quite ready to throw in the white towel as they still had aspirations of a victory. With Genna Howard recording four straight service points, Notre Dame turned a 6-3 deficit into a 7-6 lead and it turned into a real battle from that point on.
Four straight service points from Signal Mountain's Kellum allowed her team to go up 11-7, but again, Notre Dame wasn't in the mood to surrender.
A couple of Signal Mountain errors and an ace by Notre Dame’s Keri Klassen knotted the score once more at 12-apiece.
A service error by Notre Dame gave Signal Mountain the lead while a hit out of bounds tied it again at 13-13.
That’s when the Lady Eagles finally got the edge. A block from Aubrie Johnson gave the visitors a 14-13 lead while Kellum’s 19th kill was the match point.
Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman appeared to be exhausted when this one finally ended almost two hours after it began. She was able to catch her breath and flash a big grin once the final point had been scored.
“That stressed me out more than you know, but what a great match it was,” she said while her players were gathering personal items afterward.
“I’ll bet on my team every time in the fifth set. We had a lack of focus in the third set as we just let up, but Notre Dame caught us off guard and they battled right back into it. We just have to take care of business, but I’m so proud that we didn’t give up.
“This is the first time in a long, long time that we have won over here, but it was exciting from start to finish. I’m just thrilled that we won,” Redman added.
Notre Dame coach Ted Hackett was proud of his team. There’s still a lot of volleyball to be played before the season ends, so Tuesday’s loss wasn’t the end of the world.
“I just told them that we have to keep our heads up and keep fighting to get better. I wish the result had been different, but I thought we showed what kind of character we have in the way we came back,” he said.
“There’s still a lot of improvement to be made. I would have liked to see us have a higher serving percentage, but it comes to down to passing and serves. But what a great atmosphere for a match between two pretty good teams,” he concluded with a smile.
While Kellum sparked Signal Mountain with her 19 kills, teammates Amanda Thielges and Collick had 24 assists and 12 digs, respectively. Kellum also had five blocks while Johnson had four.
Kaylee Stone had a good match for Notre Dame and finished with 10 kills. Mallory Hein had 16 digs while Ragen Dobson finished with 31 assists. Howard was also a positive contributor with eight kills and six digs.
Signal Mountain returns to action on Wednesday with a match at GPS while Notre Dame will be back in action on Monday when a road trip to Pikeville leads to a district match with Bledsoe County.
IN OTHER MATCHES on Tuesday, Hixson improved to 10-10 overall and 2-0 in District 6-AA with the 3-0 win at Howard.
Samantha Dove was the star for the Lady Wildcats with 28 aces and 11 assists as Hixson won by scores of 25-2, 25-1 and 25-8.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS:
Aryn Sanders -- 9 digs, 2 aces
Kennedy Collick -- 3 kills, 12 digs, 3 aces
Aubrie Johnson -- 9 kills 2 digs, 4 blocks
Taelor Kellum -- 19 kills, 7 digs, 5 blocks, 2 aces
Hallie Hunt -- 3 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace
Sidney Lapinski -- 6 digs, 2 aces, 2 assists
Amanda Thielges -- 4 kills, 4 digs, 24 assists.
NOTRE DAME STATS:
Keri Klassen -- 4 aces, 11 digs
Randi Clement -- 1 ace, 4 digs
Mallory Hein -- 5 aces, 16 digs
Tess Scobey -- 4 kills 2 blocks
Ragen Dobson -- 2 aces, 31 assists, 7 digs
Claire VanderWerf -- 2 aces, 5 kills, 10 digs
Genna Howard -- 2 aces, 8 kills, 6 digs
Kaylee Stone -- 1 ace, 10 kills, 1.5 blocks, 3 digs
Grace VanderWerf -- 7 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig.
HIXSON STATS:
Bailey Burba -- 11 aces, 3 assists
Madison Jett -- 7 kills
Haleigh Raber -- 9 aces
Samantha Dove -- 28 aces, 2 kills, 11 assists
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)