Notre Dame Beats Signal Mountain In Volleyball

Inspired Lady Irish Win Key Match On The Road

  • Thursday, August 27, 2015
  • John Hunt
Notre Dame’s Kyla Mitchell and Kaylee Stone defend against Signal Mountain’s Olivia Powers.
Notre Dame’s Kyla Mitchell and Kaylee Stone defend against Signal Mountain’s Olivia Powers.
photo by M. A. Locke

The high school volleyball season is only in its second week, but things haven't gotten off to as good a start as teams from Notre Dame and Signal Mountain would like.

But these two teams met Thursday evening at Signal Mountain and it was the Lady Irish who went home smiling as they beat the Lady Eagles, 3-1.  Set scores were 25-21, 25-17, 20-25 and 25-18.

Both teams are now 7-7 overall while Notre Dame is now 3-0 in district play while Signal Mountain is 2-1.

Notre Dame only has eight players on its varsity roster and the Lady Irish are still trying to get to know their coach Robin Moore, but they were ready to play when they entered the Signal Mountain gym and nobody was any happier than their coach.

"I'll be smiling in my sleep tonight," Moore said shortly after the match ended.

"I'm really proud of the way they played today as they're so resilient.  Even when Signal Mountain came back and won the third set, they didn't let it get them down as they just shook it off and kept playing.

"We were determined to win this match today as they have a real desire to be a good volleyball team," Moore added.

The first set was nip and tuck for the first 25 points as Notre Dame had a 13-12 lead when Ragen Dobson stepped to the service line.  The outcome was all but determined after she unleashed nine straight points, including three of her five aces on the day.

Six straight points from Mackenzie Lewis allowed the Lady Eagles to climb back to 22-19, but a kill from Kyla Mitchell shifted the momentum back to Notre Dame's way and the set was over a minute later when a Signal Mountain serve sailed long.

The second set was much like the first as Notre Dame had a 11-9 lead before Claire Vander Werf accounted for six straight service points.  Kaylee Stone had a couple of kills in that run as well. 

The Lady Eagles got to within five points on two occasions, but no closer as Stone recorded another kill to give her team a commanding 2-0 lead.

Signal Mountain was bound and determined to win at least one set and that's exactly what happened in the third.  Again, it was close like the other two, but the Lady Eagles broke from a 20-20 tie to score the final five points, including a kill from Lewis to give her team the win.

The fourth set was never in doubt as Notre Dame scored four of the first five points and never trailed.

A kill from Aubrie Johnson allowed the Lady Eagles to get within 11-9, but neither team was able to string together any long runs the rest of the way.  Another kill from Stone clinched the match for the Lady Irish.

Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman is still trying to find the magic that helped her team finish as the state runner-up last fall, but so far she still has a lot more questions than answers.

"They just don't have any confidence right now and nobody has stepped up to be the leader of the team," the veteran coach said after the gym had cleared.

"At some point, maybe they'll get tired of losing and do something about it, but I'm just glad that we were able to come back and win that third set and avoid getting swept in our own gym.  Notre Dame came out ready to play.  They wanted it worse than we did and they won the match.

"Our hitters finally made a few adjustments, but it was too little too late.  I've been challenging them since the day we began, but right now they're doubting themselves and they have this negative bug in their brain," Redman concluded.

Stone was the leader for Notre Dame as she finished with 10 kills.  Vander Werf also had 10 kills while Keri Klassen was credited with 21 digs.

Maia Rackel and Johnson both had 11 kills for the Lady Eagles while Aryn Sanders had 17 digs and Sidney Lapinski was credited with 37 assists.

BAYLOR IMPROVED to 11-1 overall and 1-0 in  Region play with a 3-0 victory over Harpeth Hall Thursday afternoon in Nashville. Set scores were 25-20, 25-11 and 25-23.

Haven Bethune had 12 kills and 12 assists while Gabby Gray had 11 kills and 12 digs.  Sarah Sumida had 21 assists.

NOTRE DAME STATS:

Ragen Dobson -- 5 kills, 5 aces, 2 digs

Keri Klassen -- 21 digs, 1 ace

Kyla Mitchell -- 4 blocks

Tess Scobey -- 6 kills, 4 blocks

Kaylee Stone -- 10 kills, 1 ace, 3 digs, 5 blocks

Claire Vander Werf -- 10 kills, 2 aces, 6 digs.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS:

Aryn Sanders -- 17 digs

Aubrie Johnson -- 11 kills, 2 blocks

Mackenzie Lewis -- 12 digs, 5 kills

Hallie Hunt -- 11 digs, 5 kills, 1 block

Maia Rackel -- 2 digs, 11 kills, 4 blocks

Sidney Lapinski -- 1 ace, 10 digs, 37 assists

Olivia Powers -- 12 digs, 6 kills, 1 block.

BAYLOR STATS:

Jane Wilson -- 7 kills, 1 block

Haven Bethune -- 1 ace, 12 kills, .5 block, 12 assists, 8 digs

Lilly Turner -- 2 aces, 2 assists, 14 digs

Sarah Sumida -- 21 assists, 5 digs

Gabby Gray -- 11 kills, 1.5 blocks, 1 assist, 12 digs

Ashleigh Cook -- 1 ace, 9 kills, 2 blocks

Ally Craig -- 1 ace, 1 kill, 1 block, 8 digs.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

Signal Mountain’s Sidney Lapinski looks past Notre Dame’s Kaylee Stone while waiting for the serve.
Signal Mountain’s Sidney Lapinski looks past Notre Dame’s Kaylee Stone while waiting for the serve.
photo by M. A. Locke
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