Briarcrest Beats Baylor For D-II Volleyball Title

Lady Raiders Finish Second With Impressive 45-4 Record

  • Friday, October 21, 2016
  • John Hunt
Baylor's Ally Craig winds up for a kill shot against Briarcrest in their Division II-AA championship volleyball match Friday morning at MTSU's Murphy Center. The Lady Red Raiders fell to the Lady Saints in three sets. Craig finished with10 kills and six digs.
Baylor's Ally Craig winds up for a kill shot against Briarcrest in their Division II-AA championship volleyball match Friday morning at MTSU's Murphy Center. The Lady Red Raiders fell to the Lady Saints in three sets. Craig finished with10 kills and six digs.
photo by Dennis Norwood

MURFREESBORO – The 2016 volleyball season didn’t end like the Baylor girls would have liked, but they have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of after getting beat by Briarcrest in the D-II Class AA state final here at MTSU’s Murphy Center Friday afternoon.

The Lady Saints had beaten Baylor in a winners bracket final on Thursday and proved it was no fluke as they won in three straight by scores of 25-18, 25-17 and 25-23.

It was a sweet win for Briarcrest after finishing runner-up to Father Ryan last year. The Lady Saints end their season at 46-3 while Baylor’s final record is 45-4.

It was an emotional match for Baylor as senior superstar Gabby Gray was present for warm-ups, but unable to play after suffering a severely-sprained ankle in Thursday’s second match against Harpeth Hall.

Would Gray’s presence on the court made a difference?  Absolutely and without a doubt.

Would it have changed the outcome of the match?  We’ll never know the answer to that question.

Her being there for pre-match warmups was an emotional lift for her teammates as her ankle was heavily taped, but by the end of the match, the tape and shoe had been removed and replaced by a walking boot.

"I felt like we adjusted pretty well today.  I was given the green light to play, but it was hurting worse this morning than last night.  I had to come out and warm up, but I knew I really didn't have a chance to play," Gray said afterward.

“We’ll always put up a fight, but we had a lot of new things going on a people in new positions on a short notice, so I’m super proud of the way we battled today,” said Baylor coach Sarah Lail following the match.

“We had an amazing season and won two pretty good tournaments.  We fought as hard as we could today, but at least we’re going home with a trophy.  I would have loved to see Gabby out there on the corner swinging away, but other girls stepped up in her place today.

“Give Briarcrest a lot of credit as they have an outstanding team.  But we had what we think is our best record ever and I couldn’t be more proud,” Lail added.

Briarcrest coach Carla Anderton was all smiles when the match ended.

“That was fun,” she began.

“I’m glad we were able to accomplish that goal, but the key for us was not being uptight.  We wanted to serve aggressive and block and I feel like we did that.  We have a lot of talent on this team.  I know that it hurt Baylor with Gabby Gray being hurt as she’s a great player.  We just wanted to focus on what we do, but we feel their pain right now,” Anderton nodded.

The Lady Saints scored the first four points of the opening set and never trailed as a kill from Lindi Perkins gave Briarcrest an early 1-0 lead.

The Lady Saints didn’t trail in the second set either and made the advantage 2-0 when Alyiah Wells had a kill at the end.

The Baylor girls may have been down at that point, but they weren’t out as they played much better in the third set.

Five straight service points from Denver Rogers allowed Baylor to take a 5-0 lead before Briarcrest scored and the difference was 13-7 before Anderton called a timeout.

Briarcrest kept chipping away and took the lead for the first time at 21-20 following an ace by Abigayle Ramey.  A block by Wells gave the Lady Saints a 22-21 lead before back-to-back kills from Paris Buckner and Jane Wilson gave Baylor its final lead at 23-22.

Wells and Kendall Strand had consecutive kills for Briarcrest while another tip from Wells clinched the match for the Lady Saints.

Ally Craig had 10 kills for Baylor while Wilson followed with eight.  Sarah Sumida had 28 assists while Lilly Turner finished with 15 digs.

Wells had 19 kills for Briarcrest while Callie Anderton had 44 assists.  Ramey was tops with 17 digs while Strand finished with 15.

Strand earned MVP honors for her effort.

BAYLOR STATS:

Sarah Sumida – 2 kills, 28 assists, 1 ace, 9 digs

Ally Craig – 10 kills, 6 digs, 2 block assists

Lilly Turner – 2 assists, 15 digs

Jane Wilson – 8 kills, 4 block assists

Paris Buckner – 3 kills, 1 block assist

Lexie Laurendine – 3 kills, 1 dig, 3 block assists

Denver Rogers – 7 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs

Laura Kate May – 6 digs

Elizabeth Case – 1 ace.

BRIARCREST STATS:

Carsyn Starr – 7 kills, 1 block assist

Callie Anderton – 1 kill, 44 assists, 3 digs, 1 block assist

Abigayle Ramey – 1 assist, 1 ace, 17 digs

Kendall Strand – 14 kills, 1 assist, 15 digs, 1 block assist

Alyiah Wells – 19 kills, 2 aces, 1 dig, 3 block assists

Maddie Wilmore – 1 assist, 3 digs

Lindi Perkins – 8 kills, 1 assist, 1 ace, 5 digs

Rachel Sullivan – 2 kills, 2 digs

Madison Spiva – 2 block assists.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

Baylor's volleyball team is the 2016 Division II-AA runner-up, finishing with a 45-4 record. The Lady Red Raiders are shown above with their plaque.
Baylor's volleyball team is the 2016 Division II-AA runner-up, finishing with a 45-4 record. The Lady Red Raiders are shown above with their plaque.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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