Potent Baylor Continues Unbeaten Volleyball Onslaught

Lady Raiders Blank East Hamilton, 3-0, For 15th Straight Win

  • Monday, August 29, 2016
  • Larry Fleming
Baylor senior Gabby Gray (10) goes high for a kill as East Hamilton's Emma Mitchell tries to defend on the play during volleyball action on Monday. Gray had nine kills, five aces and five digs as the Lady Red Raiders improved to 15-0 on the season.
Baylor senior Gabby Gray (10) goes high for a kill as East Hamilton's Emma Mitchell tries to defend on the play during volleyball action on Monday. Gray had nine kills, five aces and five digs as the Lady Red Raiders improved to 15-0 on the season.
photo by Dennis Norwood

Another one bites the dust.

Baylor’s Lady Red Raiders knocked off visiting East Hamilton, 3-0, on Monday and extended their season-opening winning streak to 15 consecutive matches.

Coach Sarah Lail’s squad blistered the Lady Hurricanes by set scores of 25-10, 25-8, 25-14.

“It’s definitely a great feeling,” Lail said of the impressive winning streak. “The girls have put in a lot of hard work to get to this point.”

Monday’s match took only 58 minutes as the Lady Red Raiders used sterling runs to build leads, steadily increased the advantages and put the Lady Hurricanes (2-3) away without much fuss.

Four front-row power players – seniors Gabby Gray and Paris Buckner, junior Lexie Laurendine and sophomore Ally Craig – combined for 24 kills and junior Sarah Sumida dished out 30 assists in the team's nearly flawless effort against East Hamilton.

Gray led the way with nine kills, Craig had seven, Laurendine six and Buckner two. Gray also served five aces and had five digs. Craig contributed five aces as well.

Senior Lilly Turner contributed 12 digs and four aces.

“We’re young and you have to see what good volleyball looks like and that's the best in the county,” East Hamilton coach Brian Wood said of Baylor. “We had some good swings and got better swings as the match went along.”

Fans of volleyball should take notice of what Baylor has accomplished so far.

It’s beyond stunning.

The Lady Raiders have won 36 of 37 sets played. The only blemish came in a 2-1 win over Blessed Trinity in the Early Bird tournament in Knoxville on Aug. 20.

“This doesn't happen very often, Lail said. "The thing is we were up 24-19 in that set against Blessed Trinity and couldn’t find a way to put it away. If we learned anything from that it’s we have to finish sets and matches.”

On the same August day, Baylor defeated perennial state title contender Brentwood twice, sweeping both matches by 2-0 scores. Baylor is the lone team to beat the Lady Bruins this season.

No school in Tennessee has more state championships than Brentwood’s 11. Germantown is closest with seven. Baylor has claimed three crowns – 1997, 1998 and 2014 when Gray was the Gatorade Player of the Year as a sophomore.

Brentwood is the three-time defending state champion and had a combined 167-8 record in those title seasons.

“The wins against Brentwood gave us the confidence we need, especially having some younger players on this year’s team,” Gray said. “It showed us that we have what it takes to go far this season.”

Since the lone set loss to Blessed Trinity, Baylor has won 18 in a row, including 3-0 sweeps against Division II-2A foes Pope John Paul II, Ensworth and Father Ryan this past weekend.

This year’s Baylor team is showing all the potential to continue the program’s strong postseason tradition.

Since 2006, the Lady Red Raiders have finished in the top three at state seven times. That includes three second-place finishes in 2006, 2011 and 2013. They placed third in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

“This team has so much talent. It’s just great,” Craig said. “At the Early Bird tournament we started getting on this roll when we were playing teams just as good as we are, and we beat them. It took heart to beat Brentwood twice, but we had the heart to pull it off -- twice.”

Amazingly enough, Gray wasn’t sure this team would be this strong from the outset when Baylor opened the season with a 3-0 win against Cleveland. Her thoughts changed with a 9-0 through the Early Bird tournament.

“I knew we had potential,” she said. “Most of us are young and we graduated a few key players last year. The difference is we all really flow well together and I didn’t expect that. After the tournament we got in this groove and everything is meshing.

“Everyone is contributing on our passes and sets and our setter, Sarah Sumida, is doing a great job with the setting. And we’re all working so hard.”

With an endless number of contributors to the team’s overall success, there was no escaping the fact that the front-row girls – Gray, Buckner, Laurendine and Craig – collectively were more than East Hamilton could handle.

In the first set, the Lady Hurricanes looked a bit jittery and committed seven unforced errors as Baylor jumped into an 8-1 lead. The only point in that run for the Lady Red Raiders was a Craig service point.

East Hamilton shots were missing the mark on either sideline and soaring past the backline. And there were two double hits by the Lady ‘Canes as well.

“They’re certainly the best team we’ve played,” East Hamilton’s Hillary English said. “They’re a solid hitting team and we definitely need to work on our passing and hitting.”

East Hamilton cut the Baylor lead to 12-6. However, the Lady Red Raiders scored 10 of the next 11 points and opened a 22-7 advantage, the last point coming on a Craig kill. Laurendine’s kill produced the 23rd point and a Craig slam and sophomore Elizabeth Case’s ace ended the set.

East Hamilton’s only lead in the opener was at 1-0 when Baylor’s Buckner serve went long.

The Lady Hurricanes were up 2-0 in the second set. Within a few minutes Baylor outscored the visitors 13-1 – Gray had three kills, senior Jane Wilson had two and Buckner and Craig each had one and senior Lilly Turner scored a service point.

Baylor had a 15-7 lead and finished the set off with a 10-1 spurt. Gray had an ace and three service points while Craig added two kills in the decisive run.

The Lady Red Raiders started the third set with a 7-0 outburst. Craig closed the spree with three service points. Buckner started it with a cross-court kill and Gray had back-to-back slams.

Moments later Baylor had a 13-3 lead when Turner had a service point and Wilson threw down a kill to end a 6-0 run.

East Hamilton trailed 17-6, but Somer Batten recorded two kills and Jordyn Griffith blocked a hard shot by Buckner at the net to offset a Laurendine kill and put the Baylor lead at 18-9.

Gray’s kill gave Baylor its 22nd point No. 23 came when East Hamilton’s Jala Price’s shot found the net. Madison Hayes’ kill pulled the Lady ‘Canes to within 23-13, but Griffith’s errant serve gave Baylor its 24th point.

A Gray shot went side-out and Sarah Barker, a sophomore, ended the match with a kill.

“Our offense is incredibly strong,” Gray said, “but what sets us apart is our defense. We have the ability to not only put up points on our front row, but also dig other teams that have players as good as we have up front.”

Lail and her players know that as long as “The Streak” grows, all opponents will be looking to take their best shots at the Lady Red Raiders.

It’s a given.

“We know everyone is gunning for us,” Lail said, “but we respect all our opponents and we work on what we can do on our side to be the best we can be. That’s unbeaten record puts a mark on your back, but it’s an absolutely good thing to have.

“We’re going to face some good competition in Atlanta (Blessed Trinity, Woodward Academy and the Southern Invitational in late September) and that will be a good test to see what we’re made of. We’ll be challenged by some really good teams.”

Statistics

East Hamilton

Emma Mitchell – 1 kill

Hillary English – 2 aces, 1 kill, 3 digs

Jayla Price – 6 digs

Lillie Hardy – 2 kills

Madison Hayes – 4 kills, 5 digs

Morgan Ralls – 1 dig

Raine Phillips – 3 kills

Somer Batten – 1 ace, 5 kills, 7 digs

Sydney Batten – 1 dig

Baylor

Gabby Gray – 9 kills, 5 aces, 5 digs

Sarah Sumida – 30 assists, 4 digs, 2 kills

Ally Craig – 7 kills, 5 aces, 3 digs

Lilly Turner – 4 aces, 12 digs

Lexie Laurendine – 6 kills

Paris Buckner – 2 kills

Denver Rogers – 6 digs

Jane Wilson – 3 kills

Sarah Barker – 1 kill

Elizabeth Case 1 ace

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

Baylor's Ally Craig, a sophomore, tips a shot at the net Monday during the Lady Red Raiders' 3-0 win against East Hamilton. Baylor has now won 36 of 37 sets this season. The only blemish is a 2-1 win against Blessed Trinity when the Lady Raiders blew a 24-19 lead in the second set.
Baylor's Ally Craig, a sophomore, tips a shot at the net Monday during the Lady Red Raiders' 3-0 win against East Hamilton. Baylor has now won 36 of 37 sets this season. The only blemish is a 2-1 win against Blessed Trinity when the Lady Raiders blew a 24-19 lead in the second set.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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