Hixson's Janet Tate Resigning Volleyball Post After Season

Lady Wildcats Fall To Boyd-Buchanan 3-0 On Tuesday

  • Tuesday, August 15, 2017
  • Larry Fleming
Hixson's veteran volleyball coach Janet Tate said Tuesday that she has resigned her position effective at the end of this season. Tate will  continue to teach and coach volleyball at Loftis Middle School.
Hixson's veteran volleyball coach Janet Tate said Tuesday that she has resigned her position effective at the end of this season. Tate will continue to teach and coach volleyball at Loftis Middle School.
photo by Dennis Norwood

Boyd-Buchanan handed Hixson a 3-0 volleyball loss Tuesday in what will be veteran coach Janet Tate’s final season with the Lady Wildcats.

The Lady Bucs claimed the victory with set scores of 26-24, 25-17, 25-17

The Lady Bucs are 2-0 on the young season after beating Central 2-0 on Monday.

Hixson (0-2) has dropped 3-0 setbacks in back-to-back days.

The Lady Wildcats lost to Sale Creek on Monday.

“I’ve been thinking about this (resigning) for quite a while,” Tate said after Tuesday’s match at Boyd-Buchanan. “I’ve prayed a lot about it because I love Hixson High School. It was a tough decision.”

Tate, 61, coached softball and volleyball in two different stints at Hixson. She coached both sports form 1982-86 in her first assignment at Hixson. In the early 2000s, Tate returned as head softball and assistant volleyball coach. After one year, she was named head volleyball coach.

Tate has a 337-296 overall record in volleyball over 16 years.

“I’ve had a great run,” she said, tearing up. “We’ve gone to three straight sectionals and took a nice turn two years ago by going to state for the first time in Hixson history. I’ve worked with great parents, great players, and the staff and faculty at Hixson has treated me like one of their own.”

While coaching at Hixson High, Tate retained her teaching position at Loftis Middle School and also coached the school’s volleyball team. While giving up the Hixson coaching position, Tate plans to stay at Loftis as a teacher and coach. She’s been a teacher for 38 years.

“I’m not retiring,” she said. “I’m just resigning as Hixson’s coach after this season. I want to say Hixson has been so good to me. I call them up and say I need this or that and it’s there. It’s done. I couldn’t ask more from the administration.”

Tate informed Lee Sims, the Hixson principal, Brian Bray (assistant principal) and Garrick Hall (athletic director) of her decision to step down last week.

“I just felt like it was time and they were good with it,” Tate said.

The coach told her players this would be her final season shortly after meeting with the administrators.

In 1983 and 1984 Tate guided the Lady Wildcats to back-to-back state tournament championships. She gave up softball in 2007 and focused on volleyball.

“I appreciate Hixson High School giving me the opportunity to coach there,” she said. “It has been a great experience and I’ve been blessed.

As for Tuesday’s match, held in a gym cold enough to hang meat, the Lady Bucs gained momentum with a gutty win in the opening set and had strong finishes in the final two.

“Hixson is always a good match for us,” Lady Bucs coach Nancy Culver said. “After the first set I thought we were in trouble. Hixson is a good team and it was an intense match.”

Hixson led 17-13 in Game 1, but Boyd-Buchanan scored five straight points to take an 18-17 advantage when the Lady Wildcats had a communication problem on the front line.

A Lady Bucs error gave Hixson a tying point and junior Shelby Rector’s slam put the Lady Bucs ahead 19-18. Rector and senior Dakota Rawiszer each had five kills.

The Lady Bucs scored five of the next six points for a 23-21 lead. Hixson came back with three straight points on two Lady Buc errors and senior Sydni Byerley’s kill.

Lady Buc senior Mackenzie Mann blocked sophomore Abby Rector’s shot at the net, a play that tied the score at 24-all. Mann added a go-ahead kill and Hixson’s unforced error on a serve return ended the game.

“We have a good maturity level,” coach Culver said. “Our errors never get us down and that’s the difference from last year. If (the opponent) scores five in a row, we just do something to stop it. We did that a couple of times today. We kept our composure and no one was freaking out. That’s hard to do sometimes.

“We have seven seniors – that’s a good thing – and four juniors and they’ve got some seasoning I guess you could say.”

Hixson pulled to within 12-11 on an Abby Rector kill, but the Lady Bucs came back with eight of the next 11 points, including two service points by senior Maddie Millwood and two of senior Meredith Balthrop’s six kills.

Balthrop registered a kill and an overhead cross-court volley down the stretch as the Lady Bucs notched five of the final seven points for the win.

Millwood tied Game 3 at 11-all with one of her team-leading eight kills. She added another kill and added two service points to power the Lady Bucs to a 15-11 lead.

Hixson closed the gap to 20-17 on a Boyd-Buchanan error, but the Lady Wildcats botched back-to-back shots, Abby Rector, who had four kills and eight digs, scored on back-to-back serves and Millwood added a set-ending kill.

“I think I played good but I couldn’t have done without good passes and sets from my teammates,” Millwood said. “The team is confident because of our experience, we work things out and work together and that makes us 10 times better.”

Match Statistics

Hixson

Abby Rector – 4 kills, 8 digs, 1 ace

Shelby Rector – 5 kills, 2 blocks, 11 digs

Dakota Rawiszer – 5 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs, 7 assists, 1 block

Kiera Taylor – 3 kills

Marly Fitzpatrick – 2 aces, 4 digs

Annie Zeigler – 12 digs, 1 ace, 1 kill

Gabby Tench – 7 assists, 7 digs

Sydni Byerley – 4 kills

Boyd-Buchanan

Meredith Balthrop – 11 digs, 6 kills, 7 assists, ½ block, 1 ace

Julia Headrick – 3 aces, 1 dig, 1 kill

Jordan Furtney – 14 assists, six digs, 2 aces

Katie Culver – 1 dig

Maddie Millwood – 8 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces

Abigail Taylor– 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 block

Gracie Spencer – 4 digs

Mackenzie Mann – 6 kills, 1 dig, 1 ½ blocks

Skylar Linville – 2 digs, 2 blocks, 1 kill

Madison Taylor – 11 digs, 2 assists, 2 aces

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

Boyd-Buchanan senior Mackenzie Mann fires a shot at the net as Hixson sophomore Abby Rector (25) and junior Shelby Rector (31) try to defend the play. The Lady Bucs won the match 3-0 with scores of 26-24, 25-17, 25-17.
Boyd-Buchanan senior Mackenzie Mann fires a shot at the net as Hixson sophomore Abby Rector (25) and junior Shelby Rector (31) try to defend the play. The Lady Bucs won the match 3-0 with scores of 26-24, 25-17, 25-17.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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