Allison Giles (8) of East Hamilton powers a shot past an Anderson Co. defender. The Lady Canes roared back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Lady Mavericks, 3-0. East Hamilton (32-10) moves on to face Portland (42-10) at 4:30 p.m. (ET) today.
photo by Dennis Norwood
MURFREESBORO — Defeat was written on the face of every East Hamilton volleyball player midway through the third set of their opening match of the state volleyball championships Tuesday.
Down 2-0 in the match and 14-9 in the set, the Lady Hurricanes looked sluggish and sloppy, a team that Coach Kelsey Kelley said she hardly recognized.
Then they flipped a switch.
Starting with a 10-0 run sparked by the serve of senior Jordyn Griffith and dominating play at the net, East Hamilton mounted a furious comeback, ending with a dramatic five-set victory over Anderson County 15-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 16-14. The victory propelled the Lady Canes into the quarterfinals of the double-elimination tournament, where they will take on two-time state champion Portland (42-10) later in the afternoon.
“I've been waiting for them to flip that switch all season,” Kelley said, still stunned at what her team had accomplished. “We just made too many mistakes in the first half of the match and didn't communicate well. We weren't very aggressive with our serve and didn't seem to have much energy.”
“Then it all changed in an instant. I still can't believe what we just did.”
As Griffith served and the Lady Canes (32-10) began to string together points, the momentum — and the noise from the East Hamilton crowd — began to grow.
A kill by senior Madison Hayes tied the set at 14, and an ace by Griffith gave East Hamilton the lead. By the time Anderson County (35-12) took the serve back, a five-point deficit had become a five-point lead. The third set victory breathed life back into what had looked like a certain trip to the loser's bracket just moments ago.
“I was nervous,” Griffith said about serving with her team on the brink of losing. “Our team is really good; I knew I had to put it in, and my team did the rest. I felt like they were playing with a little pressure and we put our game-face on. I think this helped us see that we can win this thing.”
Despite falling behind 5-1 early in the fourth set, East Hamilton rode their momentum to a win in the ensuing set. Tied at 18, the Lady Canes closed on a seven-point run to set up the deciding set.
Playing with emotion and energy, the Lady Canes got contributions from everyone in that final set. Two kills from sophomore Madison Allen gave her team an early 3-1 lead. That was followed by aces from Haley Mangrum and Allison Giles, and kills from Giles, McKenna Hayes, and Griffith to put East Hamilton up 11-7 and poised to complete the comeback.
The Lady Mavericks wouldn't go easily, however. They stole the momentum back with a six-point spurt that put the Lady Canes on the brink of heartbreak.
Yet again, East Hamilton rose to the occasion on another kill by Griffith, and forced match point moments later. When the ball fell softly in the middle of the floor on Anderson County's side on the next point, it set off a joyous celebration for the Lady Canes and their fans.
“All of the hard work that we've put in to get to this point, we were not going let down at all,” said sophomore McKenna Hayes. “We knew that we had to keep pushing, keep doing our thing. We are East Hamilton volleyball, and we were not going to give up. Something snapped in that third set, like we're here and we've made it this far, we can't let up now. We just had to wake up and finish.”
The challenge now for Kelley is refocusing her team on the next match.
“Of course we want to play with energy and emotion,” said Kelley. “But we have to make sure we harness that emotion when we get back onto the court or we're going to make a lot of unforced errors. As great as this win was, this wasn't our overall goal. This team is capable of big things.”