The TSSAA State Volleyball tournament normally brings the best teams in every classification to Murfreesboro for the biggest and last tournament of the season, so you’re guaranteed quality play and heart-stopping final results.
That was certainly the case on the first day of competition at four local schools and five of those schools were from Hamilton County.
Three of those five won and advanced to the next round while the other two will face each other on Wednesday in an elimination match.
Championship matches in both Division II classifications will be played on Thursday at Middle Tennessee Christian while the three public school championships will be played at Siegel on Friday.
Class A teams played at Stewart’s Creek in Smyrna while AA teams were at Blackman and AAA teams at Siegel. All eight D-II teams played at Middle Tennessee Christian.
Notre Dame and Baylor both advanced in D-II while Sale Creek won in Class A. Signal Mountain and East Hamilton both lost their first-round matches and will play each other at 6 p.m. (EST) Wednesday evening.
Defending state champions include Summertown in A, Nolensville in AA, Brentwood in AAA, St. George’s in D-II-A and Briarcrest in D-II-AA.
Notre Dame coach Dan Clotfelter was certainly happy with the way his team performed in their first match, a 3-0 sweep of BGA.
“I thought we played great. With this being the state tournament, there was a lot of emotion. We were a little uptight at the start, but settled down and played well,” he said following the match.
“We had a good game plan and we executed it. Everything seemed to work out. I thought we passed well, but everyone was involved in our offense. McKenna (Brown) is always going to be the offensive leader for this team, but every other hitter had at least three or four kills. It makes us really unpredictable when our offense has that much diversity.
“Our defense played at a high level too. We really believe in ourselves and they believe in what we’ve tried to teach. We have a lot of weapons to choose from.
“I just hope our conversation tomorrow is as positive as the one today, but we know that we have to go through King’s Academy and Goodpasture, so I hope we’ll be ready,” Clotfelter added.
Brown did indeed lead the Notre Dame offense with 15 kills and 10 digs. Mary Fillauer followed with 27 assists while Riley McCormick had 21 digs and led the team with three aces. Lindsay Burns had a career high 16 digs.
The Sale Creek Lady Panthers didn’t win a match here a year ago in head coach Erin Briner’s first year at the helm. The first order of business this fall was to change that streak and they were able to do so in their very first match.
Facing the Halls Lady Tigers, Sale Creek improved to 22-4 with the straight-set win, taking the opening match by scores of 25-17, 25-13 and 25-16.
Coach Briner finally had something positive to smile about.
“It was a good one,” Briner said as she and her team prepared to watch the final match of the day at Stewart’s Creek between Loretto and South Greene, knowing they would face the winner in Wednesday’s semifinal round.
“I feel good. We had a few errors at the start, but once we settled down, we overall played a great first match. We sort of got our feet under us after the first set and I felt like our passing was huge. A win is a win, but we have to step it up even more tomorrow.
“We lost to Loretto three years ago in the championship match, so we’d love to have another shot at them. But the good news is that we’re still playing and one win closer to our ultimate goal,” Briner nodded.
The Lady Panthers will face Loretto in a Class A semifinal on Wednesday.
Lillie Morgan paced Sale Creek with 14 kills and seven digs while Desiree Higgins had 16 assists and Ansley White 14 assists. Allison Smith chipped in with 13 digs and four aces while Ruthie Parks had 10 digs.
Signal Mountain coach Kim Rackel knew her girls were in for a tough match against defending champion Nolensville.
She was right.
The Lady Eagles were never a factor as they lost three straight sets and none were very close.
“It was a tough day in the gym,” Rackel expressed shortly after the lopsided match ended.
“Nolensville is the defending state champs and they have a lot of horsepower. It was the first trip to a state tournament for most of our girls, but tomorrow’s another day and I’m hoping we can turn things around.
“The whole reason you play is to make the winning team earn it. I feel like we did just that despite the lopsided score. It was a growth opportunity for sure. I certainly don’t like to lose, but I’m not disappointed in our effort as we gave it our best shot,” Rackel concluded.
Edie Hansen had nine kills for the Lady Eagles while Emily Redman had a dozen digs and Carlee Lowry 17 assists. Addison Jones had two of Signal’s three blocks.
The Baylor Lady Red Raiders kept their championship hopes alive with a tough 3-1 win over St. Agnes, Baylor winning by scores of 25-17, 23-25, 25-14 and 25-13.
Baylor now faces Briarcrest in Wednesday afternoon’s winner’s bracket.
“This is my favorite time of year,” said Baylor coach Sarah Lail after watching and scouting the Briarcrest-Knoxville Catholic match.
“I thought we came out ready to play and really dominated the first set. Things got a little tense in the second set, but we settled down and played Baylor volleyball in the final two sets. Nadia Sixto did another fantastic job, but I couldn’t be any more proud,” Lail nodded.
Sixto had a dozen kills while Elaine Redman had her usual outstanding match to finish with 21 digs, 18 assists and six kills. Elli Kinney had 16 digs whihle Morgan Sharpe followed with 15. Libby May had 14 assists.
Sierra Herndon also did her part with seven kills and five blocks.
East Hamilton faced a tough match in the first round as the Crockett County Lady Cavaliers won their 11th straight match with the 20-25, 25-14, 25-15 and 25-21 victory.
The Lady Hurricanes started out like a ball of fire, but couldn’t maintain that same intensity as the Lady Cavaliers just got stronger as the match progressed.
“It’s a state tournament and everybody is good,” said first-year East Hamilton coach Antonela Tomic Suzuki later.
“It’s a first-time experience for a lot of these girls, so hopefully tomorrow will yield better results. I thought we played well in the first set, but Crockett County was more aggressive after that. I’m so proud of how we played as we never quit, even when we were behind.
And what about Wednesday’s match against Hamilton County neighbor Signal Mountain.
“It will be a home match for both of us. Girls from both teams are really good friends and we always pull for them. And we’re even staying at the same hotel. I’m just grateful that we’re still playing the third week in October,” she added.
NOTRE DAME STATS:
McKenna Brown – 15 kills, 10 digs, 1 ace
Lindsay Burns – 4 kills, 16 digs, 2 aces
Maggie Fillauer – 6 digs
Mary Fillauer – 27 assists, 5 kills, 2 aces, 7 digs, ½ block
Riley McCormick – 21 digs, 3 aces
Madeline Solis – 1 dig
Beth Voges – 3 kills, ½ block
Regan Wolf – 3 kills, ½ block
Peyton Woody – 4 kills, 5 digs.
SALE CREEK STATS:
Ansley White – 1 dig, 14 assists, 1 kill
Desiree Higgins – 3 digs, 16 assists
Allison Smith – 13 digs, 1 assist, 4 aces
Ruthie Parks – 10 digs, 1 ace
Ava Higgins – 9 kills
Lillie Morgan – 7 digs, 14 kills
Sarah Gibson – 7 kills
Gabi Lacheney – 7 kills, 1 ace
Shelby Defore – 1 dig, 1 assist.
BAYLOR STATS:
Emma Gray – 6 assists, 23 digs
Tess Margio – 8 kills, 3 blocks, 1 dig
Libby May – 14 assists, 3 digs
Elli Kinney – 2 kills, 1 block, 16 digs, 1 ace
Nadia Sixto – 12 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs
Holland Moss – 4 kills, 1 block, 2 digs
Elaine Redman – 6 kills, 18 assists, 21 digs
Sierra Herndon – 7 kills, 5 blocks, 3 digs
Morgan Sharpe – 15 digs.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS:
Lila Edwards – 7 kills
Sophie Spinello – 1 kill
Francie Hunt – 7 digs
Alexia Hensley – 10 digs
Emily Redman – 12 digs, 3 assists
Edie Hansen – 9 kills
Addison Jones – 4 kills, 2 blocks
Carlee Lowry – 17 assists
Harmony McCarter – 2 kills, 1 block.
EAST HAMILTON STATS:
McKenna Hayes – 19 kills, 13 digs, 2 aces, 1 assist
Amya Sutton – 5 kills, 9 digs, 1 ace
Tristin Sutton – 14 assists, 7 digs, 6 kills
Angelia Seder – 1 ace
Hana Suzuki – 13 assists, 13 digs, 5 aces
Julia Culpepper – 5 kills, 2 blocks
Megan Lewis – 5 digs
Emma Ankar – 11 digs
Morgan Bone – 3 kills, 3 digs
Laila Ankar – 3 digs.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)