MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – This may be the best volleyball season ever for the Sale Creek Lady Panthers and it’s not over yet.
Improving to 48-2 with their 42nd straight victory here at Rockvale High School Wednesday morning, the Lady Panthers beat a team that had been a thorn in their sides for many times here at the state tournament, but Sale Creek is the team smiling today after beating the Loretto Mustangs, 3-1. Set scores were 22-25, 25-23, 25-20 and 25-14 with Kiley Blaylock’s second ace of the match being the final point.
Lots of folks from Chattanooga had been hoping for a Sale Creek-CSAS battle in the winner’s bracket final, but the Lady Patriots lost the opening set to the Harpeth Indians before falling in four sets by scores of 19-25, 25-21, 19-25 and 22-25 following Sale Creek’s win.
Sale Creek will now face those same Indians on Thursday afternoon in the winner’s bracket final while CSAS will have to battle their way back through the loser’s bracket, needing three wins on Thursday to earn a spot in Friday’s championship match.
Sale Creek coach Erin Briner can only smile when she starts talking about her team and their quest to win the first state title in any sport for tiny Sale Creek. She wasn’t too worried about the first set defeat as her girls quickly got back on track and won the next three sets without a problem.
“We just made too many unforced errors in that first set, but we settled down and played pretty well after that,” Briner said after her team’s match.
“These girls have a huge desire to do well and to please. There are times when they might be trying too hard, but they want to play their best all the time and that’s not always possible. The good news is that we weathered it well. Blocking and serve receive are two things we live and die by. This wasn’t our best match, but we had all-around consistent play and that’s why we won.
“I’m always pleased with good fight and all-out effort and that’s what I got. I can’t ask for more than that. We just have to be sure to not get too emotional. We’d love to play CSAS tomorrow, but we’ll look forward to whoever it might be,” she added.
The Lady Patriots were tied 4-4 with Harpeth in the first set, but four straight kills from Emma Cart helped the Lady Indians to build a 9-4 lead and it seemed like CSAS was playing from behind the rest of the match.
CSAS was able to score the final four points to win the second set as momentum was on their side for just a minute, but it didn’t take long for Harpeth to regain control and they eventually won the match by making fewer mistakes.
CSAS coach Brandon Lowry didn’t make any excuses as he pointed quickly to the difference in the match.
“The reason we got beat is because we got out-served and out-passed,” he explained after a short meeting with his team just outside the gym.
“Our serve receive also broke down at times and that cost us. I’m always happy with our effort, but we just made more errors than they did. I can handle the errors when the effort is there. What I can’t deal with is lack of effort. We just have to clean up some stuff before tomorrow and be more aggressive offensively.
“One thing I noticed late is that some of our better hitters were tipping the ball instead of swinging like they’re capable, but tomorrow could be a long day for us and I hope we’re ready for it,” he added.
SALE CREEK STATS VS. LORETTO:
Eisa Eilertson – 1 ace, 6 kills, 3 blocks, 4 digs
Kiley Blaylock – 7 digs
Karma Higgins – 2 aces, 10 kills, 39 assists, 8 digs
Enslee Norwood – 2 aces, 17 digs, 6 kills
McKenzie Parks – 3 aces, 7 kills, 10 digs
Hailee Blaylock – 1 kill, 1 block
Lanee Cotter – 1 block, 1 dig
Ava Higgins – 1 ace, 20 kills, 5 blocks, 5 digs.
CSAS STATS VS. HARPETH:
Amanda Gardner – 8 digs, 5 assists
Jaliyah Wilkes – 6 kills, 7 blocks
Trinity Williams – 1 kill, 2 blocks, 1 dig
Addison Ruder – 19 assists, 1 ace
Gracie Lallier – 8 kills, 5 blocks, 2 aces
Cassidy Long – 1 kill, 9 assists
Emma Schnitzer – 10 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace
Kaylee Cantrell – 4 kills, 2 digs
Brynne Burkhart – 4 assists, 1 ace
Savannah Moore – 7 kills, 8 blocks
Olivia Coleman – 1 ace, 1 dig
Aubrey Houston – 6 digs.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)