The GPS volleyball team has been on roll in recent days.
The Bruisers were embarrassed by a lopsided three-set loss to Baylor on August 29, but they’ve played well since and improved to 12-6 with a pair of wins at home on Monday.
GPS had an outstanding weekend at the Tournament of Champions in Guntersville where they won three of five matches, their only losses to the two teams in the finals. And while some of these young ladies might be a bit tired from the weekend, they came out firing on all cylinders, beating Notre Dame by scores of 25-18 and 25-19 in the first match before wrapping up the day with a 25-16, 25-12 victory over the Chattanooga School of Liberal Arts.
Notre Dame won the middle match by scores of 25-15 and 25-11 over CSLA.
GPS coach Alfie Dodd is very much an upbeat coach where he’s thrilled and in the mood to celebrate when his team plays well. As you might imagine, he had a big smile on his face when he headed home Monday night to watch a little Monday Night Football.
“It was good for us to stay on the good path we’ve been on in recent days,” Dodd began as the gym continued to clear at the end of the day.
“We use matches like these to work on stuff that needs improving, but we have a lot of momentum right now and we’re playing at a high level of energy. Most importantly, we just want to have some fun, but we found out this weekend that we can compete with anyone. We just have to keep believing that,” he added.
Notre Dame coach Laurie McGinley wasn’t real crazy about losing two straight sets to GPS, but she was feeling better after getting a good win over the Lady Eagles.
“We’re just focused on getting better, but our main goal is being ready for the post-season,” she said, admitting that it all starts in three weeks.
“GPS is incredible at serve-receive. I feel like we are an aggressive serving team, but our success against them wasn’t as good as I would have liked. I think we’re tired from a long weekend where we won five of six matches at the Rocky Top Classic, but we just want to stay healthy and right now, we’re just sharpening skills that are already in place.
“We know that GPS always has a good team. Us playing them only makes us a better team, but I kept telling my girls to not overlook CSLA as they have some talented players. We couldn’t afford to give them an inch,” McGinley nodded.
The Lady Eagles may have been in a little over their head with two teams have have a ton of state tournament experience. CSLA didn’t win a set, but they played well at times and gave coach Dan Basler reason for optimism at the end of the day.
“I think we were a little nervous in the first match against Notre Dame and never really got started,” he began.
“I thought we had stretches in the match with GPS where we played well, but we just need to believe in ourselves. We play good teams like this for a reason, but I was hoping we’d play better. But we knew the competition would be tough before we walked in the gym,” he concluded with a smile.
Cadence Nichols was one of the leaders for GPS as she finished the day with 22 kills and five blocks. Cat Nygaard had 18 digs and two aces while Ellie Holland had 10 digs and 10 aces. Sophia Jenkins also played well to finish with 38 assists, seven digs, two blocks and two aces.
Sam Brown was a difference-maker for Notre Dame as she finished with 17 kills and a dozen digs while Callie McCormick had 22 digs, four assists and two aces. Aniyah Brown finished the way with 15 assists, 11 digs, three kills, two aces and two blocks.
Sydney Heisig had six kills and 10 digs for the Lady Eagles while Aubrey McClain added 13 digs and three aces. Teammate Scout Coulter ended the day with a dozen assists.
Notre Dame and GPS will both be at home for their next match on Tuesday against Collegedale and Silverdale, respectively, while CSLA will travel to Benton to face Polk County.
INDIVIDUAL STATS (COMBINED BOTH MATCHES)
GPS:
Brynn Goldsmith – 3 blocks, 1 kill
Madison Cox – 4 digs
Ellie Holland – 10 digs, 10 aces
Cat Nygaard – 18 digs, 2 aces
Cadence Nichols – 22 kills, 5 blocks
Georgia Mae Anderson – 6 kills, 5 blocks
Ansley Bratcher – 1 ace
Chapman Mathis – 7 digs
Sophia O’Keefe – 4 kills
Alaina West – 3 digs
Sophia Jenkins – 38 assists, 7 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks
Catie Nicola – 4 kills.
NOTRE DAME:
Aniyah Brown – 3 kills, 11 digs, 2 aces, 2 blocks, 15 assists
Madden Cothron – 2 kills, 2 aces
Wrenn Scott – 5 kills, 1 block
Sarah Dobson – 6 digs, 11 assists
Sam Brown – 17 kills, 12 digs, 1 ace
DaLana Brown – 2 aces
Scarlett Hughes – 9 kills, 3 digs, 1 ace, 1 block
Karley Nutz – 4 digs
McKinna Wiles – 1 dig
Callie McCormick – 2 aces, 4 assists, 22 digs
Addie Kitchings – 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 block.
CSLA:
Kambria Gore – 3 kills
Aubrey McClain – 3 aces, 13 digs
Lauryn Painter – 2 kills, 7 digs, 1 ace
Sydney Heisig – 6 kills, 10 digs
Molly Billington – 2 aces, 1 kill
Chloe Chapman – 1 dig
Maddie Yoshida – 4 digs
Scout Coulter – 12 assists, 1 dig
Christian Washington – 2 digs, 1 block
Tori Williams – 1 kill, 2 digs.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)