The Baylor volleyball team had a road trip to face region foe Knoxville Catholic on Tuesday and were later than normal getting home.
They barely had a chance to catch their breath before taking another road trip on Wednesday where they faced a really good Signal Mountain team.
The Lady Red Raiders didn't win in Knoxville, but were able to bounce back with a 3-1 win over the Lady Eagles, improving to 16-5 overall with the hard-fought victory.
Baylor won the first two sets by scores of 25-21 and 25-22 before Signal Mountain won the third one, 27-25. Then in the fourth set, the Lady Eagles bolted to an 8-2 lead, but couldn't hang on as Baylor rallied to take the set and the match by a 25-19 final.
Baylor never ever panicked in that final set and coach Sarah Lail reminded her girls during a timeout when the Lady Eagles had all the momentum on their side.
"I just told them to maintain their composure and score one point at a time and that's what they did," Lail said afterward.
"We had a tough match in Knoxville on Tuesday, so I'm really proud of the way we bounced back, but we just had to dig deep in that fourth set. We kept chipping away and finally tied the set at 11-11 before finishing with a win.
"I'm blessed to have a really good front row and those hitters did what they had to do to pull this match out," Lail added with a smile.
Signal Mountain coach Kim Rackel was also pleased with how her girls performed against a neighboring school that has lengthy experience playing at the state level.
"Overall, I'm very pleased as I thought those were two pretty evenly-matched teams," she said after her team's record dropped to 15-11 for the season.
"We really battled those first two sets and they could have gone either way, but we finally got over the hump in the third. And I liked the way we started the fourth set, but we sort of let our emotions get in the way and somehow forgot what our game plan was.
"We missed a few serves and some balls just didn't bounce our way. I thought we tried to force a few things. I'm really disappointed that we couldn't hold onto that lead, but matches like this will only make us better as we prepare for post-season tournaments in October.
"Baylor has built a volleyball dynasty in recent years and that's what we're trying to do. We want to win more than anything and we're getting there, but I can promise you that I will not be leaving this gym tonight disappointed," she added.
The Lady Red Raiders won the first two sets and they may have been hoping for a sweep, but the Lady Eagles had other ideas.
The third set was even closer as the score was tied some 15 times. Signal was at set point with a 24-23 lead before a kill from Addie Margio tied the score for the 14th time.
Margio did it again to force extra action at 25-25, but the Lady Eagles refused to be denied as back-to-back kills from Carlee Lowry and Emily Redman extended the match to a fourth set.
Redman had five straight service points to start the fourth set and back-to-back hitting errors by Baylor allowed the Lady Eagles to extend that lead to 8-2 before Lail called her first timeout.
Six straight service points from Elli Kinney allowed Baylor to tie the score at 11-11 and all of a sudden, the Lady Red Raiders had new life.
Kinney, very active and extremely physical on the front line, had four of her match-high 23 kills as Baylor broke from a 16-16 tie to win by scoring nine of the final 12 points.
Kinney also had 13 digs and five aces to lead the Baylor attack while Sydney Sharpe finished the match with 46 assists and 18 digs.
Morgan Sharpe added 23 digs while Margio was credited with 10 kills.
Carlee Lowry led Signal Mountain with 15 kills and 13 assists while Redman and Dillia Lowry both had nine kills. Lowry also had seven blocks while Redman had 23 assists and seven digs.
Freshman Becca Rogers also made her presence felt with 10 kills.
Signal Mountain will be back in action on Thursday with a trip to Dunlap to face Sequatchie County while Baylor will join Soddy Daisy in hosting the River City Rumble this weekend.
BAYLOR STATS:
Morgan Sharpe – 1 assist, 1 ace, 23 digs
Franny Brooksbank – 11 digs
Addie Margio – 10 kills
Bailey Shahan – 6 kills, 2 digs, 4 blocks
Maggie Hansen – 3 kills, 1 dig, 3 blocks
Sydney Sharpe – 1 kill, 46 assists, 18 digs
Emma Mulvaney – 2 kills
Elli Kinney – 23 kills, 5 aces, 13 digs
Alia Sherrow – 8 kills
Kaylee Snyder – 11 digs.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS:
Addison Jones – 2 kills, 13 digs
Carlee Lowry – 15 kills, 1 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace
Dillia Lowry – 9 kills, 7 blocks
Emily Redman – 9 kills, 23 assists, 7 digs, 1 ace
Becca Rogers – 10 kills.
Story by John Hunt
Baylor Edges Signal Mountain In Volleyball Thriller - Chattanoogan.com
