It was Senior Night at Signal Mountain on Wednesday as the Lady Eagles played their last regular-season volleyball match at home before they host next week’s District 7-AA tournament and all went pretty much as planned.
It was a battle of regular-season district champions as the 6-AA queen Red Bank Lionettes provided the opposition for the 7-AA winning Lady Eagles.
Signal Mountain improved to 31-8 with the 3-0 victory, winning by scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-12.
Red Bank is now 19-14 following Wednesday’s loss.
Nicole Terfloth, Aubrie Johnson, Hallie Hunt and Sidney Lapinski were the four Signal Mountain seniors recognized before the match began while Red Bank seniors Maris Rennolds, Marjorie Smith, Samantha Wright and Cassidy Payne were also called out.
And while there were plenty of hugs and handshakes and smiles before the match began, it was business as usual for the Lady Eagles as they went to work with winning on their mind.
Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman knows that these seniors have all been to the state tournament for the past three years with a second, third and fourth place finishes to date, but she’s hoping this group can cap it all off with a state title.
“It’s a win and we’ll take it,” said Redman shortly after the match concluded.
“I’m happy for the seniors and glad they could get a win in their final regular-season match at home. We started off kind of shaky as we had 11 unforced errors in that first set alone, but we got it together and played pretty well after that.
“Red Bank has an outstanding team and they got scrappy as we had expected, but this team has been a roller coaster for me as they make me crazy and happy at the same time,” Redman added.
Those four seniors all played pretty well as the Lady Eagles rolled to victory.
Terfloth had 16 digs while Johnson had eight digs, seven kills and three aces to go along with a couple of blocks. Hunt had eight digs and three aces while Lapinski recorded a double-double with 10 digs and 19 assists.
The Lionettes got a kill from Hannah Wood at the start of the first set, but the Lady Eagles then reeled off five straight points and never looked back.
The biggest lead in that opening set came at 15-4, but it was an ace a few minutes later by Hunt that gave Signal the early advantage.
The Lionettes were more competitive in the second set as they had three leads in the first 10 points, the latest and largest at 7-5. A kill from Kate Barry and four straight service points by Barry turned that Red Bank lead into a 10-7 lead for Signal Mountain.
The score was tied once more at 13-13 before the Lady Eagles scored five straight points before Hunt again ended the set with another ace.
Red Bank then scored the first two points of the third set and it was 3-2 following a hitting error by the Lady Eagles, but a kill from Maia Rackel tied the score and Johnson recorded an ace as Signal Mountain never trailed again.
Red Bank’s first-year coach Savannah Nelson knows that the post-season starts on Monday, so her team needs to fix a few flaws in a hurry.
“The biggest thing is that we found a lot of stuff we need to work on as we just had too many hitting errors,” the 2013 Red Bank graduate suggested.
“We can’t afford to be playing like that this late in the season, but we struggled to get around the block. We just didn’t play up to our potential as we have to be smarter than we showed tonight. I’m really not pleased and I never am, as we can always be better.
“We’ll just move on to the district tournament and hope we correct those small mistakes. We just need to find desire and heart and that’s part of what we’re lacking right now,” she added.
Smith had eight kills and a dozen digs to lead the Red Bank attack while Payne had 24 digs and Rennolds 11 digs.
Both teams return to action on Thursday with Signal Mountain traveling to Ooltewah. Red Bank will be at home to host a three-way meet with Silverdale and Chattanooga Christian.
GPS AND NOTRE DAME also won volleyball matches on Wednesday with the Bruisers improving to 26-17 with the 25-12, 25-15 win over East Ridge. The Lady Irish, who will be seeded second behind Signal Mountain in the 7-AA tournament, had a tougher time before defeating Grundy County, 3-2, by scores of 16-25, 26-24, 27-29, 25-19 and 15-6.
RED BANK STATS:
Shelby Romans – 2 kills, 6 digs, 5 assists
Maris Rennolds – 2 kills, 11 digs
Marjorie Smith – 8 kills, 1 block, 12 digs
Hannah Wood – 4 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace, 6 assists
Layla Babb – 2 kills, 5 digs, 1 ace, 1 assist
Cassidy Payne – 24 digs, 1 assist
Mya Kennebrew – 2 kills, 1 block.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS:
Nicole Terfloth – 1 ace, 16 digs
Elaine Redman – 2 aces, 3 kills, 19 digs, 1 block
Aubrie Johnson – 2 blocks, 8 digs, 7 kills, 3 aces
Kate Barry – 1 ace, 3 kills, 8 digs, 9 assists
Hallie Hunt – 8 digs, 3 aces
Maia Rackel – 12 kills, 1 dig, 7 blocks
Sidney Lapinski – 10 digs, 19 assists
Olivia Powers – 7 digs, 4 kills
Cora Hansen – 1 kill.
NOTRE DAME STATS:
Ally Mildenberger – 28 assists, 1 ace, 5 digs
Moiya Thomas – 6 kills, 5 aces, 3 digs
Mackenzie Johnson – 10 kills, 2 blocks
Claire VanderWerf – 3 kills, 2 aces, 15 digs
Jazzmyne Watkins – 12 kills, 3 digs
Krissy Boardman – 1 ace, 4 digs
Maggie Martin – 4 kills, 2 aces, 5 digs
Liz Labbe – 1 ace, 2 digs
Kyla Mitchell – 6 kills, 1 ace, 4 blocks.
GPS STATS:
Courtlyn Martino – 5 digs, 3 aces
Karly Benefield – 7 digs
Presslee Brooksbank – 3 digs, 3 kills, 2 aces, 1 block
Emma Moore – 13 assists, 2 digs, 2 aces
Madison Cope – 1 kill
Charlotte Vance – 1 kill, 4 digs, 3 aces
Hannah Kincer – 1 kill, 1 block
Kendall Crum – 2 kills, 1 block
Faith Copeland – 1 assist
Reagan Long – 7 kills, 1 ace, 1 block.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)