Camden Ends South Season at State Volleyball Tournament
by STEVE WILMOTH
TriCitiesSports.com
October 18, 2017
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Sullivan South Lady Rebels saw their season come to end Wednesday at the TSSAA Class AA State Volleyball Tournament.
Camden ousted the Lady Rebels in four sets, 9-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-19 in a match played at the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University.
South got off to a rough start in the first set before finding its grove in the second frame.
“We started out nervous,” said Lady Rebel coach Wendy Ratliff. “We had trouble passing and made a lot of errors, which we have done all season.”
Ratliff got some kinks worked out going to the second set and the Lady Rebels were able to even the match.
“We refocused and made some position changes that worked out well,” noted Ratliff.
The third and fourth sets were well contested, but Camden was able slip away and take the match.
“The last two sets were hard fought,” added Ratliff, “but overall, we just didn’t have it today.”
Abbey Jayne led the South offense with eight kills while Maddie Townsend finished with seven kills and Olivia Kent six. Makkenzie Compton dished out 17 assists and added five kills. Courtney Gibson handed out 13 assists. Meredith St. Clair produced 21 digs and served four aces.
After losing a number of contributors that were prime factors in winning the 2015 state title and finishing third in the state a year ago, another South run to the state tournament was far from a forgone conclusion coming into 2017.
“The girls improved so much over the season and continued to push themselves to get back to this level,” said Ratliff.
South finishes the year at 33-9 and loses its senior class of Gibson, Kent, Reagan Wolfe, Taylor Wexler, Madeline Leslie and Emma Fake, but returns several key performers next year.
“We overcame obstacles on and off the court and went as far as we could this year,” added Ratliff. “I’m extremely proud of all of the girls and I’m already excited for next year.”