Signal Mountain won the Class AA volleyball championship in Murfreesboro on Friday. The Lady Eagles defeated Valor College Prep, 3-1.
photo by Contributed
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Signal Mountain Lady Eagles made it two in a row for Chattanooga teams playing for championships here at Siegel High School in the 2023 state volleyball tournament. Cleveland later made it a perfect sweep with a win over Nolensville in the AAA championship.
Sale Creek began the day with a stirring 3-1 win over the Loretto Lady Mustangs for their first-ever state title in any sport while the Lady Eagles followed with their second Class AA state title with a similar 3-1 win over the Valor College Prep Lady Wildcats.
The Lady Eagles had breezed to three straight wins here this week and had beaten the Lady Wildcats 3-0 as they won 10 straight sets before losing the second one here Friday afternoon. Some of the Signal Mountain faithful might have gotten a little tense after the second-set comeback, but the veteran Lady Eagles never flinched as they won the last two to set off a huge celebration with players, coaches and fans alike.
The Lady Wildcats are a really good team, which they proved by winning three matches in the loser's bracket on Thursday to earn Friday's rematch. Perhaps their biggest win of the day came against Creek Wood, the defending AA champ in four sets.
Signal won the opening set 25-20 before the Lady Wildcats evened the score, 25-23. The Lady Eagles then finished off the match with back-to-back 25-20 wins.
“The good news is that we won all four matches here this week, but today’s was harder than the first one against them. Valor has a really good team and they’re really young, so I can promise you they’ll be back,” Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman said after the post-match awards had been presented.
“I thought we did a good job controlling number 26 the first time we played, but she almost got away from us today, but we made plays against her at the end when it counted the most,” she said in reference to Anarela Mejias-Ayala, a talented freshman who finished the match with 18 kills.
“We just had to keep our composure and stay in the moment. We knew we hadn’t played our best, but I really challenged my girls to step up in our last timeout and they did. Becca Rogers had several key blocks and Elle Ramsey’s serving allowed us to finish strong,” the coach nodded.
Redman’s daughter Emily earned MVP honors after leading her team with 19 kills, 19 digs, four assists, three aces and three blocks. That bit of news made her mother happier than anything else.
“She really wanted it and gave all she had all season. And I guess she’ll have the last laugh with my older daughter Elaine, who never won one of those,” the coach added.
“We worked so hard to win this match as this has been our goal all season since the first day of practice,” said Emily after getting her picture taken a bunch of times after the announcement was made.
“It definitely wasn’t easy as those guys are really good, but we had to work together as a team. I feel like any of my teammates could have won the MVP as they all played their hearts out, but I just can’t believe it happened to me,” she said, allowing that she has committed to continue her volleyball career at Alabama-Huntsville next fall.
The Lady Eagles led from start to finish in the first set, but the momentum shifted early in the second set. Two straight kills from Bella Brooks gave the Lady Wildcats an 8-6 lead. They never trailed again.
The Lady Eagles made it close at the end with an ace from Elle Ramsey and a block from Becca Rogers getting Signal within a point at 24-23 before a kill from Kerrington Corbin evened the score at one set apiece.
The third set gave the Lady Eagles a little breathing room as they broke from a 16-16 tie to win by scoring nine of the next 13 points, getting the win on an ace from Redman.
The Lady Eagles had a 4-1 lead in the fourth set, but the Lady Wildcats came storming back to tie the score on a kill from Mejias Ayala, which was the start of a five-point serving run by Marley Maestas for a 14-10 lead.
The difference was still five points at 19-14 and it looked like a fifth set might be needed to settle the issue, but the Lady Eagles got hot and won by scoring 11 of the last 12 points that included six straight service points from Ramsey to put Signal ahead 24-20. Rogers ninth kill of the match was the determining point as the Signal Mountain bench and cheering section immediately broke out in celebration.
Redman was the team leader for the Lady Eagles with her 19 kills and 19 digs. Ramsey had 20 assists while Carlee Lowry followed with 15. Redman also had three aces while Dillia Lowry was tops with four blocks.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS:
Emily Redman – 19 kills, 4 assists, 3 aces, 19 digs, 3 blocks
Carlee Lowry – 12 kills, 15 assists, 12 digs, 2 blocks
Dillia Lowry – 2 kills, 1 assist, 6 digs, 4 blocks
Becca Rogers – 9 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks
Elle Ramsey – 20 assists, 1 ace, 7 digs
Sydney Smith – 1 kill, 2 assists, 1 dig
Addi Jones – 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 block
Amelia Bustamante – 1 assist, 1 ace, 8 digs, 1 block.
VALOR COLLEGE PREP STATS:
Bella Brooks – 8 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks
Kerrington Corbin – 6 kills, 1 assist
Hannah Hood – 1 kill, 3 digs, 1 block
Amy Sandoval – 1 assist, 8 digs
Sydney Garrett – 3 kills, 29 assists, 1 ace, 10 digs, 1 block
Anarela Mejias-Ayala – 18 kills, 3 assists, 3 aces, 9 digs
Neena Valdez – 1 assist, 6 aces, 5 digs
Marley Maestas – 1 kill, 4 assists, 1 ace, 17 digs
Annie Shive – 3 kills, 3 aces, 1 dig.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)