While COVID-19 has prevented fan bases from being at full force this fall when it comes to attending high school sporting events, Notre Dame's volleyball team felt a great wave of support Wednesday during the TSSAA Division II-A state tournament in Murfreesboro.
After beating Goodpasture Christian to reach Thursday's title round, the Lady Fighting Irish watched video messages from excited classmates after their 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 semifinal win at Middle Tennessee Christian School, a match that went back and forth despite being a straight-sets sweep for Notre Dame.
"Our girls were super excited to see the video clips of their friends watching the match and celebrating the win back at school," coach Dan Clotfelter said. "That was huge. One of the things with COVID is the students haven't been able to come see us play as much. We are fun to watch and have a good following inside the student body. I think you could hear the yell from the school here in Murfreesboro after the final point."
Notre Dame (32-4) will face Goodpasture again at noon Eastern on Thursday at MTCS, this time with the title at stake. The Lady Cougars (31-3) would have to win twice to be crowned champions because Notre Dame has yet to lose in the double-elimination tournament.
In the DII-AA title round, also Thursday at MTCS, Baylor will face Briarcrest Christian at 3 p.m. Eastern.
The Lady Red Raiders (12-5) lost their Wednesday semifinal against Briarcrest, 25-23, 26-24, 25-13, but earned a rematch as coach Sarah Lail's team responded with a sweep of Knoxville Catholic, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19. Tess Margio and Elaine Redman combined for 41 kills in the two matches, and Emma Gray (32 digs), Sierra Herndon (14 kills) and Libby May (30 assists) also stood out.
The Lady Saints (13-2) have won back-to-back state championships, and have not lost in this year's tournament, meaning they need just one win against Baylor to earn a third straight title.
In Notre Dame's semifinal win, McKenna Brown landed 19 kills to up her season total to 563, while Regan Wolf had five blocks and four kills. Other standouts included Mary Fillauer (33 assists, five kills), Lindsey Burns (four kills, two blocks), Riley McCormick (19 digs) and Emmeline Crisp (four kills).
Maggie Fillauer's seven straight service points helped turn a 13-7 second-set deficit into a lead, and she finished with the match with 11 digs and three aces.
Notre Dame is trying to add a second state title to the program's 2006 Class A-AA championship, but Clotfelter and his players are trying to avoid feeling any extra pressure.
"We have a casual atmosphere inside the program," the coach said. "We are relaxed in warmups and have fun during practice. Just because we get to the next step, you don't change who you are. We want them to have that same exact relaxed energy. Excited, but relaxed. We will have to go out again and execute our game plan to the best of our ability."
Staff file photo by Troy Stolt / Baylor's Elaine Redman continues to stand out this season for the Lady Red Raiders, who are in the title round of the TSSAA Division II-AA state tournament.East Hamilton 3, Signal Mountain 0: The Lady Hurricanes, after losing in the opening round Tuesday to Crockett County, stayed alive in the Class AA state tournament with a 25-13, 25-23, 25-19 win over the Lady Eagles at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro.
McKenna Hayes led East Hamilton with 13 kills, four blocks and nine digs, Amya and Tristin Sutton had four kills and four blocks each, and Hannah Suzuki (13 assists, eight digs) and Laila Ankar (10 digs) also performed well.
East Hamilton (18-12) will face Murfreesboro Central in a quarterfinal in the losers bracket at Blackman at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, with the possibility of two more matches before the day is over. The title round is Friday.
The youthful Lady Eagles, who advanced to state for the first time since 2017, finished 18-18.
* In Class A, Meigs County and Sale Creek will face off in a quarterfinal in the losers bracket at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday at Stewarts Creek High School, with the winner needing two more victories to reach Friday's title round.
Meigs (19-1) bounced back from a loss to Summertown in Tuesday's opening round with a Wednesday sweep of Union City, 25-17, 25-19, 25-14.
Loretto beat Sale Creek on Wednesday in the second round of the winners bracket, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-14. Sale Creek (22-5) received 40 combined digs from Allison Smith and Ansley White, and Ava Higgins (24 kills), Sarah Gibson (10 kills) and Lillie Morgan (nine kills, 13 digs) also shined.
Heritage 3, Miller Grove 0: The Lady Generals cruised in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAA state tournament, winning 25-5, 25-4, 25-5. Standouts for Heritage (34-7) included Aaliyah Rodgers (nine kills, three aces), Avery Phillips (12 assists, four aces) and Abbey Blevins (five aces, three kills). Heritage, the Area 7 champion, will host Area 8 No. 3 seed Chestatee - the Gainesville program also won 3-0 Wednesday - in the second round Saturday.
Dade County 3, Model 0: In GHSA Class A/AA public, the Lady Wolverines won 25-12, 27-25, 25-18. Dade County (22-9) received stellar performances from Logan Frint (eight kills, 12 digs, three aces), Zoie Smith (26 assists, four aces), Heidi Raines (seven kills, five aces), Bailey Davis (11 kills, nine digs) and Delaynee Davis (27 digs). Dade County, the Area 7 runner-up, will visit Area 5 champion Pace Academy, a 3-0 first-round winner, on Saturday.
* In other GHSA volleyball state tournament matches involving local programs: In Class A private, Christian Heritage lost 3-0 to St. Francis; in Class A/AA public, Chattooga lost 3-0 to Bremen; in Class AAA, LaFayette beat Cherokee Bluff 3-0 and will host Greater Atlanta Christian on Saturday, Sonoraville beat North Hall 3-1 and will visit Oconee County on Saturday, Ringgold lost 3-0 to White County, Murray County lost 3-0 to Lumpkin County; in Class AAAA, Northwest Whitfield beat Arabia Mountin 3-1 and will visit Luella on Saturday, Ridgeland lost 3-0 to Marist; in Class AAAAA, Calhoun beat Chapel Hill 3-0 and will visit St. Pius X on Saturday; in Class AAAAAA, Dalton lost 3-2 to Dacula.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.