An amazing and incredible and almost miraculous event took place shortly after noon last Friday at Siegel High School in Murfreesboro. It was the location for the Division I state volleyball finals and the first match featured the Loretto Lady Mustangs and the Sale Creek Lady Panthers for the Class A championship.
If you know anything about Sale Creek volleyball, you know that Loretto has been a thorn in their side since they made their first trip to the state meet. The Lady Panthers beat Loretto on the second day of the tournament, but fully expected to see that same team two days later.
Sale Creek’s best state finish came in 2018 when the Lady Panthers finished as the runner-up, second to those same Lady Mustangs.
Sure enough, Loretto advanced through the loser’s bracket on Thursday to earn a rematch with Sale Creek. We all know how tough it is for a team to beat the same team twice in the same season, much less the same tournament. But that’s what happened as Sale Creek lost the first set by the identical 25-22 score of that opening set on Wednesday before winning the final three to set off a celebration that has never taken place for those Lady Panthers.
After being in the educational business since 1905, Sale Creek finally had its first state championship in any sport, but what a more deserving group than head coach Erin Briner and her determined group of Lady Panthers.
What an amazing season it turned out to be. Sale Creek lost to Signal Mountain on the fourth day of the season and then to nationally-ranked Pope in a big tournament in Knoxville on Aug. 19. The Lady Panthers didn’t lose again as they won district and region tournament titles for the umpteenth time and then a sectional match to earn their eighth straight trip to the state tournament.
They finished with a school-record 50 wins against those two early losses as they closed out a dream-come-true season with 44 straight wins. It might be a long, long time before those two facts are equaled.
Winning state titles has never been easy, no matter the sport and never mind the school being represented. It takes a quality program and then a little bit of luck, but that still doesn’t always guarantee a win in the final game or match.
But all of that hard work and dedicated effort finally went Sale Creek’s way. There was a nice group of students, school officials and parents and Sale Creek fans present in Murfreesboro to witness the special event while everyone not on the road was waiting for them when they returned home later in the afternoon. It’s been several days since that event took place and those young ladies are still trying to wrap their arms around an event so meaningful and for so long, so elusive.
This writer took the opportunity to make a visit to Sale Creek Tuesday afternoon to visit with coach Briner and some of the girls who made all of this possible. They all had smiles on their faces and most were still trying to get a grip on the fact that it had finally happened for them.
“It’s still unbelievable to me,” said senior Ava Higgins, who earned MVP honors for her performance in the tournament and in particular the championship match.
“We started off the season strong and we knew we had to finish strong. We knew we couldn’t afford to be nervous or overwhelmed. The key was that we played as a team and we definitely got closer as a team as the season progressed.
“It’s still amazing to me. It will probably take about a month for all of this to sink in, but I just had to show everyone what I was made of. I’ve played with these girls since the sixth grade and it’s sad for it to be over now, but I’ll never forget what a great experience it has been for me,” she added.
Enslee Norwood is a 16-year-old junior who was on the court for every point at the state tournament. In addition to being a talented player, she is also the cheerleader for the team, making sure that every player remained upbeat and positive, regardless of what had happened on the previous play.
“This is my family as all of my close friends are on the volleyball team. We went to this tournament with a target on our back, but we just had to play our game and all would be okay. Loretto comes to play as they have a great team, but we were able to beat them again on Friday,” Norwood said in a quiet tone as she shared her experience in the lobby of the McEwen Gymnasium.
“We went through a lot this season. We got a little tired as the match went on, but we were able to pull it off. I’m over the moon right now as it doesn’t feel real. I just started crying when it ended as I wanted to win so bad for every girl on that team. We had great chemistry and there was no drama, which is totally unusual when you’re dealing with teenaged girls. But it was such a wonderful experience and I’m so blessed to have been part of it,” Norwood nodded.
Karma Higgins is a 15-year-old sophomore who is Ava’s younger sister and is the team setter who basically runs the offense. She too was all smiles when she remembered the previous week.
“We all worked so hard for what we got and a lot of people expected us to win. We had a great season up to that point and just wanted to keep it going,” she began.
“I think we were all a little bit nervous when that last match began, but we all settled down and played the way we were capable of playing. We all believed in each other and that was a key to our winning,” the younger Higgins smiled.
Eisa Eilertson is a 16-year-old junior who also played her best in the last week when it counted most. While volleyball is the only sport for most of these girls, Eisa is also on the Sale Creek track team where she high jumps, long jumps and takes part in the pentathlon. She’s also a member of the Sale Creek powder puff football team where she was hoping to be the quarterback or a wide receiver for their game being played on Friday night.
“Winning a state championship meant so much to me. It was a breath of fresh air to finally win it all. I was shaking during that last match as we had such a great team,” she spoke in a solemn tone.
“That first set was sort of downhill as we didn’t play our best, but we all reminded each other that we had to have fun and that’s what we did the rest of the way. We had a major change in energy after that first set and we showed what we were capable of doing.
“But this has been a great experience for me as this is my fifth year to play volleyball. I was a gymnast before, but this was truly a great experience for all of us,” she added with a smile.
McKenzie Parks is another senior who isn’t the tallest player on the team, but can jump as high or hit as hard as anyone else. She too was a key to Sale Creek’s success.
“This has been a season I’ll never forget as it feels weird for it to be over now,” she expressed by phone later in the afternoon.
“I felt like it was ours from the start. It was sad when it ended, but also a feel-good moment for us all. It was hard to believe it was my last match as a Sale Creek player, so to finally win a state championship was really amazing. We were all in tears before the match began, but were able to finish feeling good. But we worked so long and hard to get it,” she added.
While the championship experience was tremendously rewarding for all of the players, it was much the same for Briner, who was an All-State player at Sale Creek in volleyball and basketball before taking her volleyball career to Lee University. She’s been the head coach for three years after being an assistant for her mother Debbie Hill.
It was a whirlwind season for Erin to be sure as she gave birth to her second daughter two weeks before the championship match. Little Annie never missed a match as she slept contentedly through most of it. Erin and the rest of her family are still trying to catch their breath from all the excitement, but what an unforgettable experience it was for them all.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything better as these girls were dedicated from the start and a whole lot of fun to be around. It’s almost too good to be true,” Erin put everything in perspective.
“We had no major injuries and that was huge as it’s tough to play as many matches and to have as many hard practices and nobody get hurt. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us. We had a great season, but it was a totally different level of drive at the end.
“We had matches where we played better than that last one. Loretto is a great team, but we played well enough to win. It was pretty sweet to beat them for our first state title as they had beaten us so many times in years past, but we beat a quality team to win it all.
“We had a great group of fans supporting us in Murfreesboro, but the entire community showed up to welcome us home on Friday afternoon. We even had a fire truck escort when we got back, which was really neat.
“We have had some really good teams in the past and I’m the head coach now, but this championship belongs to my mom Debbie as she’s the one who built this program. She’s the one who deserves all the credit, but we knew this was the year for us. We just had to take advantage of our opportunities.
“We knew that if we played anywhere close to our potential that we had a shot to win. It’s certainly a dream come true for me as there were some quality teams in our classification. There were no easy matches for us,” Briner concluded with a smile.
A storybook season is now over for the Sale Creek Lady Panthers. They finally reached a goal that had been theirs as long as they’ve been playing volleyball. Who knows if they will ever have this same experience again, but one thing is for sure.
They had a great volleyball season in 2023 and they finished by winning the biggest tournament and the most important match at the end. And no matter how long these young ladies live, they will always have that memory to take with them.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)