Sale Creek Wins, Loses In Class A State Volleyball

MURFREESBORO – The Sale Creek Lady Panthers are still alive in the Class A division of the TSSAA State Volleyball Tournament, but they will have to win three times on Thursday to have a shot at a state title on Friday.

The Lady Panthers had no problem disposing of the Loretto Lady Mustangs in Wednesday ‘s opening round at Siegel High School, but they weren’t as fortunate in the second round against Concord Christian.

Sale Creek won that first match by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-18 before running into the Lady Lions for the second time this season.  Wednesday’s second match was a tale of two halves as Concord breezed to wins of 25-13 and 25-19 in the first two sets before Sale Creek got serious.

The Lady Panthers played really well in the third and fourth sets as they prevailed by scores of 25-18 twice, but they simply didn’t have enough left in the gas tank as the Lady Lions advanced with a 15-7 win in that fifth and decisive final set.

Concord Christian had defeated Sale Creek in Knoxville on Sept. 17 and Wednesday’s loss snapped a 13-match winning streak.  The Lady Lions are now 23-9 for the season.

“All of my girls stepped up in that first match as our passing was good and I thought we shared the ball well,” said Sale Creek coach Debbie Hill after the win over the Lady Mustangs.

“I felt like we were excited and ready to play, but it was just business as usual.  That was a great way to get started in this tournament,” she added.

While the Lady Panthers looked really good in that first match, they looked like they had never seen a volleyball in the first two sets of the match with Concord Christian.

Sale Creek made an incredible comeback, but it was a matter of too little and too late.

“We just came up a little bit short,” Hill said after the loss to Concord.

“I thought we played well in the third and fourth sets, but they started playing well at the start while we waited a while.  One of our biggest downfalls this season is the emotional letdown we have when things don’t go well.

“We can’t expect to play poorly at this tournament and come out on top.  But I liked the way we battled back in the third and fourth sets.  If we can play like that tomorrow, we could make some noise,” she added.

Abbey Burton had two good matches for Sale Creek as she finished with 19 kills and 14 digs in the first one and 15 kills and 13 digs in the second one.

Ariana Smith also played well and had 10 kills and 22 digs in the first match and 14 kills and 28 digs in the second.

Bailey Nelson had 28 assists in the first match and 26 in the second while Morgan Weatherford had 50 digs in the two matches.  Madysun Steele had a dozen blocks on the day, including nine in the second match.

The Lady Panthers will face the winner of the Summertown-Middleton match at 11:30 (EST) on Thursday at MTSU’s Murphy Center.

SALE CREEK STATS VS. LORETTO:

Ariana Smith – 10 kills, 22 digs, 1 assist, 1 block

Abbey Burton – 19 kills, 14 digs, 1 ace

Gracie Janow – 9 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace, 5 blocks

Bailey Nelson – 4 digs, 28 assists, 5 aces

Tayla Willis – 1 kill, 4 digs, 3 blocks

Morgan Weatherford – 30 digs, 1 ace

Avery Cox – 1 dig

Sydney Gibson – 1 kill, 2 digs, 4 blocks

Jayla Perry – 3 digs, 10 assists

Madysun Steele – 3 kills, 3 blocks.

SALE CREEK STATS VS. CONCORD CHRISTIAN:

Ariana Smith – 14 kills, 28 digs, 1 assist, 3 blocks

Abbey Burton – 15 kills, 13 digs, 1 block

Gracie Janow – 9 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks

Bailey Nelson – 11 digs, 26 assists

Tayla Willis – 2 kills, 9 digs, 10 assists, 5 blocks

Morgan Weatherford – 20 digs

Avery Cox – 5 digs

Sydney Gibson – 7 digs, 3 blocks

Jayla Perry – 2 digs, 3 assists

Madysun Steele – 5 kills, 8 digs, 1 assist, 9 blocks.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)