Baylor Bounces Back To Earn Finals Berth Against Briarcrest

Lady Red Raiders Sweep Harpeth Hall After Gabby Gray Gets Hurt

  • Thursday, October 20, 2016
  • John Hunt
Baylor's Gabby Gray, shown in an earlier state tournament match against Father Ryan, saw her high school career end with a serious ankle injury in Thursday's losers' bracket final match against Harpeth Hall. The Lady Red Raiders went on to win that match and earn a rematch in the championship tilt with Briarcrest. That match will be played at 10:30 a.m. CT inside MTSU's Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
Baylor's Gabby Gray, shown in an earlier state tournament match against Father Ryan, saw her high school career end with a serious ankle injury in Thursday's losers' bracket final match against Harpeth Hall. The Lady Red Raiders went on to win that match and earn a rematch in the championship tilt with Briarcrest. That match will be played at 10:30 a.m. CT inside MTSU's Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
photo by Dennis Norwood

MURFREESBORO – There’s good news and bad news concerning the Baylor volleyball team.

The good news is that they will be playing Briarcrest on Friday morning at MTSU’s Murphy Center for the Division II-AA state volleyball title.

The bad news is that they’ll be facing that monumental challenge without the services of their best player and team leader Gabby Gray.

The x-rays were negative and there is no break in her ankle, so she is free to play in Friday's championship match.  However, that is highly unlikely.

The Lady Red Raiders were a bit down following the loss to Briarcrest in the winners bracket final, but they came back stronger than ever to beat Harpeth Hall by a 3-0 margin to earn the right to play the Lady Saints.  Scores were 25-19, 25-23 and 25-23.

Baylor improves to 45-3 while Harpeth Hall finishes its season at 26-8.

Harpeth Hall had taken Baylor to five sets a couple of weeks ago before losing and most folks knew that Thursday’s rematch would be much of the same.

Sarah Sumida was in the middle of seven straight service points when Gray went down underneath the net right in front of the official table.  She was in obvious pain when she landed and it took several minutes to get her shoe removed and replaced with an air splint.

But once play resumed, Baylor seemed to play better.  The lead was 18-16 when she got hurt and the Lady Raiders added three more points before the Honey Bears scored.  A kill from Lexie Laurendine put Baylor at set point and it was over when a Honey Bear landed in the net.

Harpeth Hall played well to start the second set and had an 18-13 lead which led to a Baylor timeout.  A kill from Paris Buckner knotted the score at 21 and another kill from Sarah Sumida a minute later put Baylor ahead 24-23.  The advantage went to 2-0 when the Honey Bears were whistled for a lift to end the second set.

Honey Bear head coach Jenny Greenstone didn’t like the way that second set ended and approached the head official between sets to complain, which led to a Baylor point and a permanent seat on the Harpeth Hall bench for the entire third set.

Baylor, playing more and more inspired as the match went on, had total control in that third set and Harpeth Hall’s only lead came at 23-22 following a Baylor hitting error.  Refusing to be denied, the next serve went into the net, Baylor took a 24-23 lead on another Honey Bear hitting error before securing the match on a kill from Buckner.

“What a great team effort,” said an emotional Baylor coach Sarah Lail after the shutout of the Honey Bears was complete.

“It surely hurts when your best player goes down and she’s apologizing for getting hurt, but we put a bunch of kids in different positions and they responded in a positive way.  That just shows how strong this team is, but we proved we could beat a quality team with our best player on the sideline.

“We really don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but we have a shot to play for another state title and that’s all we wanted from the start,” Lail added.

Ally Craig came through against Harpeth Hall with 13 kills while Sumida played her usual outstanding match and finished with 36 assists.  Lilly Turner had 19 digs while Jane Wilson stepped in with eight kills, Buckner with six and Laurendine and Denver Rogers with five kills each.

In the match against Briarcrest, it seemed like Baylor was playing from behind the entire match.

The Lady Saints scored the first four points of the first set and led 7-2 before the Lady Red Raiders came back.  A kill from Craig gave Baylor its first lead at 12-11, but just as quickly, Briarcrest regained the advantage.

The score was tied nine times in that first set, the last at 23-23, but a hitting error by Baylor and a kill from Kendall Strand gave the girls in green the early lead.

Baylor played its best volleyball in the second set when they bolted to a 7-0 lead.  Briarcrest never gave up and got to within two at 22-20 and 23-21, but the Lady Saints never led as a kill from Gabby Gray evened the match at one set apiece.

The Lady Raiders led the third set at the start, the last time at 8-7 following a kill from Laurendine.  A kill from Lindi Perkins evened the score before a double against Baylor gave the girls from West Tennessee the lead.  Baylor never regained the lead as Briarcrest got a huge momentum swing with that third-set victory.

The fourth set was never close.

A kill from Perkins gave the Lady Saints a 2-1 lead before she recorded six straight service points for an 8-1 lead.  Baylor never got any closer than five points as Briarcrest closed the match on a kill by Rachel Sullivan.

“That was a good match as we came to play today,” said Briarcrest coach Carla Anderton after her team had improved to 44-3.

“I’m really pleased as there’s a lot of pressure on these girls.  We were uptight in our match against Harpeth Hall yesterday, so I just told them to relax and enjoy the moment,” she added.

Baylor’s Lail knows that her girls didn’t play their best match, but the tournament is a long way from over.

“We just gave a high-quality team too many easy balls and it cost us,” she said shortly after the match ended.

“It was hard to stop them once their offense got going, but we just need to serve better and be better defenders.  I was pleased with the way we played at times, but we have to turn our focus to Harpeth Hall now,” Lail nodded.

Alyiah Wells had 17 kills to lead the Briarcrest attack while Strand finished with 16.  Perkins had nine kills and 17 digs while Abigayle Ramey had 18 digs.  Callie Anderton also played well with 43 assists and 15 digs.

Gray had 18 kills and 10 digs to lead Baylor while teammate Turner had 15 digs.  Sumida finished with 43 assists.

BAYLOR STATS VS. BRIARCREST:

Sarah Sumida – 2 kills, 43 assists, 8 digs

Gabby Gray – 18 kills, 10 digs, 1 block

Ally Craig – 11 kills, 5 digs

Lilly Turner – 15 digs, 1 ace, 1 assist

Jane Wilson – 7 kills,  1 block

Paris Buckner – 7 kills, 1 block

Lexie Laurendine – 3 kills, 1 block

Denver Rogers – 4 digs, 1 ace

Laura Kate May – 3 digs.

BAYLOR STATS VS. HARPETH HALL:

Sarah Sumida – 4 kills, 36 assists, 1 dig, 1 block

Gabby Gray – 2 kills, 2 digs

Ally Craig – 13 kills, 1 dig

Lilly Turner – 1 ace, 19 digs

Jane Wilson – 8 kills, 2 blocks

Paris Buckner – 6 kills, 2 blocks

Lexie Laurendine – 5 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks

Denver Rogers – 5 kills, 1 ace, 5 digs

Laura Kate May – 4 digs

Elizabeth Case – 1 kill, 1 ace, 1 dig.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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