The Greeneville volleyball team picked the perfect time to turn in what may have been its best performance of the year.
On Wednesday night in the winners’ bracket finals of the District 1-AA Tournament the Lady Devils unseated top seed Elizabethton with a 3-1 win, 19-25, 25-9, 27-25, 25-19.
“I’m super proud of these girls,” Greeneville coach Sara Aiken said. “They came in and they executed everything that we have worked on. Things that have been up and down all season, they ironed out today. I think in first set there may have been too much adrenaline going, but once they settled into the battle they were in it to win it.”
Wednesday marked the first time anyone in District 1-AA had beaten Elizabethton this season. The Lady Cyclones went on to beat Sullivan East 3-0 in the losers’ bracket finals. That sets up a rematch on Thursday for the league title. Elizabethton will have to beat Greeneville twice to win the championship. Both teams advance to next week’s Region 1-AA Tournament. Thursday’s action will start at 5:30 at Greeneville High School.
“We know that they are going to come back tomorrow with a plan,” Aiken said. “But I think if we just play our game and stick with what we do well we can have success. These girls have won three really important games this week. To beat a team that was undefeated in the district, was really mature from these players.”
After dropping the first set seemingly everything went Greeneville’s way in the second set in a dominant 25-9 win. That started with Destani Bailey setting the tone in the middle. She scored Greeneville’s first two points with a menacing block and then a kill.
Bailey’s play at the net was difference making on Wednesday. Not only were her kills momentum builders for Greeneville, but her play on defense took away the Lady Cyclones top weapon. Elizabethton’s Ava George Wilbur has one of the best swings in the district, but Bailey was able to frustrate the hitter with her blocks and forced Elizabethton to change how it plays offense.
“Destani came alive on the net, but especially her blocking made the difference,” Aiken said. “Her effort to close the block, to get good lines on the block gave us a shot in the arm when we needed it. The plan had to be to block (Wilber), and to execute that was great. We wanted to make her think twice about swinging hard.”
Greeneville really got going when Trudi Aiken lofted a perfect pass that allowed Kyla Jobe to blast a kill from the back row. Then, just like on the softball diamond, Brynlee Jones beat the Lady Cyclones with a pair of sinkers that went for aces and a 13-4 Greeneville lead.
Jobe kept things going with a smart tip and followed with an ace for a 16-5 lead.
In the closing stretch Bailey pushed one deep, then scored on a kill and a block. Aiken had an ace and Kinley McCaslin had a kill.
After the lopsided loss Elizabethton started the third set hot and took a quick 6-1 lead. Wilber had a block and a kill while the Lady Cyclones took advantage of three missed swings by the Lady Devils.
Two aces by Abby Gwinn put Elizabethton in front 10-5, but then Greeneville began to mount a comeback. Emma Shelton got Greeneville going with a tip from the middle and then with Jobe serving two Elizabethton errors closed the gap to 10-9.
An ace from Aiken evened the score at 14-14 and Greeneville took the lead for the first time at 15-14 when McCaslin rose up high on the left side and smashed a kill. Bailey followed with a block to make it 16-14.
From there the score went back and forth into extra points, and on the back row Jones, Jobe and Manning Click made numerous hustle plays to make sure the set did not get away from the Lady Devils.
McCaslin tied things at 25-25 with a right-side kill. Jobe then pushed a ball to the back line to put Greeneville on top. She then finished the 27-25 with a thunderous first-hit kill.
“I think that was a match-making effort right there,” Aiken said. “When you are gritty enough to finish that set out after coming from behind, it deflates everything they did on the other side.”
Jobe’s knack to see the floor was a difference maker in the third set as she alternated between soft and hard touches while in the air, and it kept the Lady Cyclones guessing.
“Kyla was reeling them in and then tagging one,” Aiken said. “If you have the athleticism and vision to execute that it is a weapon. She sees the court so well, and I think some of that comes from basketball where you are always have to look up and see the court for things like fast breaks.”
In the fourth set Greeneville gained the first advantage at 6-3 after Leah Ford put down a kill from the right side and Shelton landed a kill from the middle.
Bailey then snuck a tip over a pair of would-be blockers, and then she scored on block for a 12-7 Greeneville lead.
On consecutive plays Bailey and Jobe combined to stuff Wilber in the middle before Jobe earned a block on the right side for a 15-9 lead. Jobe then came up with an ace that pushed the lead to 20-12.
In the final stretch Bailey pounded two more kills from the middle and the night ended with a 25-19 Greeneville win.
