For the 16th consecutive season the South Greene volleyball team will be making the trip to Murfreesboro for the state volleyball tournament, but this journey has been anything but smooth.
The Lady Rebels only got to play on their home court twice after construction and fire made the gym on Rebel Hill unplayable, the flooding caused by Hurricane Helene hit the South Greene community particularly hard, and then injuries have scrambled the lineup all year. That led to an eight-win regular season, a sum far below the standard the Lady Rebels are used to. But in the postseason things began to click, and for South Greene coach Stephen Gregg that makes this trip to state all the more gratifying.
“We set out to be here at the first of the year, that’s our goal every year,” Gregg said. “A lot of people might have thought we were crazy for thinking that. I am so proud of this team. So many little things have pulled at them individually and as a team, but they got through them. As a coach you don’t have favorite teams, but this team tugs at my heart strings. I would have hated for this to be the year that ended that streak, but they have been through so much and that will make this year all the more memorable.”
South Greene will open the Class A State Tournament on Tuesday at Blackman High School against Union City at 2:30 pm Central Time. Union City is making its third all-time appearance in the state tournament and first since 2020. The Lady Tornadoes have never won a match at the state tournament. They beat Middleton 3-1 in the state sectionals. Before that they fell to Gibson County 3-0 in the Region 7A championship.
While wins, and matches for that matter, have been fewer than South Greene is used to coming into the state tournament Gregg feels like his team has been playing its best volleyball in recent weeks. He is hopeful their level of play can pick up even more in Murfreesboro.
“These girls are on a mission, we haven’t lost a set in the postseason,” Gregg said. “I think we are starting to peak. I’m as proud of this team as any team, but I still don’t think that I’ve seen their best. I think there is still more in the tank.”
Union City will not have any players on the floor that have state tournament experience, while South Greene will have a handful of veterans that have played important roles in Murfreesboro. Those include seniors Davanie Tarlton, Addison Compton, Baylee Jennings and Faith Baughard. The Lady Rebels will count heavily on that group to lead the team through the bracket this week.
“Its going to take us older girls preparing the younger ones, we have to make sure they know what to expect,” Tarlton said. “We have to expect to play in a loud gym. There are going to be bigger hitters, bigger than what we’ve seen in our conference. We just really have to keep up our energy up and communicate with each other. We can’t give up easy points.”
South Greene does not expect the road environment to be too much for them this week, after all it hardly knows what a home crowd feels like. The Lady Rebel only played two home games all season and had to move the schedule around often, playing home matches at South Greene middle and Eastview Rec Center. Their home state sectional contest last week was even played at Chuckey-Doak.
“There are going to be schools that are a lot closer to Murfreesboro than we are and they are going to bring bus loads of fans,” Tarlton said. “We just have to be prepared to that. But we have played away all season and I honestly think that can help us. We are used to traveling and not having big crowds, that might be an advantage.”
On the same side of the bracket as South Greene and Union City are Loretto, the 2023 state runner up, and Chattanooga School for Arts and Science, who eliminated West Greene in the state sectionals.
On the other side of the bracket defending state champion Sale Creek is back in the field along with 2023 fourth-place finisher East Robertson, and Summertown is back in the field for the 20th time and fifth time in six years.
