MURFREESBORO – The South Greene volleyball team fought hard, but could never get over the hump on Wednesday as it saw its season come to an end in the Class A State Tournament.
In the third-place bracket at Rockvale High School in t Murfreesboro the Lady Rebels fell to Bledsoe Couty 3-0, 25-22, 28-26, 25-18.
“This one hurts really bad. I felt like the girls wanted this really bad, and we couldn’t put the first set behind us,” South Greene coach Stephen Gregg said. “We put too much pressure on ourselves the whole time down here. I think if we could have gotten one set under us it would have taken the lid off this place, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I don’t know that I have seen nerves attack a bunch like it did this team, and if we could have just won that one set it would broken all the tension.”
For seniors Kinley McCaslin and Haylee Bird it was the last match they will play for South Greene, but their leadership was a big reason the Lady Rebels were able to return to the state tournament for the 18th consecutive season.
“I know they are heartbroken. We lose two seniors who have worked so hard so to get here,” Gregg said. “Haylee is a kid that has stuck it out and really stepped up as a senior. Kinley has led the team in most categories this year. She has been blessing for us. Both are going to be really missed.”
The first set started with the Lady Warriors taking control early while South Greene struggled to gain its footing. Bledsoe County spread the attack across the net with Molly Agee, Jada Brown and Carson Sells all earning kills on the way to an 11-3 lead.
South Greene ended the run with a right-side kill from Emma Padgett and Kinley McCaslin followed with a slam from the left side. Padgett followed with a pair of service aces that the Lady Warriors sent into the bleachers as the gap closed to 12-8.
Bledsoe made another run and when Kaylan Angel landed a kill from the middle the Lady Warriors were in front19-10.
South Greene closed strong, but the lead was too much to overcome. Haylee Bird beat the block with a tip and then Riley Southerland scored on a block that cut Bledsoe’s lead to 22-18. Padgett scored on a block, a tip and a kill, but Bledsoe’s Sells ended the 25-22 win with a slam.
“We have to learn that slow starts can burry you down here. If you have a slow start and fight back to make respectable it takes a ton of energy. And its hard to fight back, spend that energy and keep going,” Gregg said.
The second set started with South Greene gaining control and building a 12-3 lead. Padgett had five kills and scored on two more tips in that opening stretch.
South Greene’s Jaelyn Fillers slammed one from the left post to make it 13-5, but then match began to turn.
Two errors gave the serve to Bledsoe County and after a kill from the middle by Sells the lead was down to 14-10. The Lady Warriors made it a one-point game at 15-14 on an ace from Bailey Carroll.
Padgett kept South Greene in front with three more slams, but a missed tip put Bledsoe in front at 19-18.
Three straight kills from Padgett made in 22-19, and South Greene had a 24-22 lead before misses proved costly again.
Olivia Hooks used a left side kill to tie things at 26-26, Jada Brown came up with a block and then Bledsoe went in front 2-0 when South Greene’s final swing missed its mark.
“It wasn’t just one thing. You have to play flawless when you get down here. I don’t really know how it happened. It was one or two things here and one or two things there, and that six-point lead is a one-point deficit. That’s volleyball,” Gregg said.
After stealing the momentum late in the second set Bledsoe County carried that into the third set and took a 13-4 lead. Five South Greene errors contributed to that lead while Agee had three kills and an ace.
With Macie Cutshaw serving South Greene got back in the match and narrowed the margin to 13-9.
South Greene could not maintain that momentum and Bledsoe went back in front 19-11.
Padgett led one last run with a tip, a block and two kills from the middle that made it 19-17. The Lady Rebels’ run ended there and Bledsoe County ended the night with a 25-18 win.
South Greene returns 12 of the 14 players on its varsity roster next year, and Gregg is hopeful that the group learns from this week and can use that to make a run a 19th straight state tournament next year.
“This team has worked so hard and has been really fun to coach this year. Now they need to build on this experience,” Gregg said. “They need take the tough lessons from these losses. The sting of defeat effects people differently. The ones that want to work at it will put in the work in the offseason. I always challenge them to remember this feeling. If you don’t want to feel it again, what are you going to do to fix it?”
