On Tuesday night every point mattered, every bounce of the ball proved consequential, and it was Greeneville who proved to be the beneficiary of just enough of those bounces to finish on top of District 1-AA foe Elizabethton in a five-set volleyball thriller.
“I’m so proud of our girls. We’ve worked on taking some steps forward on defense, we’ve worked on finishing on offense, and it felt like it all culminated tonight,” Greeneville coach Sara Aiken said. “To be this gritty and to play through that kind of push back from Elizabethton was great. To see us play that strong, and confident and gutsy was a win, regardless of what the scoreboard showed.”
Those gathered at Greeneville High and those tuning into the First Horizon Spotlight Game of the Week on GreeneSportsZone.com were on the edge of their seats the whole night as neither team held more than a four-point lead at any point during the final three sets. The Lady Devils found the right finishing touches more often than the Lady Cyclones and took a 3-2 win (25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 25-27, 15-12).
“When you face a five-set match that goes to the end, and you are uncomfortable and tired and mentally exhausted, for them to stay together and trust each other is beautiful. It was awesome to see that,” Aiken said.
Taking down the Lady Cyclones in August was a big step for Greeneville, but Aiken expects a few more battles with Elizabethton before the season ends. The Lady Devils and Lady Cyclones have met in the District 1-AA championship game each of the last two seasons.
“Elizabethton is a rival for us and this is such a big confidence boost,” Aiken said. “We need to learn from this. We need to learn to finish early. We can’t let mistakes sink us, and we have to stay up. This is a big win, but we need to take those things into the next match.”
The fifth and deciding set started even like much of the night, but a missed kill by the Lady Devils and a ball that banged off the ceiling gave Elizabethton a 10-7 lead.
The Lady Cyclone held a 12-10 lead after Mahala Nave landed a kill from the middle.
From there the flipped switch for the Lady Greene Devils and they scored the final five points of the night. Leah Ford stared the run with a kill from the left side. Emma Shelton followed with an equalizing ace.
Greeneville went in front when Allison Hayes made a diving dig from Willow Aiken count by dropping over a second hit.
Kinley McCaslin then hammered a kill from the right side and Brylee Tullock appropriately ended the night with a slam from the left side.
In the intense contest Tullock was calling for the ball late and in crunch time she was taking some of Greeneville’s best swings. Her play from both front and back rows was a big reason Greeneville was able to secure the win.
The day started with Elizabethton playing in front for much of the first set and that lead reached 20-14 before the Lady Devils closed strong.
An ace by Hayes cut the Lady Cyclones’ lead down to 20-18, and a kill by McCaslin put the Lady Devils in front 22-21. Ford followed with a pair of aces and Tullock ended the 25-22 win with a kill from the right side.
Scoring from all three spots on the front the row, especially the right side, was important for Greeneville on Tuesday as it kept a quality Elizabethton defense guessing.
“Against teams that are good at defense we have to diversify our offense. We have been working on that, we had to work on that tonight. It’s really important that all of our attackers are finishing well,” Aiken said.
In the second set kills from Natalie Knight, Ford, Tullock and McCaslin, a tip by Shelton and aces from Aiken and Brynlee Jones had Greeneville in front 16-9.
It was Greeneville’s biggest lead if the night, but then errors began to mount and Elizabethton tied things at 18-18. The Lady Cyclones scored only two attacking points in the run.
Jasy Shell pushed one to the back line to put Elizabethton in front 20-19, and a kill by Nave secured the 25-23 win that knotted things at 1-1.
In the third set Greeneville did not take the lead until 18-17 when the Lady Cyclones committed a free-ball error. After a long volley Ford nailed a first-hit kill into the floor and then Manning Click landed an ace.
Tuesday’s contest was filled with long volleys and wild bounces, and it took a herculean effort from both defenses to keep the ball in the air. For Greeneville that effort was led by Click who was diving from sideline to sideline to keep plays alive.
“Manning is tough,” Aiken said. “She is scrapped and bruised. She is tackling people to get to the ball. She is a go getter and we want to play the ball through her. When she isn’t on the floor things can be become chaos because she is so communicative.”
In the fourth set Elizabethton took a 21-17 lead when Ainsley Wanmpler slammed one from the left side.
Greeneville kept swinging and Knight landed a kill from the right side on the next play. After a diving save by Tullock Ford used a tip to knot things at 21-21.
Kills by Shelton, McCaslin and Tullock again evened things at 22-22, 23-23 and 24-24 respectively.
Greeneville led at 25-24 when Aubree Honeycutt scored on a push, but Elizabethton scored the final three points for a 27-25 win.
The Lady Devils fought hard for every point and every bounce before knocking off rival Elizabethton in a 5-set thriller on Tuesday. Hear from Head Coach Sara Aiken on how Greeneville was able to grit out a tough win. pic.twitter.com/SLOeca4R4A
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