The GPS Bruisers didn’t win their pool in the Hixson Invitational volleyball tournament at Hixson Middle School Saturday, but they came back and beat both pool winners en route to claiming the championship.
GPS, now 4-3 on the season, finished pool play with a 2-1 record, losing only to the CSAS Lady Patriots by a close 25-23, 25-22 final, but the Bruisers only got better as the day progressed.
GPS beat Pool A winner Notre Dame in three sets in the Gold division semifinals, winning by scores of 25-22, 19-25 and 18-16 before beating the Lady Patriots in their second meeting of the day.
The scores the second time weren’t as close as GPS prevailed by scores of 25-20 and 25-23.
It’s a rebuilding year for GPS and veteran coach Alfie Dodd, who is back on the sideline after leading the program a few years back. He’s got a young team and is starting six freshmen. When they believe in themselves and play with confidence, they are hard to beat and that was the case on Saturday.
“We’re rebuilding with six freshmen starters, but they’re awesome when their confidence level is up,” Dodd said shortly after the final point had been scored.
“Ball control and nerves are two factors that are big for us. I think we may have been a bit nervous the first time we played today, but they played with a lot more confidence the second time around.
“I thought we played well today. I feel like we can play with anyone when we believe in ourselves, but we just have to stay aggressive and not hold back,” Dodd added.
The Bruisers scored the first three points in the opening set and had a 4-2 lead before the Lady Patriots scored the next three points for their only lead at 5-4 following a block by Savannah Moore.
Back-to-back kills by Catie Nicola and an ace from Emma Larosa led to the first timeout for the Lady Patriots.
A kill from Kaylee Cantrell got CSAS with two points at 15-13, but it never got any closer as the Bruisers slowly pulled away to win the first set by five points.
Six straight service points from Ellie Holland allowed the Bruisers to build a 6-0 lead in the second set.
A kill from Moore knotted the score at 10-10 before the Bruisers scored six of the next seven points for a 16-11 lead.
A hitting error by the Bruisers allowed CSAS to get within two at 20-18 and an ace by Olivia Coleman near the end of the match got the Lady Patriots within a point at 24-23, but it ended a minute later when Nicola wrapped up things with her sixth kill.
Jenkins had 23 assists for the Bruisers while Cat Nygaard had 21 digs. Holland was tops with three aces and a dozen digs.
Alex Blye, Cadence Nichols, Brooklyn Smith and Nicola all had six kills while Nichols and Smith both had a couple of blocks.
Walker Valley defeated Sequatchie County to win the Silver division.
GPS returns to action with a rematch at Notre Dame on Monday while the Lady Patriots will host Grace that same day.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)