MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — For the second straight day, the East Hamilton volleyball team battled for five sets at the Tennessee state 3A volleyball championships at Siegel High School.
Day one saw the Lady Hurricanes prevail against Collierville by a 3-2 margin. Day two wasn't quite as productive for East Hamilton as Wednesday's five-set brawl with Nolensville ended in a 3-2 Lady Knights victory.
The Lady 'Canes started strong with a 25-17 win in set one before giving up a close 25-23 loss to the Lady Knights in the second set. Another close battle saw East Hamilton pull off a 25-22 win in the third set before Nolensville recovered to take set four buy a 25-20 score. The Knights moved on to face defending state champion Cleveland with a 15-11 tiebreaker win.
The loss sends the Lady 'Canes to the elimination bracket where they will battle to stay alive against either Maryville or Brentwood Thursday at noon CST.
“I am disappointed, but just with the fifth set, honestly. Our players just felt like it's over. We addressed that right now (after the match). I thought this was the best volleyball we've played all season,” said Lady Hurricanes head coach Antonela Tomic. “Throughout the match I was telling them this is exciting, this is volleyball that would win championship of the state. That's the level we played. I am really not disappointed. We played a level of volleyball that if we keep playing this way we can be in the championship.”
Three aces by East Hamilton's Tristin Sutton, two kills from Georgia Dobson and a block by Julia Culpepper greeted Nolensville as the Lady 'Canes opened an 8-1 lead in set one. A seven point run highlighted by two Dobson aces and a pair of kills by Camryn Daniels made it a 15-4 game. The 'Canes cruised the rest of the way as Nolensville attempted to battle back cutting the lead to 21-14 late in the set. East Hamilton took a 24-16 lead to make it 24-16 and picked up the final point on a Nolensville service error.
Set two had a different look from the outset as the Knights took a 6-2 lead and pushed to a 14-8 lead. The Lady 'Canes fought back to tie the score at 16-16 and held a pair of leads before the Knights slipped out front 21-20. Two straights Nolensville aces made it 24-21. East Hamilton pulled back to within a single points, 24-23, before the Lady Knights grabbed the set win with a final point.
The third set proved to be another battle between the powerhouses as Nolensville pushed to an 8-5 lead before upping the score to 12-7. Kills by Dobson and Daniels helped the Lady Hurricanes stay close at 16-13 before a tip kill by Dobson knotted the score at 16-16. East Hamilton tied the score four more times in the closing minutes and took a one point lead, 23-22, on another Dobson kill. An error put the Lady' Canes up 24-22 setting up a set winning kill by Savannah Hughes to give East Hamilton a 3-2 match lead.
Both teams continued to play at a high level in the fourth set as the 'Canes and Knights tied the score eight times in the first 12 points. Nolensville pushed to a 14-12 lead and held a 20-16 advantage late. Kills by Dobson and Daniels combined with a Hana Suzuki ace cut made it 21-20. But, the Knights were able to pull off the final four points to sent the match into a tiebreaker.
Nolensville quickly put East Hamilton in a hole with a 4-1 lead to start the fifth set and never looked back running the cushion to 9-3. The Hurricanes battled back to close the gap to 12-9 but were unable to get closer than three points as Nolensville advanced to Thursday's semifinal match against Cleveland.
“It's always disappointing to lose, but again our whole season's culture of volleyball is to find successes not through every loss because we had some wins that were ugly and we did not deserve to win. We need to make sure we find the success. We are getting better. We are playing great as a team. We are playing a very high level of volleyball,” said Tomic.
“Kudos to Nolensville. After the first set they came back and we knew that's how they can play. They started playing better, but again, I'm very, very proud of our team. Am I disappointed we lost? Yes I am. We all need some time to process our feelings. But, it's so exciting to see East Hamilton playing this level of volleyball.”
Thursday's semifinal match will determine whether or not the Lady Hurricanes stay in the hunt or call it a season. Tomic is confident her squad has what it takes to recover and move forward.
“We'll be back tomorrow. It might be a little bit of a longer way, but we can do it. We do not want to be disappointed because we do not give our best,” she said. “For us, when we step on that court and we play East Hamilton volleyball we want to be competitors. We want to make sure we challenge out opponent, that's what competition should be about. Our opponent deserves our best play. They got our best playing today.”