MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Second-year program Signal Mountain qualified a team with no seniors for the Class A state high school volleyball tournament and ended up with a third-place finish.
The Lady Eagles lost 3-0 to Loretto in Friday morning's losers-bracket final at Middle Tennessee State University. Game scores were 25-19, 26-24, 25-19.
Callie Hildebrand had 15 kills in the last match for the Lady Eagles, who were District 6 regular-season and tournament champions and Region 3 runners-up. Sydni Abbajay was next with seven kills and Georgia Paturalski led with 29 assists.
Signal Mountain coach Jennifer Redman said if her players learned anything the last three days, it's that they have to come ready to play every point. The competition is too tough to have any flat performances.
"We talked about the state tournament, but the biggest thing with us is winning the district," Redman said. "With a young team especially, you can't look that far ahead. I do think they did get better as the season went along."
Kelley Smiddie is a sports writer who has worked at the Times Free Press for 12 years. He covers high school sports and softball. Kelley’s hometown is Chattanooga, and he graduated from Brainerd High School and graduated Chattanooga State and UTC. Contact Kelley at 423-757-6653 or ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com.
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