PLAYER OF THE YEAR
RACHEL SHAUGHNESSYRACHEL SHAUGHNESSY
Sparked by Shaughnessy's play, particularly at the net, Soddy-Daisy made a strong run at bringing home the school's first volleyball state championship but came up a little short. A five-set loss in the Class AAA losers-bracket final left the Lady Trojans with a third-place finish.
Soddy-Daisy (53-11) won the Region 3 championship and earned both the Disitrct 5 tournament and regularseason titles. Among the accomplishments in the regular season, the Lady Trojans won the Gold-division championships in the Early Bird tournament at Farragut and Oak Ridge and the Tennessee Tandem tournament at GPS, Ooltewah and Baylor.
Shaughnessy led them in kills (665), blocks (151) and aces (106) and also contributed 140 digs.
"We'd been playing together so long. We had six seniors and we were all very experienced," Shaughnessy said. "We just came together as a team. I just think everyone was so good on my team, it really helped me."
COACH OF THE YEAR
DEBBIE HILLDEBBIE HILL
Thanks to the achievements of a group of high school girls, a sparsely populated town on the north end of Hamilton County was beaming with pride this fall. Coach Hill, with her daughter Shelby assisting, guided her volleyball team to the District 6-A regular-season and tournament titles, a Region 3 championship and a statetournament berth - a first for any girls' athletic program at Sale Creek, which opened in 1973.
"I really felt like the girls started working toward this a couple of years ago. All of them gave a lot of effort and really focused as a team. It's probably the best team effort I've had in any sport I've coached," said Hill, who has also coached basketball and softball during her 31- year career.
Not many of the townspeople weren't there to watch in Murfreesboro, where the Lady Panthers finished third in the state after being eliminated by a five-set loss to Summertown. They ended the season 49-14; the Lady Panthers had never topped 30 victories previously. "We had so much support, not just at school but with our alumni and people from the past. It was huge," Hill said. "That kind of tells the story of Sale Creek."
FIRST TEAM
Loren BennettLoren Bennett
OOLTEWAH
¦ Senior setter/hitter
¦ She had 616 assists in her main role but also contributed 252 kills, 225 digs and 49 aces.
Sarah DavisSarah Davis
SODDY-DAISY
¦ Senior libero
¦ The defensive specialist and Lee University signee made 1,001 digs and served 105 aces.
Callie HildebrandCallie Hildebrand
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN
¦ Senior outside hitter
¦ The Gardner- Webb signee and former finals MVP accumulated 542 kills, 589 digs and 108 aces.
Erin HillErin Hill
SALE CREEK
¦ Junior setter/hitter
¦ The do-it-all performer had 785 kills, 127 blocks, 645 assists, 463 digs and 148 aces.
Tory KempTory Kemp
GPS
¦ Senior setter/hitter
¦ A force all the way
around, she totaled 494 kills, 160 blocks, 621 assists, 428 digs and 153 aces.
Nicole SumidaNicole Sumida
BAYLOR
¦ Senior middle hitter
¦ The Lee University signee had 366 kills, 86 blocks, 284 digs and 102 aces for a state runner-up team.
Rachel TravisRachel Travis
BAYLOR
¦ Junior outside hitter
¦ Her 485 kills, 393 digs and 70 aces helped the Lady Red Raiders finish second in Division II-AA.
SECOND TEAM
MEGAN COLLINS S.E. Whitfield Junior Hitter
KIANNA DELANEY Ooltewah Senior Hitter
SARA HOLDER Gordon Lee Senior Hitter
SADIE LETT GPS Senior Setter/hitter
KATIE LOFTIN East Hamilton Senior Libero
SAVANNAH NELSON Red Bank Junior Hitter
KELSEY NUNLEY Soddy-Daisy Senior Hitter
THIRD TEAM
RACHEL DARR Gordon Lee Senior Libero
OLIVIA HOLDEN Soddy-Daisy Senior Setter
DANIELLE MOORE Red Bank Senior Hitter
CHELSI ROARK Sale Creek Senior Hitter
MADELINE ROSE Baylor Junior Hitter
ELLEN SAWYER Notre Dame Junior Hitter
KATIE WARE Hixson Senior Hitter