Giving Baylor volleyball player Haven Bethune the nickname "Rifleman" would be too easy.
After all, she is headed to West Point to play the sport she loves. And with that commitment comes fives years of active military service, followed by three years of reserve duty.
"They approached me at a club tournament and we talked, then I called them back and we set up a date for a visit," Bethune said. "I committed while I was on my visit."
Bethune concluded Baylor's 3-0 victory at Girls Preparatory School on Wednesday night with a spike that left three Bruisers on the floor and thankful for their knee pads.
Baylor beat the Bruisers 25-18, 25-10, 25-10 despite having Gabby Gray, the reigning Gatorade Tennessee player of the year, on the bench with a thumb injury.
"We can persevere through anything," said Bethune, who finished with 12 kills. "Even with players hurt, we can still step up."
The Lady Raiders (37-4) are the dominant team in the Chattanooga area - and likely the dominant team within a two-hour radius of campus. Two of their four losses were against Knoxville's Webb, which has three players committed to NCAA Division I programs, and the other two losses were during a tournament in South Carolina.
Within their division, they're undefeated - and perhaps unbeatable until at least the state tournament. Division I schools are in the process of wrapping up their district tournaments and moving on to region and sub-state games over the next few days. Division II-AA schools like Baylor and GPS still have regular-season games remaining on the schedule.
"They put the ball where they want to. Their passing game goes to their setter, which gives them three options," GPS coach Paul Brock said. "And they serve tough, with hard-line floaters, then they move so well in transition from offense to defense.
"They're a really sound team."
Baylor pounded GPS (17-26) at the net with the 12 kills from Bethune, six from Ally Craig and three from Sarah Sumida.
After a frantic opening game in which GPS led 12-6, the Lady Raiders casually rallied, then closed the game with eight straight points.
"After not practicing yesterday, and with everything going on, it took a minute to get going," Baylor coach Sarah Lial said. "Once we got our passing going, we felt comfortable."
The Lady Raiders, with the precision passing and aggressive attack similar to a college team, were never threatened by the Bruisers in the closing points of any game.
"We work for it," Sumida said. "State is obviously the end goal. We just have to keep working toward that."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6484. Follow him at Twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP