Hannah Wood drew a red heart on the back of her hand before Red Bank's volleyball match Tuesday against East Ridge.
She kissed her hand after the Lady Lions won 3-1.
The symbol means something special to the squad.
"During the Hixson tournament I called time out and drew two things on the board," Red Bank coach Mandi Munn said. "The first was a shovel, because we were in a hole. The second was a heart, because that's what we needed to get out of that hole.
"Then Hannah said, 'A full heart.'"
Red Bank's Jasmine Simpson hits the ball with teammate Hannah Wood looking on as East Ridge's Michaela Moore leaps to block the shot Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at Red Bank High School.Each of the Lady Lions know the recent Red Bank tradition. They've reached the state tournament in each of the last seven seasons. They want the streak to continue, especially the six seniors, and they're not afraid to discuss it in the open.
They don't see a comparable jinx like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter in the eighth inning. The topic is open for discussion every day.
They chat about it in class and in the locker room and have been doing so since a preseason meeting of the seniors.
"We talk about it all the time," said senior Megan Paradis, a setter in the last two state-tournament trips. "First, we want to make it back, and we talk about things we need to improve on.
"It's crazy important that we keep the tradition going."
The Lady Lions took a small step toward that goal Tuesday - not so much in getting a win but in terms of improvement.
They climbed out of a 1-0 hole to beat the Lady Pioneers by winning the last three sets. The set scores were 23-25, 26-24, 25-18 and 25-15.
"We fixed things that we hadn't been doing so well," said Wood, who had nine assists, five kills, five digs and five aces. "We communicated on every play, and we didn't get in any big holes."
Both teams made steps toward progress. The Lady Lions have their sights on Murfreesboro. Realistic goals are slightly lower at East Ridge (6-6) under first-year coach Kerilyn Mongar, who is building on the legacy left behind by Hall of Fame coach Catherine Neely after a topsy-turvy 2014 season.
"We are starting to finally jell and starting to gain respect," Mongar said. "We improved a bit tonight by talking it up, and we finished some plays. We did a good job of being scrappy after the ball."
Tuesday resulted in a small step of progress toward the ultimate goal - for both teams.
Red Bank senior Dani Usher has participated in the state tournament in each of her first three years. She wants to go again. This time, if at all possible, win the state championship and get a ring.
"We had a senior meeting before the season and we talked about how we didn't want to lose the tradition and to play our best all the time," Usher said. "We have the talent. We just have to play with our hearts.
"When we all put our hands in a circle, it shows we have full hearts."
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.