Does Signal Mountain's volleyball team have an imposing frontline? That's a big 10-4.
No. 10 for the Lady Eagles is 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter Maia Rackel. No. 4 is 6-1 senior middle blocker Aubrie Johnson.
Led by the two all-state candidates, Signal Mountain competed this weekend in the River City Rumble high school tournament at Baylor and Soddy-Daisy. The Lady Eagles went 7-2 in the tournament and finished second to 27-0 Baylor, which won 30-28, 25-19 in the championship match.
They'll now turn their attention to finishing out the District 7-AA regular season. Their 5-0 start in league play has them atop the standings.
What Rackel lacks in height to Johnson, she makes up for in leaping ability. The two are in a close race for the team lead in kills, but it's another statistical category that's fueling Rackel this year.
"My goal is to make the Best of Preps team and beat Aubrie in blocks," she playfully said before Thursday's practice.
And as soon as she said it, her coach, Jennifer Redman, let her know she was ahead 40-39 in blocks going into the River City tournament. Rackel responded, "Oh, I am?"
Johnson's mission is completely different.
"I just want to be a good leader," Johnson said, "nothing that has to do with numbers. I just want to encourage everyone."
Not only did Johnson not take exception to what Rackel said, she suggested it's good to have rivalries among teammates.
"I think we always try to be better than the other one," Johnson said. "But also we encourage each other. It's not a competition all the time."
Where it is a competition all the time is against opposing teams, and the Lady Eagles are 24-7 after the Rumble. Redman said the team's motto this year has been "Power without control is useless."
The control they're working on. They've been given power, and not just with Johnson and Rackel.
Cora Hanson is a 6-2 junior who is regularly in the rotation. Junior Olivia Powers is third on the team in kills, and eighth-grader and coach's daughter Elaine Redman gets periodic playing time.
Setters Kate Barry, a junior, and Sidney Lapinski, a senior, have lots of choices.
"It's just nice to have the flexibility," Coach Redman said. "We've got so many options we can keep the defense guessing. Which 6-footer are we going to go to?"
Knoxville Catholic, which hosted a tournament that included the Lady Eagles last weekend, also is in Class AA. The Lady Irish are one team that seemed to have a remedy for Signal's height, because when the two went against each other, Catholic prevailed.
Were there lessons learned?
"We can't get scared," Rackel said. "I thought we played a little scared sometimes."
But make no mistake. Signal Mountain still has lofty expectations. Johnson made it clear that this year's team wants a gold trophy to go with the Class A one the 2010 team won.
And led by their big 10-4, these Lady Eagles believe they have what it takes to tower over the rest of the classification.
"I think they're as good, if not better, than any team we've had," Redman said. "If each individual does their job, we can give ourselves a shot to win the state tournament."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.