Soddy-Daisy volleyball player Hayli Raines has an obviously curious spelling of her name.
Shouldn’t it be Hayli Reigns?
Anyone that’s seen the 6-foot senior hammer spike after spike off gymnasium floors can attest to the power with which she hits. Perhaps opponents left with marked body parts can better confirm.
Raines and her teammates enter play today in the high school state tournament at Murfreesboro. Soddy-Daisy (49-11) is one of six teams from Hamilton County to earn their way into the competition.
The Lady Trojans are scheduled to take on Independence (29-13) in a Class AAA match set for 2:30 p.m. EDT at Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center. The winner faces the winner between Siegel (40-8) and Collierville (43-11) at around 5:30. The losers play in an elimination match at about 8:30.
Raines grew up a softball player. The former catcher credits the fundamentals in that sport for helping her develop the “arm swing” that helps her terrorize the opposition in volleyball.
Raines uses the term “the right snap” when trying to describe how she hits, and a substantial amount of her team-high 574 kills have come from the back row. She used to not play in the back, but accepting a challenge from coach Lorri Johnson, this year she is second on the team to junior libero Megan Ware with 532 digs.
“As far as hitting, I’ve always been able to hit it hard,” said Raines, who first played volleyball in sixth grade and has concentrated on the sport since entering high school. “Now I have more control. Back when I was younger I still hit it hard, but it went out of bounds.”
Johnson said she’d like to see Raines’ velocity measured. It might be a little easier trying to get around on one of Soddy-Daisy’s baseball or softball pitchers’ fastballs than to successfully dig one of her spikes.
“Other coaches have told me they’ve seen her kill the ball through the floor and turn around like it’s no big deal,” Johnson said. “She’ll take a quick set, and with her fast arm swing, she can score against good defensive teams.”
Soddy-Daisy has shattered last year’s season school-record victory amount by 15 thus far. The Lady Trojans tied Ooltewah for the regular-season title in tough District 5, ended up top-seeded in the tournament, which they won, then won the Region 3 tournament.
The Lady Trojans’ seniors are making their first state-tournament trip after winning a hard-fought sectional match Thursday against Riverdale that went the maximum five games on Soddy-Daisy’s home court. The celebration was raucous.
Junior teammate Kelsey Nunley knows about getting injured accidentally in a postgame celebration after she got a finger stepped on after pitching the game before the winners-bracket final in the state softball tournament last spring. Yet as soon as Raines buried the match-winning kill against the Lady Warriors, it was Nunley who unintentionally whacked her across the face on the way to the team creating a dogpile on the floor.
“It was amazing,” Raines said of the triumphant feeling. “The whole team jumped on me.”
Today the team hopes it can jump on Independence and successfully advance to the next round. Johnson said the Lady Eagles have the experience of having been to the state tournament, but “they’re beatable.”
Even potent offensive attacks can be put to the test against defenses like Independence’s, which is led by all-state libero Morgan Murphy. But having a force like Raines, who said this year’s Lady Trojans’ team has bonded well, might enable Soddy-Daisy to reign this week.
“We all have to be on our game,” Raines said. “If we’re on, we can do it.”
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653.