Baylor School’s volleyball program fell one win shy of what would have been its fifth TSSAA state title, but coach Sarah Lail’s 2022 team still has much to be proud of — including the amount of progress made since last fall.
The Lady Red Raiders’ eighth Division II-AA runner-up finish since 1996 came a year after missing out on the state tournament for the first time since 2008.
On Thursday in Murfreesboro, Baylor was swept by Briarcrest Christian, 25-19, 25-22, 25-14, in the title match at Middle Tennessee Christian School.
The first set featured 10 ties and five lead changes. A block by senior Alia Sherrow along with a kill by junior Margaret Hansen produced a pair of three-point leads for the Lady Red Raiders during the opening set in which they lost a 16-14 lead.
Baylor (35-8) received strong performances by seniors Elli Kinney and Morgan Sharpe along with sophomore Sydney Sharpe. Kinney finished with a dozen kills, while Morgan had 12 of her 24 digs in the second set and Sydney had 24 assists.
Sherrow had 2 1/2 blocks and Hansen added nine kills in the defeat.
Briarcrest (34-6) won nine of 10 sets in the state tournament and received a star showing from Kynedi Jennings on Thursday as the senior totaled nine kills and four blocks in the final. Briarcrest held a sizable advantage in hitting percentage in the title match at .171 to .032 for Baylor.
Class AAA
Cleveland (48-5) will play Collierville (37-9) for the title at 5 p.m. Eastern on Friday at Siegel High School.
The Lady Blue Raiders won their eighth straight postseason match by sweep as they took down Collierville, 25-21, 25-16, 25-14 in the winners-bracket final. Collierville earned a second shot at Cleveland with a five-set victory over Brentwood in the elimination-bracket final.
Cleveland will gun for its first state championship as stars Addison Hurst, Lauren Hurst and Kinslee McGowan look to help seal a historic finish.
Class AA
East Hamilton will look to avenge its loss a season ago in the state finals. The Lady Hurricanes (37-8) will take on Creek Wood (39-2) at 2 p.m. Eastern on Friday at Siegel.
East Hamilton was responsible for Creek Wood’s second loss of the season, with the Lady Hurricanes winning 3-1 in Thursday’s winners-bracket final, 25-22, 25-16, 12-25, 25-18. Creek Wood responded by beating Dyer County in the elimination-bracket final.
Signal Mountain (30-13), pushed to the elimination bracket with a 3-2 loss to Creek Wood on Wednesday, landed a 3-1 win over Greeneville, 25-15, 25-27, 25-14, 25-16, but the Lady Eagles were eliminated after losing a five-set heartbreaker to Dyer County, 23-25, 25-13, 25-14, 19-25, 10-15.
Class A
After losing in the opening round of the tournament, Sale Creek made a valiant comeback by winning three straight matches in the elimination bracket, including a pair of victories over Eagleville and South Greene on Thursday.
Heartbreak sunk in for the Lady Panthers (41-7), who fell one win shy of making it to the state final as they fell 3-2 to Summertown, 25-22, 10-25, 25-20, 16-25, 14-16.
Arts & Sciences’ historic season came to a close at 30-5 overall with a four-set loss to South Greene. CSAS won the second set 28-26.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.