Addison Hurst went into Friday afternoon knowing that Cleveland High School’s first appearance in a TSSAA volleyball state final would also be her last.
Hurst helped make sure the Lady Blue Raiders left no doubt in the long-awaited title shot.
The 5-foot-9 outside hitter racked up 26 kills and had only two hitting errors as Cleveland earned a best-of-five sweep against Collierville, 25-21, 25-14, 25-20, and secured the program’s breakthrough state championship a year after coming up a couple wins short.
Hurst’s senior season was capped by being named MVP of the match at Siegel High School.
“That was one of the most dominant performances I have seen,” Cleveland coach Amy McGowan said of Hurst, who also had 13 digs and an assist. “I have coached her since elementary school, and she is just a freaking winner at everything she does. She came up to me before the game and said, ‘I’ve got this, Coach.’ I knew she was all business. What a way to finish a career.”
The Lady Blue Raiders (49-5) ended the season with 12 straight wins, including all nine of their postseason matches — four of them at the state tournament this week in Murfreesboro.
Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Hurst, the MVP’s sister, added 19 kills against Collierville, while junior setter Kinslee McGowan, the coach’s daughter, dished out 34 assists with eight digs and Addison Brock had 11 digs, three assists and two block assists. The Hursts and McGowan formed one of the most potent trios in the state this season as each of the sisters finished with more than 600 kills and McGowan totaled close to 1,300 assists.
Addison Hurst was joined by Gracelyn Jackson and Kyah Miller as seniors for the Lady Blue Raiders, who outscored their competition 300-203 in a state tournament that was fitting with its finish at Siegel, where former Cleveland coach Patricia Flowers now leads another stellar program.
“Trish Flowers is my best friend. The fruits of her labor have a big part to do with us winning our first state title,” Coach McGowan said. “She and I coached these girls in club since they were little. For us both to watch us win it all today was so special. I credit her a lot for it. She was the one who took this program to our first state appearance. This is something we will all remember forever.”
A year ago, Cleveland was one win from the title match before being swept by Ravenwood, then getting eliminated in four sets by Nolensville — which went on to beat Ravenwood for the title the next day. Before that, all three of Cleveland’s trips to state (2016, 2017, 2019) had been 1-2 showings.
The Lady Blue Raiders looked like contenders from the start this season, when they were ranked No. 2 overall in Tennessee, won 127 sets and dropped just 22. Three of their five losses came to first-ranked Nolensville, which was stunned by Ravenwood in the district semifinals. Division II-AA’s Knoxville Catholic went 1-2 against Cleveland this season.
Earlier in the day at Siegel, East Hamilton (37-9) fell just short for the second year in a row in the Class AA final.
Creek Wood (40-2) fought back from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Lady Hurricanes, 21-25, 25-12, 14-25, 25-20, 15-12. Creek Wood had lost to East Hamilton in four sets on Thursday, but the Lady Red Hawks then won the tournament’s last elimination pairing, 3-1 against Dyer County that night, to set up Friday’s rematch.
The title match was tied at 12 in the fifth set, but Creek Wood scored the final three points off kills by a trio of players.
Coach Antonela Suzuki’s Lady Hurricanes were led Friday by sophomores Georgia Dobson (17 kills, three aces, 16 digs), Savannah Hughes (11 kills, two blocks) and Hana Suzuki (3 aces), junior Tristin Sutton (29 assists) and senior Laila Ankar (30 digs).
Creek Wood’s Katie Bowers had 23 kills and five aces and was named MVP of the match.
GHSA SOFTBALL
Gordon Lee did not manage an extra-base hit in Friday’s 10-2 win over Pickens in a Class AAA super regional in Chickamauga to advance to next week’s state tournament in Columbus.
The Lady Trojans (24-5), however, parlayed 10 singles and nine stolen bases to a five-inning win. Chloee Fryar was one of four players with two hits and two runs scored for the home team and led the speed parade with three steals. Gracie Helton had two hits, three RBIs and two runs scored, with Emma Phillps adding two hits and two RBIs
LaFayette was eliminated by super regional host Wesleyan in the Atlanta area after the Lady Ramblers defeated Franklin County 2-0 to reach the title round. Against Franklin, Olivia Acuff was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and Jasleyn Couch, Emma Parker and Raven Yancy added two hits each.
Wesleyan then won 7-0 as Macey Cintron scattered seven LaFayette hits and struck out eight batters. Couch, Yancy and Emma House each had two hits for the Lady Ramblers (16-7-1).
Ringgold’s losers-bracket final against Oconee County at Sandy Creek will be played at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Tigers must win that one to advance face White County in the title round, where they would need to win twice.
And in Class AAAAAA, Calhoun lost 2-0 to Flowery Branch at Cambridge, eliminating the Lady Yellow Jackets (23-10) from the postseason. Calhoun, which had a pair of hits from Maggy Abernathy and Lexi Speer, left eight runners on base, including two in three separate innings.
Avery Greeson allowed six hits and no earned runs for Calhoun.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon. Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.