In her 16th year leading Baylor School’s volleyball program, Sarah Lail is embracing every moment.
So are her Lady Red Raiders.
They will have the opportunity to earn the program’s fifth TSSAA state championship when Baylor faces Lipscomb Academy in the Division II-AA final Thursday at Middle Tennessee Christian School in Murfreesboro. Play is set to begin at noon Eastern.
“This entire senior group has committed from the start of the season to leave a legacy,” Coach Lail said. “Every game, they write on their wrist: ‘Top to Bottom.’ From top to bottom, they have wanted everyone to feel included and feel like they belong. By doing that, they have raised the level of all of our players.
“This is a very special group, and they all play their part.”
Baylor (29-5) advanced from Wednesday’s elimination bracket final at MTCS with a dominant 3-1 victory over Briarcrest Christian, which had been a thorn in the Lady Red Raiders’ side for years. Baylor beat Briarcrest to win the program’s most recent state title in 2017, but since then the Lady Red Raiders were 0-8 in state tournament matches against the same program until Wednesday’s victory.
Baylor setter Sydney Sharpe had 29 assists, 10 kills and a trio of aces in the win to clinch a spot in the title match, while fellow senior Addi Kegerreis and junior Emma Mulvaney combined for 28 kills. Bailey Shahan, another senior, followed up Tuesday’s 14-kill, seven-block performance against Father Ryan with eight kills, while junior Kaiulani Sherrow added seven kills and four blocks against Briarcrest.
“The girls’ energy was incredible,” said Lail, whose team fell 25-18 in the opening set to Briarcrest before winning the final three sets, 25-15, 25-11, 25-21. “This is so very surreal. When I started at Baylor, I was pregnant with my first child (Nina). Now she is a freshman and had two aces for us today. It is amazing how time flies and that I have a daughter who will be competing for her first state championship with a great set of teammates.”
Lipscomb Academy (21-7) beat Baylor in five sets to open the state tournament on Tuesday and swept Briarcrest on Wednesday morning to reach the winner-take-all title match against Baylor.
Class A at Blackman
East Robertson 3, Sale Creek 1 (25-18, 25-22, 25-27, 25-17); Arts & Sciences 3, Union City 1 (25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-8): Sale Creek (41-8) will face CSAS (21-8) in an elimination bracket match at 12:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.
Class AA at Siegel
Dyer County 3, Signal Mountain 1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17); Soddy Daisy 3, Crockett County 2 (15-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-14, 15-11): Signal Mountain (23-14) will face Soddy Daisy (16-22) in an elimination bracket match at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday.
Class AAA at Rockvale
Brentwood 3, East Hamilton 1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-19): The Lady Hurricanes ended their season with a 30-10 overall record in their eighth straight trip to the state tournament.
GHSA quarterfinals
Gordon Lee advanced to the Class A semifinals with a 3-0 win over Region 7 foe Fannin County by the set scores of 25-7, 25-11, 25-18.
The Lady Trojans (40-5) took control early in each set to advance to a match against Pepperell at 11 a.m. Saturday at Holy Innocents’ in Atlanta. Jalie Haney had 30 assists, repeatedly setting up front-line stars Emma Young (nine kills), Kaighan Cassell (eight kills), Ava Carswell (six kills), Madilyn Bailey (five kills) and Layla Templeton (five kills) to finish points.
Carswell added six blocks, with Emerson Loach leading a strong serving match with five aces for the winners.
Calhoun reached the Class AAA semifinals with a 3-0 win over Fayette County, 25-20, 25-13, 25-14. LaFayette, in the same bracket, lost 3-2 to White County to end its season at 32-18.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com.