Lady Mavs finish in top four
There was some consolation for the Anderson County High Lady Mavericks volleyball team last week.
Some, but not a whole lot.
The Hume-Fogg High School Blue Knights won the TSSAA AA volleyball state championship, coming out of the losers’ bracket to do so.
The Lady Mavs brought home a Top 4 finish.
The Blue Knights beat East Hamilton 3-1 in four matches that were highly contested for the title.
“I’m proud of the team,” Anderson County Lady Mav Head Coach Jayme Smith said. “Yes, we were disappointed, but I’m glad Hume-Fogg won.”
The only loss the Blue Knights suffered in the tourney was a first-round 3-2 loss to the Lady Mavs.
In the losers’ bracket, Hume-Fogg beat Lexington and Signal Mountain in three straight sets each to keep alive. The Blue Knight then beat the Lady Mavs 3-1 before beating Dyer County, 3-2, then East Hamilton for the championship.
“We beat them (Hume-Fogg) in the first round, so there’s a little consolation there,” Smith said.
The thing about the state tournament is that the teams who make it are elite and there’s very little separating them. One or two plays can make or break a team, and it’s often a squad with the most depth that will have a slight edge.
After beating Hume-Fogg in the tourney opener the Lady Mavs lost to East Hamilton 3-2 in what may have been the best match of the 2021 tournament.
“We had a couple of opportunities to take that game (East Hamilton),” Smith said. “We just fell short.”
Sent to the lower bracket the Lady Mavs handled Sullivan East 3-1 on Thursday, but fell later in the day to Hume-Fogg 3-1 in another hard-fought contest.
The Lady Mavs won the opening set 25-22, then fell 25-23, 25-15, and 25-21.
Again, the Lady Mavs had opportunities.
“That’s part of tournament play,” Smith said. “The girls were focused all week, but I think there was a little bit of nerves involved and we don’t really have the manpower some of the other teams did.”
Smith said the Lady Mavs have nothing to hang their head about.
“The girls didn’t get down (after the loss to Hume-Fogg), but Friday was a little rough on them,” she said.
In 2020 the Lady Mavs finished runner-up to Nolesville.
In 2019 the Lady Mavs lost in the first round to East Hamilton, then took another loss to East Hamilton in the loser’s bracket.
“We have three seniors this year so we’re going to be bringing back some experienced players next year,” Smith said. “We’ll have a couple of girls who’ve been to three straight state tournaments.”