Megan Turner and the Gibbs Eagles eliminated the Grainger Grizzlies 7-0 in a TSSAA Class AA sectional softball game in Corryton, Tennessee, on Friday, May 17, 2019. (Photo by Danny Parker)
Gibbs High senior Megan Turner has a tough decision to make.
It’s also a nice problem to have.
Will she play volleyball in college?
Or will she play softball in college?
Turner, a libero for the Gibbs volleyball team, recently received an offer to play volleyball for Middle Tennessee State University.
She’s also a three-year starter at second base for the Lady Eagles’ softball team and has an offer to play softball for Lincoln Memorial University.
Turner is wrestling with the decision.
“It’s super overwhelming and hard because I love both sports a lot,” Turner said Wednesday afternoon. “We’re just taking our time and praying about it and just weighing all our options, which school would be the best for me.”
Turner said she might decide in the next few weeks.
“It won’t be that long,” she said.
Turner has athletics in her bloodlines.
Her father Brad is the football coach at Gibbs and an assistant softball coach for the Lady Eagles. He was a dual-sport athlete at Gibbs and played baseball at Carson-Newman.
Her mom Amanda played three sports at Gibbs and played volleyball and softball at Carson-Newman.
Amanda is an assistant coach with the volleyball team under fourth-year head coach Sarah Sharp.
The Turners never pushed Megan or her younger brother Zack into playing sports. Zack, a seventh grader at Gibbs Middle School, plays football and basketball.
“For us, we were both athletes, and we’ve kind of been there and done that, and we wanted our kids to just have their own time and do their own thing,” Amanda Turner said. “We always told Megan to do what she enjoys, and if she’s not having fun, she doesn’t need to do it.
Megan Turner will be honored for her 1,000th career dig on Thursday night. (Photo: James Spears of GibbsSports)
“That’s kind of always been our philosophy, but we also believe if you’re going to do something, you give it 110 percent. We believe that in everything, whether it’s in academics or sports. Megan puts a lot of pressure on herself. She’s always had high expectations, so we’ve never had to push her toward anything.”
The approach worked fine for Megan.
“When I was smaller, I did competitive gymnastics,” she said. “We thought I was going to be a gymnast, but then I started playing softball. They never told me I had to play any sports, but they told me I had to do something.
“I took guitar lessons, piano lessons. I had to be involved in something, but it didn’t have to be sports, but sports just so happened to be what I was good at, so I’ve been involved in all kinds of sports.”
Amanda Turner gives much of the credit for Megan’s success to Sharp and Gibbs softball coach Carol Mitchell.
The Gibbs coaches don’t have to motivate Megan. She’s a self-motivator and carries a 4.2 GPA in the classroom.
“Megan’s a hard worker, whether it’s in ball or academics,” Amanda Turner said. “She strives to do her best. She really puts a lot of pressure on herself to make good grades. She takes honors and AP classes and has a couple of dual-enrollment classes this semester. She’s really not let up in all of high school for her academics.”
Turner, who also plays at Knoxville’s K2 Volleyball, will be recognized before Thursday night’s home match (6 p.m.) against Clinton for notching her 1,000th career dig in Monday’s victory over Grainger.
She probably already reached that milestone earlier this year because she played as a freshman, and Gibbs has no statistics from that season.
Gibbs (10-7, 5-1 in District 4-AA) has only lost to Anderson County in district play. The teams have a rematch Sept. 26 at Anderson County, which leads the district.
“Right now my focus is on volleyball and my team and this season, Turner said, “and then we’ll worry about softball season when it gets here.”