BY DAVE LINK
MARYVILLE – Senior Night went by fast for the Maryville volleyball team Tuesday night.
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The Lady Rebels recognized their only senior, libero/right-side hitter Eliott Metz, during the match against visiting West High.
Metz, usually inserted into the lineup only to serve, got to play far more than usual in Maryville’s 3-0 victory.
“It’s good to know that kids who normally don’t play all the way around can play a great game and help us win against a pretty good team,” Maryville coach Chris Hames said.
Maryville (18-7, 5-1 in District 4-AAA) maintained its share of first place in the district standings, while West (15-8, 4-2) dropped into second place.
William Blount and Hardin Valley Academy also had one district loss going into Tuesday’s matches. HVA plays at William Blount on Thursday.
“West is a good team,” Hames said. “That’s a good win and obviously it helps us in the district standings.”
West is playing for its best seeding possible for the District 4-AAA tournament.
Last year, the Lady Rebels – also known as ‘the Dubs’ – finished in a three-way tie for third in District 4-AAA with a 4-3 recordbut fell to a No. 5 seeding due to the tiebreaker.
“It stuck with the girls,” West coach Jessica Lee said of last year’s seeding. “They set a goal that they wanted to do better than last year. We try to set goals every day and work toward those goals, and we want to have a good run going into the district tournament.”
The double-elimination district tournament is Oct. 5-6 at West and Oct. 7-8 at HVA.
After losing in four sets last Thursday at HVA, Maryville has now won three straight matches, two in district play.
The Lady Rebels beat West by set scores of 27-25, 25-18, 25-15.
Junior outside hitter Blakelyn Upward led Maryville with 13 kills and junior middle/right-side hitter Mary Childress had six kills.
Sophomore setter Charlie Upward, Blakelyn’s sister, had 18 assists.
Blakelyn Upward is a power hitter and Maryville’s top offensive player. She’s averaging about 4.1 kills per set with a .255 attack percentage.
“She’s obviously a terminal hitter, plays six rotation, passes really well, plays good defense, hits out of the back row,” Hames said. “She’s the type of player you want to have, and obviously I get her one more year. She’s going to continue to develop even more. She’ll go somewhere and play in college.”
Tuesday’s opening set was close throughout until Maryville forged a 24-20 lead.
West won the next four points and tied it, 24-all.
Maryville clinched the first set on a tap kill by sophomore middle/outside Madison Ahlers, who’s averaging about 1.7 kills per set.
The Lady Rebels had an 18-17 lead in the second set when they scored the next seven points with Metz serving. Metz had two service winners during the run.
After winning the second set point on Blakelyn Upward’s kill, Maryville led most of the third set and clinched the match on Charlie Upward’s kill.
Hames said winning the first set was crucial.
“It’s big because we just weren’t playing super clean,” Hames said, “but we just found a way to win, and sometimes you learn a lot more from just winning ugly, like grinding it out, even though you’re not playing great.
“And then I think that really turned it around. The second set was close, but we finished, and then obviously we took control in the third set.”
West senior outside hitter/defensive specialist Celia Bankston played with a stress fracture in her foot Tuesday night.
Bankston, who leads the team in kills with about 3.4 per set, missed Monday’s match against Gibbs.
Lee said Bankston may get an MRI on her foot Wednesday, and her playing status is day to day.
Like they did Tuesday, the West Lady Rebels will persevere with or without Bankston.
“They came in here and fought,” Lee said. “They knew they needed to do that to get ready for the district tournament, so I thought they showed up and played really hard in the situation that we had.”
Bankston, however, showed no signs of a foot injury against Maryville.
“She’s a really good player,” Hames said of Bankston. “She’s a tough kid.”
Other top players for West on Tuesday included 6-foot senior middle hitter Kate Johnson and sophomore setter Lucie Collett.
“(Johnson) has come so far,” Lee said. “She’s really come into her own this year and is really finding her rhythm. We’ve just been really happy with what she’s been able to bring to the team as a middle. She’s a very good player.”