Back to back!

FCS spikes Boyd Buchanan for second straight state championship

By ANDY REED

Sports Editor

MURFREESBORO — A day after being taken to the limit by Boyd Buchanan, Friendship Christian dispatched the same Lady Buccaneers team in anticlimactic fashion Friday to repeat as Class A state volleyball champions.

Friendship's 25-13, 25-11, 25-18 triumph capped a two-year run which will live on in school and Wilson County lore as just the second county team to repeat as TSSAA state champion.

Unlike Thursday's heart-stopping five-set winner's-bracket final win at Blackman, Friday's championship match at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center was rather uneventful as the Lady Commanders rolled to their 57th win against just four losses this season and a two-year mark of 104-15 under second-year coach Randy Alley.

"This is the stuff dreams are made of right here, getting to do this twice," Alley said before leaving the Monte Hale Arena floor.

After losing to Friendship on Thursday, Boyd Buchanan [33-15] was extended to a five-set loser's final win over Grace Christian, possibly leaving the Lady Buccaneers tired for Friday's final.

"I think they were low on energy and they were very tight," Alley said of the Lady Bucs. "Even in their warmups, they were tight. They were a little nervous. We were nervous until we got on the floor. Sarah Hall goes, 'Hey, this feels really good'.

"We came out and controlled the game today. We were under control, we controlled our game. It seemed uneventful, but I thought we played really, really well."

"They are a good team, but we wanted to come out and show that we are the better team by sweeping them in three," senior hitter Kaitlyn Teeter said after winning her second championship-game Most Valuable Player award.

"They're a good team and they played their best yesterday," senior hitter Ali Burroughs said. "It takes a lot of energy to play your best three days in a row.

"[Getting off to a good start] helped a lot. It relieved a lot of the nervousness you have before you walk on the court. Winning the first game gives you the confidence you need to finish it out."

Friendship, which will compete in Division II-A next year, became the first team to win two DI-A volleyball championships since the A-AA class was split four years ago. Boyd Buchanan won the first title after beating the Lady Commanders in the sectional at Chattanooga. Signal Mountain won the next year, also after beating visiting FCS in Chattanooga. Friendship broke through last year after ousting the Lady Bucs in the sectional at the Bay Family Sportsplex. In addition to winning the District 8-A championship all four years, the trio also won back-to-back Wilson County Volleyball Association titles in middle school.

"Even since freshman year we've had good volleyball teams," Burroughs said after her team joined Mt. Juliet's girls' bowling squad of a decade ago as Wilson County back-to-back champions. "The past two years we've really pushed ourselves to know that we could make it to the State Tournament and we could win. I can say my high school volleyball career was a success because we won two out of four years, and not many people can say that."

Part of all four Friendship teams were the senior trio of Teeter, Burroughs and Morgan Imler. Teeter, who will sign in a few weeks to play for Lipscomb University, repeated as championship game MVP to cap a legendary high school volleyball career on a team with her mother, Deanna, as one of Alley's assistant coaches.

"I love my mom so much and she was such a good influence on my life and on this team and I don't know what I would do without her," said a choked-up Kaitlyn, who will play basketball this winter for her mom."

Teeter closed her prep career with 14 kills and 13 digs while Burroughs finished with 14 digs and six kills, junior hitter Alex Sealy 12 kills and six blocks, junior Sam Finley four blocks and two aces, junior setter Sarah Hall 32 assists and Imler a pair of aces.

The match will be televised on tape-delay over WNPT Channel 8 at 8 p.m. next Saturday. It will also eventually be available on demand at www.TSSAANetwork.com.

Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952, ext. 17; or by email at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com