Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The White County Warriorettes saw their season come to an end in the opening round of the District 7AAA Tournament on Monday night in a 3-1 loss to Mt. Juliet.
The match started off well enough for the Warriorettes, as they claimed victory in the opening set 25-22.
From there, it was all Mt. Juliet, as they earned a close 25-23 victory in the second set and a 25-22 win in the third to move within a set of advancing.
White County battled after falling behind 23-17 in the fourth set, but it wouldn’t be enough and Mt. Juliet ended White County’s season in 3-1 fashion.
Head coach Logan Hicks says he thought his girls got off to a perfect start, but everything just went downhill from there.
“We came out strong, in my mind during that first set, we were winning the match no question,” Hicks said. “It just kind of went down from there and it’s a tough loss, but they never stopped battling. No matter the score, they battled the whole way.”
This match was a microcosm for Hicks when he looks at the season as a whole, it had its ups and downs, but he always felt like his team battled and never stopped giving effort.
“We always overcame whatever was in our way,” Hicks said. “We had our ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.”
The loss marks the end of the volleyball careers for Nia Powers, Karley Gentry and Sydney Smiley, a trio Hicks has coached since they were much younger.
Despite the tough ending to the season, he says he’s thankful that he got to coach this group.
“I’ve had this group since they were in sixth grade,” Hicks said. “I loved the maturity and leadership they all provided, it’s been a blast watching them…out of seven years, I missed just two years of their volleyball career. I love that I got to come back and coach them.”