Click the image to the left and log in to get your exclusive reader perks.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN — The long trip up to Signal Mountain didn’t end as the Alcoa volleyball team hoped Thursday evening.

Addressing his players after the season concluded with a lopsided loss to Signal Mountain, Alcoa coach Sam Thomas wanted his team to focus on another journey, one that saw the Lady Tornadoes become one of the final 16 teams in the state competing in the Class AA sectionals.

“This was about the journey,” Thomas said. “They have gotten so much better as the year progressed. I told them from the start, it was going to be a process. They stuck with it. They trusted me and trusted each other and got it to this point. This is a testament to them.”

Alcoa won the District 5-AA championship and finished runner-up in the Region 3-AA tournament, forcing it to travel as it did in last year’s sectionals, to perennial power and Region 4-AA champs Signal Mountain.

The results were not positive. Alcoa got off to a weak start and fell in straight sets, 25-5, 25-14, 25-7.

Signal Mountain (21-12), which will be making its ninth appearance at the state championships since 2010, started off scoring with a kill from junior Dillia Lowry and proceeded to dominate with a strong front line racking up winner afterwwinner.

Alcoa (17-19) showed more intensity in the second set, starting off with an Ainsley Pfeiffer kill and block from Jaylyn Halliburton for an early lead. The teams remained close until Signal Mountain pulled away and closed out a 25-14 win.

Alcoa kept hustling, as demonstrated by libero Sydney Worde and McKenna Cameron both diving hard into the scoring table on dig chances. With six different Lady Eagles taking turns spiking hard kill shots, Signal Mountain wrapped up the match with a 21-11 win in the final set.

“We came out very, very timid in the first set,” Thomas said. “In the second set, we came out with more energy. Our mentality changed a little bit because we played harder. But once we didn’t get that victory, I felt like they were in a place where they just didn’t think they could get it.”

An alarming note for other East Tennessee teams in the future came late in the third set when Britton Williams entered the game, as the lone senior on the Lady Eagles roster. The starting six Signal Mountain players consisted of four juniors, a sophomore and freshman. The freshman, Becca Rogers, tallied four kills, five blocks and three service winners.

The loss was the final match for five Alcoa seniors — Pfeiffer, Worde, Halliburton, India Kyle and Lilly Long.

“This year has been better than I ever could have imagined,” Worde told The Daily Times. “We came a long way since the beginning of the year. We came in with lots of young people and older people who had never played high school volleyball before. The way we’ve grown from the beginning of the season to now is just unimaginable. I don’t know how we did it.“

Thomas said that this was only the second group of seniors in Alcoa history to advance two consecutive years to the sectional round.

“I’m so proud of how they’ve come along,” Thomas said. “I told them, ‘You can look back at tonight, and I don’t want you to ever say, ‘I wish,’ or, ‘What if.’ I want you to celebrate what it’s been.’ We always talk about that: to remember the journey, not one single outcome.”

This account is used by The Daily Times freelance sports writers and for staff reports.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Have Breaking News delivered immediately to your inbox. Don't miss the next big story.

Receive a free weekly newsletter with money advice from Nerdwallet and Dave Ramsey, plus market reports and Blount business news. Register now for FREE. 

Subscribers to TheDailyTimes.com's E-edition can have their daily newspapers delivered right to their inbox every morning.

Would you like to receive our daily news?  Signup today!

Have Breaking News delivered immediately to your inbox. Don't miss the next big story.

Receive a free weekly newsletter with money advice from Nerdwallet and Dave Ramsey, plus market reports and Blount business news. Register now for FREE. 

Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.

Check your email for details.

Invalid password or account does not exist

Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.

An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.

Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.

A receipt was sent to your email.