Murphy – It was something Murphy volleyball junior varsity head coach Amanda Johnson had seen before. The Lady Bulldogs would drop a game in the first set, then come back and win the next two to take the match.
When Murphy dropped the first set in the Smoky Mountain Conference Tournament semifinal against Robbinsville, there were some nerves from Johnson, but not panic.
The Lady Bulldogs won the next two sets to advance to the final against Hayesville. Against the Lady Jackets, Murphy did the same thing, dropping the first set before winning the next two and the conference tournament championship.
“Something clicks in them in that second game,” Johnson said. “And we call them the comeback kids. They just rally and figure out what they need to do. It’s like magic.”
Murphy finished the year 20-2 overall, avenging both its early season losses to Franklin and Hayesville later in the year. The Lady Bulldogs had some COVID-19 issues at the beginning of the year, but after getting healthy were much better at season’s end.
“If you compare the team we started with to the team we ended with, it was like two totally different teams,” Johnson said. “A lot of times working with that varsity group to show them where they’re going to get to kind of helps that growth.”
Two players, sophomore Lailee Holloway and freshman Addie Johnson, were pulled up to the varsity team at season’s end. This was Holloway’s first year playing volleyball and she was able to fit into the starting lineup, while Johnson brought a lot of passion and was everywhere on the court, according to Amanda Johnson.
Murphy also had a good core of freshmen, who had been playing together since starting in the local recreation league, including Addie Johnson. Julia Dockery became a much better hitter by season’s end, and Raegan Curtis is another player who always found a way to contribute. Other players to watch include Cayla Geer, who is not very big but can jump out of the gym, and Addyson Dickey, who was solid at setter.
The Lady Bulldogs will have to replace six seniors next year, a group that helped push the Bulldogs Smoky Conference Championship streak to five straight. But Johnson said this year’s JV team has the talent and, most importantly, the grit needed to keep the varsity program successful.
“Grit is something, especially for our kids around here, you gotta have that,” Johnson said.
“It’s instilled in you in the beginning, and that kind of helps carry you. So you have skill, you have effort, but then you also have that grit that kind of takes you over the edge.”