MURFREESBORO — Momentum is a tough thing to overcome, and few sports exploit that more than volleyball.
Goodpasture had to find a way to grab the momentum away from rival Battle Ground Academy in the TSSAA volleyball Division II-A state championship match at MTSU's Murphy Center on Oct. 22.
The Cougars did, and once they gained control, they didn't let up in a 3-1 win over the Wildcats.
"I think we just started playing our game," said Goodpasture senior outside hitter and South Florida commitment Gwen Forsha, who was named the championship game's MVP with 27 kills and 21 digs. "We got the nervousness jitters out and remembered that this is a state championship and we do deserve it."
Goodpasture is one of the most tradition-rich volleyball teams in the state (after claiming five consecutive state titles from 2012-16). It won its first championship since 2020 and seventh overall. The Lady Wildcats finished runner-up to BGA in 2022.
A day after losing to BGA 3-0 in the winners bracket finals, Goodpasture (33-7) was down 1-0 to the Lady Wildcats (18-9), who seemed to have all the momentum to pull off another upset in what was the fourth meeting of the season between the two.
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But things started clicking for the Cougars late in that first set, and they rolled from there, winning the next three sets by a combined 26 points.
"I think they just really needed to get comfortable in this environment," said Goodpasture coach Bailey Johnson, who was an assistant on the 2020 state title team. "I think other teams really, really, really get down when we're up, and we try to really focus on when we're in the hole, we don't (do that). We still play the same way, and I think that really helps us. That's the culture we built here for years and years."
BGA coach Laurel Satterfield took her squad to the state title match in her first season. The Wildcats finished third in the region, having lost to Goodpasture in the semis.
"It's been a big year," Satterfield said. "This team had all the pieces they needed at the beginning. They worked really, really hard on coming together. I think, in the postseason, you saw that they put all those pieces together, not just the talent and the skill, but being resilient. And that's what got them here."
Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA volleyball state championship momentum pushes Goodpasture to DII-A title