A Streak Unbroken: South Greene volleyball's adverse journey to 16th straight state trip

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WCYB) — For 15 consecutive seasons, South Greene has dominated the area in Class A volleyball - punching their ticket to the state tournament in each of those years.

So in 2024, the goal was no different.

It’s just kind of the standard that you have to make it to state, every single year," said senior Davanie Tarleton. "You don’t want to be the first class to not go.

Pressure is definitely the word for it, but we’re playing the sport we love," said senior Baylee Jennings. 'What it means to be a Lady Rebel, I don’t think people that don’t get the opportunity to experience will ever understand what it feels like. You put the jersey on and you walk out there and you’re representing South Greene.

As seniors, you don’t want to break the streak. We’ve been going 15 years and you don’t want to be the ones who end it," said senior, Addison Compton. "We really had to stick together as a team and stay strong.

A lot of people didn’t have confidence in us and a lot of people said that we wouldn’t make it this year. I’m just so glad we get to go back for my last year," said senior Faith Baughard. "I feel like we didn’t want to have that on our back for the rest of our life.

But in order to keep that dream of keeping the streak alive, the Lady Rebels would have a string of unforeseen challenges to overcome. Starting early on in the season and carrying all the way through until now.

It all started when the South Greene gym floor needed to be done, keeping the Rebels away from their home floor. But it was all topped off with an unexpected fire that caught the school and damaged parts of their gym and their equipment. In turn, the Rebels were left without a home to practice or play the rest of the season.

On top of that, the team was struggling at just a game over .500 record.

“It was one thing after the other," added Jennings. "We had to pull out a whole new side of ourselves in our team to be able to push through the obstacles that we were facing."

“It was really demoralizing," said Tarleton. We were at such a low point, we didn’t think we would make it past district with everything going on."

And yet, the adversity didn't stop there - and it was one that took a hit on the entire program, and close to home for head coach, Stephen Gregg, and his star senior daughter, Ryleigh.

In the midst of the storms that reached East Tennessee from Hurricane Helene, the Gregg's home was severely impacted by flood damage - nearly losing everything.

It’s going to take a while to get back to normalcy. People in our community have been affected. We have been affected," said Gregg.“A lot of times, we think we don’t like the path that we’re on, but sometimes God’s path is better than our path.

Nonetheless, the season went on , and the Rebels began playing Lady Rebel volleyball again. But it did not come without the cost of one of their stars - Ryleigh Gregg.

Gregg would go down injured on the final point of their District title win over West Greene - after Gregg sent home the winning kill - ending her season with a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus.

“It’s been hard, but I’m glad that they’re winning," said Ryleigh Gregg. "It just feels like family and I want to see them do good.”

And good they have been.

Over the last month, the Rebels turned on a switch - rallying around their teammate and one another in order to overcome the tough year they have endured. The Rebels would go on to sweep CSLA in straight sets of the regional final - punching their ticket to the state tournament in Murfreesboro once again.

Resiliency is the word here," added Coach Gregg.“Nothing short of a miracle what this bunch has done. Our ability to come together and push, it’s almost a resemblance of our community. When there’s a need, everybody comes in and it unites us and makes us stronger.

On Monday, the Rebels were given a warm send-off from the school as they packed up and took off for Murfreesboro - aiming to take a shot at a state title.

“With everything that’s happened in such a short period of time between, I think it’s made us stronger," said Baughard. "It’s showed people and showed ourselves and our teammates that we can get through anything together. We’re going to do everything we can for a sport that we love - because this is our safe space."