Irvin’s got Lady Eagles flying

Seymour coach returns to former stomping grounds and directs his team to big win news@theheraldnewspapers.com A trip to South-Doyle was fruitful for the emerging Seymour Lady Eagles volleyball squad. The Lady Eagles are emerging as a team to watch on the East Tennessee high school volleyball scene, a circuit traditionally dominated by a handful of squads in Knoxville and Anderson County. Seymour has stormed out of the gates, establishing a 9-1 record in its first 10 games of the season under third-year Lady Eagles head coach Ed Irvin. Tuesday evening Irvin returned to South-Doyle, the school he coached at for 18 years before taking over the Seymour program in 2004. South-Doyle boasts a volleyball program that the Lady Eagles have never been able to touch. Prior to Tuesday, Seymour had never defeated the Lady Cherokees. The competition will get even tougher for the Lady Eagles tonight when Farragut—one of the before-mentioned traditional state powers—visits for a three-team meet that will also feature the Clinton Lady Dragons. In Tuesday’s action at South-Doyle, the Lady Eagles jumped off to an early start and were able to hold off a late charge by William Blount to win the pivotal first game of the match 25-17. The Lady Govs bounced back, taking the second game of the five-game match 25-19 but the Lady Eagles proved to up for the challenge, taking the third game 27-25 in a contest that was tight throughout. Seymour then prevailed in the fourth and decisive game by forging an early advantage and hanging on down the stretch put the Lady Govs away. Against South-Doyle, Seymour started quickly and raced to a 17-7 advantage but a Lady Cherokees rally closed the gap before the Lady Eagles finally managed to take it 25-21. Seymour then posted consecutive wins by the same score of 25-14 to take the match. Against William Blount, sophomore sensation Morgan Peterson had 13 points, five blocks, 55 sets and 19 assists. Jennifer Wilson stepped up with nine points, two aces, 13 spikes and 12 kills against the Lady Governors. Megan England tallied nine points and had two aces, 13 blocks, seven spikes and four kills against the Lady Cherokees. LouAnnea Smith contributed five blocks, six spikes and three kills.