Lady Indians topple Murphy in Historic Win

Brian Carter, Director of Sports Communication and Digital Media at Tallulah Falls School (TFS) reports the Lady Indians picked a great time to play their best match of the season, taking down visiting undefeated and #1-ranked Murphy (NC) in a 3-1 victory Monday evening.  “It was some of the best play we’ve done all year,” says coach Matt Heyl, who also suggested this is the best win in his time at TFS (2018-present). Heyl was especially proud of the effort of senior Barrett Whitener.  “Barrett blocked the star middle hitter from the other team several times,” says Heyl. “That girl was amazing, but Barrett sure helped us out a lot because we couldn’t dig her spike if it got past our block. It was just a great win overall beating three college-bound athletes. Their libero was by far the best libero I’ve ever seen. She’s going to Notre Dame to play volleyball. And the fact that we beat a powerhouse of North Carolina just makes it all the sweeter.”  The Lady Indians won 25-18 in the opening set, which was followed by a 25-22 second-set win to go up 2-0 in the best-of-five match. The visitors battled back with a 25-22 win of their own, but TFS finished the match with a 25-20 dominant win.  “It was a purposeful matchup that I planned,” says Heyl. “I wanted a good North Carolina team that plays best out of five all the time to get us ready for our region and state tournament.”  If Monday is any indication, TFS is definitely ready for what lies ahead in region play and beyond. Murphy was undefeated, ranked #1 in its classification, and had multiple future collegiate players on the floor.  The Lady Indians have now won three in a row and are 16-7 overall on the season. It’s the first win over a state-ranked opponent this season, and fifth over the last two seasons.  The JV Lady Indians fell to visiting Murphy in three sets.  “We played them hard, taking them to three sets by winning the second,” says coach Danielle Smith.  TFS dropped the first set 23-25 before rebounding with an impressive 29-27 win. Murphy won the final set 15-10 to secure the win.  The Lady Indians’ JV team moves to 13-6 overall.