GRAY DEYOSports Writer

The Tullahoma volleyball team has started off the season with a 3-1 record through its first four games. This is their best start since the 2022-2023 season, where they went 21-8.

Lincoln County

The Lady Wildcats looked to win two games in a row, as they took on Lincoln County in their first road game of the season. They, however, were unsuccessful, losing to the Lady Falcons 3-0. Tullahoma had an off day overall, but were close to capturing a couple of the sets. In sets one and three, they lost 26-24 and 25-22.

The Lady Wildcats, in their opening match against Fayetteville, displayed a high level. This was great to see, given the uncertainty of how the team might perform after losing some major contributors from last season. They have had players step up already this season who look more than ready to become keys to this season’s success. This new look team in that contest proved that they were more capable of overcoming adversity, and they showed that in their next two matches against Community and Lawrence County High School.

Community High School

Tullahoma won against Community High School in a five-set thriller, winning 3-2.

The Wildcats fell behind in this matchup 2-1 and were well on track to start the season with a 1-2 record. However, they fought back, and a couple of sophomores played a big part in securing their second win of the 2025 season.

Emily Bell has broken out as one of the main offensive producers thus far for the Lady Wildcats. She led Tullahoma in kills against Fayetteville and led the team again against Community with eight kills. Another sophomore for the ‘Cats made waves on the stat sheet, and did a lot of it with the serve—Adalyn Nelson. Nelson had seven kills, the second most on the team, with three aces being included in that.

The Wildcats won the last two sets by a score of 25-23 and 15-9. 

Lawrence County

Tullahoma grabbed a convincing win against Lawrence, winning 3-0. The score line for the three sets was 26-24, 25-16, and 25-22.

Tullahoma got big-time production in this contest from their fourth-year player Gabriella Dacosta. The senior had the second most kills in the contest with eight. She was efficient in her opportunities when attacking for these put away points with a 57.1% kill percentage on 14 attacks.

Here are some other Lady Wildcats who had a big impact on the win. Senior Madilyn Lidstrom added two aces from her serve, Bell added eight kills, junior Gabi Gardner added six of her own, and Adalyn Nelson led the game with nine.

“Serving and defense have carried us so far. We’re serving 90% as a team. Defensively, teams have found it harder to score on us so far. Emily Bell has 19 total blocks in four matches, and our back row is keeping the ball off the floor,” head coach Daniel Lynch said on the reasons for the team’s early-season success.