Lady Eagles deliver gift after first-year coach says ‘I do’

By Maurice Patton

MT. PLEASANT – Life has been one change after another for Callie West – make that, Callie Turek – of late.

From purchasing a house with her fiancé, Cody Turek, to accepting her first high school volleyball coaching job at Zion Christian to getting married in a Saturday ceremony in Brentwood, all in the middle of a global pandemic, there’s been a lot going on.

Mrs. Turek received a belated wedding gift Monday, as her Lady Eagles won in straight sets at Mt. Pleasant.

“It’s been pretty hard, a lot of back and forth – ‘is it going to happen?’ ” said Turek, who arrived at Zion after spending four years coaching club volleyball at Alliance in Franklin.

“Luckily, we got the thumbs-up to play.”

Zion Christian volleyball Coach Callie Turek saw her squad defeat Mt. Pleasant 3-0 on Monday, just two days after she tied the knot with her new husband. (Photo by Chris Yow / SM-Tn Sports)

After going 3-2 at the KD’s Hope play day a week ago at Columbia Central, Zion’s 25-18, 25-18, 25-11 wins over the host Lady Tigers marked the first victory in four tries for Turek and her squad.

Among the wins on Aug. 22 was one against Mt. Pleasant, and Monday’s match looked a lot similar.

“Our serving was really aggressive,” Turek said. “We kept them moving. We didn’t hit it straight at them. We were all over the court – short, deep. We kept it moving.”

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Putting the ball in play made defense a challenge for the Lady Tigers.

“It’s hard to pass the ball and do anything with it,” Mt. Pleasant coach Melina Jaime said. “We kept freeballing it over (the net) or shanking it.”

Both teams resume action Tuesday, with Zion Christian traveling to Division II-A district foe Columbia Academy – after losing to the Lady Bulldogs in straight sets earlier this season – and Mt. Pleasant hosting Santa Fe.

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