MORRISTOWN, TN – Megan Blaylock has been a staple of the Walters State volleyball program ever since its inception in 2012 and on Monday night in the Lady Senators final match of the 2021 regular season, she checked off yet another accomplishment.

Playing Cumberland University JV, the Lady Senators cruised to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-14) win on Sophomore Night. For Blaylock, it was her 100th career win as head coach of the Lady Senators.

"A milestone win is always really special, but the girls are the ones who have won them all," Blaylock said. "I have just help guide them. This says a lot about our players and less about me. I think it shows how strong our program is becoming. Because they buy into what we have to say, that's why we have these wins and reached it tonight."

Blaylock began her Walters State career as a player in 2012, the first year of the volleyball program. Blaylock played two years for the Lady Senators before becoming an assistant coach under former volleyball coach and current women's basketball coach Jasmin Coleman.

In 2016, Blaylock took over as head coach of the Lady Senators. She's been there ever since.

Through her time as head coach, Blaylock has won NJCAA Region VII Coach of the Year in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and Southeast District Coach of the Year in 2020. Last season, Blaylock led the Lady Senators to the NJCAA DII National Tournament for the first time in program history.

Walters State has won the Region VII Championship four years in-a-row under Blaylock.

For Blaylock, she doesn't just see Walters State as a stop in her coaching journey. She sees it as home.

"This feels like my program," Blaylock said. "It's extremely important to me. I see this as a career position. It's not just a job but a way for me to give back to this community the way it gave back to me when I was a player."

To make the night even more special for Walters State, it was also Sophomore Night as eight Lady Senators were honored.

Halyn Long, Mercedes Collins, Lydia Buchanan, Parker Hurd, Raenah Barton, Morgan Barkley, Mackenzie Sweigart and Ashtan Vance were all honored for their contributions to the Lady Senators program over the past two years.

While every group of sophomores are special, the 2021 class set themselves apart as they battled through two years of COVID-19 restrictions and helped lead the Lady Senators to the NJCAA DII National Tournament.

"This group of sophomores is so special," Blaylock said. "We got to experience the national tournament with them for the first time. Having to go through COVID with them just makes it an even more special bond. I am really grateful that they chose Walters State and come out and play hard every day."

On the court Monday night, the Lady Senators bounced back from a tough loss last week against Roane State. In set one, Walters State got out to a 15-5 lead as they went up 1-0 with a 25-17 victory.

Set two was more of the same for Walters State as Cumberland JV put up a fight but could not sustain it as Walters State grabbed the lead at 7-6 and never relinquished it again in a 25-21 set two victory.

The third set capped off an impressive match from the Lady Senators as they built a 21-13 lead and took home Blaylock's 100th win with a 25-14 victory.

The win was big for a variety of reasons for the Lady Senators, including getting momentum back as they head into the Region VII Tournament this weekend.

"It was good to shake off last week and go into Friday with a little pep in our step," Blaylock said. "It was really, really good and now we're going to turn around and get ready to go on Friday."

The region tournament will be hosted by Walters State on Friday and Saturday. No. 1 Roane State and No. 4 Cleveland State get the ball rolling on Friday at 5 p.m. while No. 2 Walters State will take on No. 3 Chattanooga State at 7 p.m.

The winners will play on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the Region VII Championship.

"We just need to focus this week on minimizing our errors," Blaylock said. "Offensively, we have made quite a few hitting errors recently, so we're going to try and work on that. We just have to be ready for anything.