Rachel Butler of Temple Baptist

A sluggish start gave way to a strong comeback as the Temple Baptist Christian School volleyball team defeated Victory Baptist Academy of Shelbyville on Monday night at the E.C. Bailey Gym.  In a match you heard here on Thunder Radio, the Lady Eagles committed several unforced errors to drop the first set.  They rebounded to win the next 3 sets and take the match 3 sets to 1.

Temple won by set scores of 21-25, 25-10, 25-14 and 25-19.  Lady Eagle senior Rachel Butler had a phenomenal performance as she scored 39 kills.  Rachel also served a pair of aces in the match.  Sister Grace Butler finished with 11 kills, 3 aces, a block and 2 assists.  Lexie Stewart led the team in assists as she had 27 while adding 2 kills and an ace.  Lauren Davis added 22 assists.

Temple will travel to Alabama next Tuesday to take on Madison Baptist Academy.  The varsity match gets underway at 5:30 PM.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Coffee County Central High School athletic department has partnered with Jiffy Burger restaurant to acknowledge the hard work and dedication that our student-athletes put into their sports. At the end of each month, each in-season head coach will be able to submit the name of one athlete who had a standout performance and demonstrated excellent leadership during that month. The head coaches and the administration will be given the opportunity to vote for one male and one female athlete to be named athlete of the month.

Last week, the CHS athletic department announced the selection of Keri Munn and Samuel Prater as the Athletes of the Month for August.  Munn, a sophomore, is among the team leaders for the Coffee County volleyball team in kills and blocks.  Prater, a senior, was consistently one of the best scorers match after match for the Coffee County golf team.

Congratulations to Keri and Samuel.

2018-2019 mask for Predators Pekka Rinne [Photo courtesy of DaveArt.com and NHL.com]

It’s one of the top perks of being a goaltender in the NHL – the ability to wear a custom helmet painted with just about anything they can dream up.

In Pekka Rinne’s case, he’s been turning to David Gunnarsson, better known around hockey circles as DaveArt, to churn out a fresh mask every season decked out in navy and Gold. The Predators netminder teamed up with Gunnarsson once again this summer, and the result? Something Rinne calls “Iron Pred.”

“It’s all DaveArt,” Rinne said as he held the new masterpiece in his hand. “A lot of times he has the ideas, and it’s pretty much the same theme I’ve had for the most part of my career, kind of the Predators head wearing something his face. Then on the back, I have the Finnish crest and little something for my grandpa that I always have. But I’m very happy with it, I think it goes well with our both home jersey and away jersey.”

Rinne does have input throughout the process each year, but admits he’s not the most creative person. Instead, he relies on Gunnarsson to fill up the canvas.

“He’s pretty wild with his ideas, so mostly I just try to like settle him down a little bit,” Rinne joked of working with Gunnarsson. “But he’s so creative and a very easy guy to work with. It helps me a lot that he comes up with ideas.”

Does Rinne have a favorite from over the years? He says the success he has while wearing it certainly plays a part, but the netminder has high hopes for the new design. Work your magic, Iron Pred.

“I have a couple of my favorites, but it’s always hard to say,” Rinne said. “But I think this is going to grow on me to the top of my list.”