The Gilmer High Lady Cats hit the road to begin their volleyball season.
GHS kicked off the season last Monday at Murphy (N.C.) High, and the Bulldogs won the best-of-five set match, 3-0. The Cats dealt with some injuries when they made their way to Coahulla Creek the next day, and the Colts earned a 3-0 victory.
Murphy claimed set wins of 25-9, 25-20 and 23-13.
“They are a really strong team and even though we lost, we came out of the match with some very good rallies and a better understanding of some things we need to work on,” said head coach Donna Parks.
GHS team statistics: aces- Anneliese Vaughn (two), Brooke Wilson, Taylor McCormick (one). Kills- McCormick, Hali Hice and Adrian Thompson (four), Vaughn (two), Wilson (one). Assists- Vaughn (six), Thompson (four).
Also, blocks- McCormick, Hice, Wilson and Thompson (one). Digs- Thompson, Hice (seven), Arifah Jones (six), McCormick,Vaughn (five) and Libby Pike and Wilson (two).
Gilmer won the opening set versus Coahulla Creek, 25-21. They dropped the second, 25-16, and lost some players in the process. The Colts took the match with a 15-3 win in the third set.
“About midway through the second set, (setters) Adrian and Anneliese collided going after a ball and hit heads pretty hard,” Parks explained. “Both were treated by the Coahulla Creek trainer and taken out of the match for the rest of the night. Both girls are doing fine now and were able to return to light practice the end of this week.”
The JV Cats fell to Murphy 25-9 and 25-15. Coahulla Creek claimed a 25-22 and 25-19 win over GHS.
“The JV played really well, adjusting to some position changes we made after the match with Murphy. It was a close match again, however, we came out with a 2-0 loss,” Parks said.
Gilmer traveled to Pickens at press deadline and will host Fannin County Thursday at 5 p.m.