The Gilmer Lady Cats have snapped their state volleyball tournament drought.
The Cats learned of their postseason fate last week, and have been awarded the No. 25 seed in the Class 3A field of 32 teams. This marks Gilmer’s first state berth since the 2018 season.
GHS received the news after its first round loss of the Region 7-3A tournament last Monday. The Cats entered region seeded No. 5 and squared off against Northwest Whitfield.The Bruins won the best-of-five match, 3-0.
Head coach Maria Huelsman noted Gilmer came out on the wrong side of some close calls, which were overturned by referees.
“I hate this and hate that this is even coming out of my mouth, but I swear it was the most horrific officiated match I’ve seen in my entire life,” Huelsman said. “Jace Sanderson cranked a ball down the line that was in for days. We even pulled it up on video afterward because there were so many controversial calls against us. The line judge called it in, and the up judge overturned the call. If we get that point like we were supposed to, then we win that (second) set.
“It seemed like every time we were getting momentum, it was taken away from us. It was difficult for the girls to sit there and battle such adversity and they did. They fought hard.”
Gilmer (15-26 overall) travels to No. 8 seed LaFayette (46-8) today for the first round of the state tournament
“It’s definitely been a long time since we’ve been to state,” Huelsman said. “I made promises when I got here, and of course one of them was to make the state playoffs.
“As far as LaFayette, we know they’re a very beatable team and we’ve played them tough. We’ve been studying film and know what we have to key in on to make some adjustments. We’re just going to go give it a run. I’m proud of the girls of their tenacity and their fight. I think they’re a little salty from hoe region went down, so hopefully we can come out swinging and take care of LaFayette.”