Gilmer High’s volleyball slate included a pair of weekday matches before Saturday’s tournament.
GHS made the short trip south to Pickens last Tuesday, and the Cats defeated the host Dragonettes for a 2-0 region victory. Gilmer also met Sonoraville and the Phoenix won in three sets, 2-1.
The Cats were on the road Saturday at Southeast Whitfield High School for the Raider Rally. Gilmer dropped matches to LaFayette (2-0), Dalton (2-1) and Sonoraville (2-0), and earned a victory versus Adairsville (2-0).
Gilmer’s match against Pickens marked the third time the two rivals had met this year, and they all concluded with the Cats on top.
GHS won in straight sets, 25-19 and 25-22.
“This is the third time we played Pickens, and this time it counts toward region,” coach Donna Parks said. “I was very pleased at how well the team is playing together as a team.”
While the Cats were able to come away with a second set victory of 26-24 against Sonoraville, GHS lost the first set 25-21 and the third, 15-6.
“This was the second time we played them this year, and I really believe we played a lot better this time,” Parks noted. “It was a very close and exciting match, but in the third set, we couldn’t seem to get the ball up on their serves. That got in our heads a little bit, and we just couldn’t finish.”
Gilmer played three pool matches at Saturday’s event before teams were seeded for elimination play.
Parks made some alterations to the Cats’ rotation. They took the court with a revamped attack and played with one setter rather than two.
“At the Raider Rally, we switched up our game a bit,” she said. “We continued to play this way for the duration of the day, and I believe we did better as a team throughout. Don’t let the scores fool you, it was a good opportunity to get into the groove of this new rotation by playing it all day.”
LaFayette defeated the Cats 25-19 and 25-16. GHS claimed a second set win (25-22) versus Dalton but dropped the first and third sets, as well as the match, 25-16 and 15-10.
The Lady Cats finished pool play by downing the Adairsville Tigers, 25-15 and 25-14.
Once seeded, Gilmer took on Sonoraville for the second time of the week. The Phoenix won in straight sets, 25-21 and 25-22.
Gilmer’s statistics from Saturday included, aces: Hope Colwell (six), Beth Burnette and Lauren Smith (five), Emma Callihan and Elly Callihan (four) and Josie Reece (three). Blocks: Emma Callihan and Kadie Weaver (two) and Elly Callihan (one).
Also, kills: Elly Callihan (13), Weaver (12), Smith (10), Emma Callihan (five), Colwell (three) and Burnette and Sarah Sheahan (one). Assists: Emma Callihan (30), Burnette (10), Weaver (three) and Sheahan (one). Digs: Colwell (41), Burnette (30), Emma Callihan (20), Smith (19), Reece (16), Sheahan (10), Elly Callihan (nine), Weaver (four) and Rachel Bennett (one).
Gilmer has an 11-21 overall record and is 1-1 against region opponents. The Lady Cats will make their way to Fannin Thursday for matches starting at 6 p.m.