Gilmer enters region tourney as No. 4 seed
The Gilmer Lady Cats’ final week of the regular season concluded with two region and two nonregion volleyball wins.
GHS was at West Hall last Tuesday for region matches and downed the Spartans and Flowery Branch Falcons in two sets.
The Cats did the same at home versus the Pickens Dragonettes Wednesday before defeating the Fannin County Rebels Thursday.
West Hall did not stand much of a chance as GHS came out on top, 25-12 and 25-11. Flowery Branch did not offer much more as the Cats earned wins of 25-12 and 25-19.
Elly Callihan had 12 kills against West Hall and six versus Flowery Branch. Emma Deyton led GHS with four aces versus the Spartans and Emma Callihan had three against the Falcons.
Emma Callihan also tallied 19 total assists on the day to go with 19 digs. Beth Burnette finished with 16 assists and 12 digs. Deyton and Hope Colwell each tallied 12 digs as well.
The Cats buried Pickens in a deep hole at the start of both sets and the Dragonettes never recovered. GHS won both sets, 25-13.
In the first set, GHS hitters Elly Callihan, McCormick and Kadie Weaver were there for kills, and Colwell scored an ace as GHS went ahead, 13-4. A PHS timeout slowed the Cats’ scoring surge but the Dragonettes never drew closer than 10 points.
The second set was much of the same as GHS scored five straight to begin the it and led 9-3 as they continued to send kills to the court for points. Pickens was able to draw within eight, but GHS outscored them 9-5 over the remainder of the set for another decisive win.
Elly Callihan led the way with 13 kills, McCormick had nine and both Deyton and Weaver finished with six apiece. Emma Callihan racked up 25 assists and Burnette had 10. Double-digit digs were tallied by Colwell (13), Emma Callihan (11) and Burnette (10).
GHS welcomed Fannin the next day and sent them back to Blue Ridge with a 25-17, 25-22 and 25-18 loss.
Elly Callihan and McCormick accounted for 18 and 12 kills, respectively. Emma Callihan contributed 23 assists and Burnette had 17. Deyton and McCormick both had three aces and digs were tallied by Colwell (19), Burnette (14), Emma Callihan (10) and Deyton (seven).
GHS is 18-7 overall and will begin the region tournament next Wednesday, Oct. 14, at White County. Gilmer’s first match will be at 4 p.m. against Lumpkin County.