Gilmer’s volleyball season ended sooner than expected.
The GHS Lady Cats entered last week’s region tournament as the No. 4 seed but were unable to claim one of four state tournament spots.
Gilmer met the No. 5 seeded Lumpkin County Indians in the opening round and were defeated, 2-0. The Cats were sent to the consolation bracket where they faced the Cherokee Bluff Bears. Gilmer’s season ended with a 2-1 elimination.
“This new region we are in is every bit as tough as any region we have been in in the past,” GHS coach Donna Parks said. “At least six of the seven teams were neck in neck for going through to the first round (of state).
“We just ended up not being able to pull in front of some of the others. The matches were close, and it was over for the Lady Cats sooner than expected.”
Lumpkin notched wins of 25-20 and 25-12, and it was just the beginning for the Indians, who ended up winning the region title.
“We were constantly trying to dig up balls to get hits back over and never really got to play much of an offensive game,” Parks said. “The Lumpkin team was just really on fire this week.”
Gilmer only had nine assists in the match, and they were issued by Emma Callihan (five) and Beth Burnette (four). Kills were scored by Elly Callihan and Emma Deyton (three each), while Emma Callihan, Burnette, Hope Colwell and Taylor McCormick all had one apiece.
Colwell tallied the most digs from her libero spot with seven, Deyton and Burnette both finished with six and Emma Callihan had four.
GHS picked up a 30-28 win over Cherokee Bluff in the opening set of its next match. However, the Bears went on to win the next two and the match, 25-22 and 15-12.
The Cats’ offense picked up versus the Bears as Emma Callihan’s 25 assists and Burnette’s four were delivered to hitters Elly Callihan (16 kills), Deyton (eight) and McCormick (six).
Colwell led the way with 19 digs and Deyton tallied four. From the service line, Emma Callihan and Burnette had three aces and Deyton scored one.
“It was a definite disappointment for everyone,” Parks said of their elimination. “This season has been a great season for the girls. They ended with a 19-7 (regular)season record, which percentage wise was just a tiny bit better (63.2) than the best season record of 34-13 (61.8) back in 2016.
“We didn’t get as many matches in this year because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) stipulations and the rearranging of schedules for that, but they still had a very productive season. They really were peaking at a good time and were on a winning streak before we got to the tournament.”