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Macy Boggs, left, and Shelby Spain celebrate during the team's win over Habersham Central. (Photo/Staci Sulhoff)
The White County Lady Warriors' volleyball team wrap up the best regular season in the history of the program today, and then will immediately turn their attention to the Area 7-AAA tournament, which will be played in Cleveland next week.
The Lady Warriors knocked off Habersham Central last week to improve to 21-4 on the year, setting the school record for wins during the regular season. The Lady Warriors are currently sitting at No. 7 in the Atlanta Journal Constitution/Score Atlanta state poll.
“It's been a great season so far,” WCHS head coach Shannon Smith said. “We have some big time players, but we still play as a team. They work so well together, they have great attitudes, and we are an emotionally stable team. It's been a pleasure coaching this team.”
The Lady Warriors clinched the 7-AAA regular season title over a week ago to earn the right to host the area tournament.
The tournament tips off Wednesday, Oct. 14, with the championship round set for Thursday, Oct. 15. As the No. 1 seed, the Lady Warriors get an opening round bye and will take on Gilmer County or Lumpkin County in a semifinal round match on Oct. 14 at 5 p.m.
The Lady Warriors have been on a roll over the past few weeks, posting 10 consecutive wins since early September. During the winning streak, the Lady Warriors have dropped only two sets.
On Wednesday, the squad took on Lumpkin County in a single match that does not count in the area standings.
This afternoon, the Lady Warriors travel to Morgan County to take on the Lady Bulldogs and Oconee County in the final matches of the regular season.
The tri-match features three state-ranked teams as Morgan County is No. 4 in the latest Class AAA poll, and Oconee County is right behind WCHS at No. 8.
The non-region tri-match should have a state tournament-type atmosphere, and help the Lady Warriors prepare for the area tournament.
“I'm super pleased with where we are heading into the tournament,” Smith said. “We're excited about hosting the tournament, and the girls are really ready to play. We have a solid group of girls that give us a lot of options. We not only have Plan A, we have a Plan B, a Plan C, a Plan D. We can can do a lot of different things with this team.”
The Lady Warriors have been led offensively all season by the squad's three senior hitters – Dasha Cannon, Jenna Ash, and Shelby Spain.
Cannon leads the Lady Warriors' attack with 143 kills, while Ash is second on the team with 132 kills and 13 blocks. Spain has delivered 106 kills this season, while sophomore Rusty Dye has 88 kills and a team-high 19 blocks. Junior Camryn Dorsey has 83 kills and seven blocks.
The squad's service game has been solid as well, with freshman Linsey Burke leading the way with 43 aces, while Ash has 41, Cannon has 34, Spain has 30, Savannah Martin has 23, senior Macy Boggs has 21, and Dye has 20.
Burke, the team's primary setter, has 489 assists this season to go along with 132 digs. Cannon leads the team with 166 digs, while Martin has 132, Ash has 130, Spain has 128, and Boggs has a 119.
Win over Raiders
The Lady Warriors posted a 3-1 win over Class 6A Habersham Central last Thursday in Cleveland.
The WCHS won the opening set 25-22, but the Lady Raiders bounced back to take a 25-20 win the second set.
The Lady Warriors closed out the match by winning the next two sets, 25-22 and 25-18.
Cannon had 14 kills in the win, while Spain finished with 12, Dorsey had 11 kills, and Dye had eight kills and four blocks.
Burke had 47 assists and six digs, while Boggs had 24 digs and two assists, and Cannon had 23 digs.
Spain led the serving attack wth five assists, while Burke had three, and Ash, Dorsey, and Cannon each had two.