Block party

The White County Lady Warriors made a little history last week at the 7-AAAA volleyball tournament. The squad posted a third-place finish, earning a spot in the Class AAAA tournament.

The Lady Warriors have qualified for the state tournament in back-to-back years for the first time in program history, and only the third time since the program was established in 2014.

The Lady Warriors (22-13) posted a 3-1 mark during tournament play, including back-to-back wins over Chestatee and West Hall to earn third-place after entering the tournament as the sixth seed.

“Once again, our girls played hard, and they played with heart,” WCHS head coach Shannon Smith said. “We came to prove we deserved to be third in our region. When the girls work together, when their attitudes match their talent, we are an unbelievable team.”

The Lady Warriors hit the road on Saturday, taking on Region 5-AAAA runner-up Cartersville (20-14) at noon at Richmond Academy in Augusta. Cartersville lost to Sandy Creek in the 5-AAAA championship match last week. The Purple Hurricanes made the Final 4 last year, and bring a 20-14 record into the first round matchup with White County.

Richmond Academy, the Region 3 champion, takes on Hardaway, the No. 4 seed from Region 1, in the second match of the opening round doubleheader.

"We are looking forward to playing Cartersville on Saturday,” Smith said. “The girls are motivated because they see the fruits of their labor. The hard work is paying off. The girls need to focus on strong blocks at the net, avoiding service errors, and having focused play. We need to play our game. Coach Oakes and I are so pleased with the way they played last week; we look forward to seeing our girls play their best game on Saturday.”

Due to the GHSA's four-team quadrant system for the state tournament brackets, which started in 2018, Richmond Academy gets to the host the opening round matches, and the Lady Warriors will have to make a 3-hour bus trip to Augusta. Cartersville and Hardaway also have bus rides of at least three hours for Saturday's matches.

“We are having to travel three hours away, that is quite a ride, but we will make sure the girls have enough time to warm-up and wake up before we play,” Smith said. “Typically, we do not do well having to get off the bus and play immediately, so we need to make sure we have ample time for the girls to get ready for this game.”

If the Lady Warriors can get past the Purple Hurricanes in the opening round, they could be back on the bus next Tuesday for a second trip to Augusta to play Richmond Academy in a Sweet 16 matchup.

Region tourney

The Lady Warriors knocked off three higher seeded teams on the way to earning the state playoff appearance. WCHS beat Denmark, West Hall and Chestatee, seeded No. 3-5, respectively, during the tournament.

In the consolation bracket semifinals last Thursday, WCHS handed Chestatee a 2-0 loss to clinch a state spot, then knocked off West Hall 2-1 in the consolation finals to take the third-place spot.

Blessed Trinity, the No. 1 seed, captured the region title with a 3-0 win over Marist, the No. 2 seed.

The Lady Warriors avenged a regular season loss to Chestatee in semifinals, posting a 2-0 victory. The two teams traded points in the first set, and were deadlocked at 17-17 before WCHS used a 4-0 to take a 21-17 lead. Dasha Cannon had an ace during the run, which also includes a pair of Chestatee hitting mistakes.

Kylie Johnson gave the Lady Warriors a 22-18 lead with a point at the net, and Jenna Ash made 24-20 with a kill. Chestatee won the next point, but a service error by the Lady War Eagles gave WCHS a 25-21 win.

The Lady Warriors started fast in the second set, jumping out to a 12-2 lead. Ash, Cannon, Hope Thomas and Camryn Dorsey all made plays at the net, and Johnson and Kendall Pardue each added an ace during the early run.

The Lady Warriors never allowed Chestatee to get closer than six points, and clinched the match with a 5-1 run.

Ash had a pair of points at the net, Karlie Burke added an ace, and Thomas finished things off with a kill off a set from Johnson for a 25-12 win.

Ash finished with six kills and four digs, while Thomas has five kills, five blocks and three block assists.

Dorsey had three kills, two blocks, and three block assists, Cannon had three kills, two block assists, two digs, and an ace, and Kylie Johnson had two kills, three aces, three block assists, and a block.

The Lady Warriors got off to a quick start again in the opening set against West Hall, taking a 5-2 lead off of points at the net from Thomas, Cannon and Ash. West Hall answered with a 7-2 run to take a 9-7 lead. Thomas scored off a block and then had a kill as WCHS jumped back in front, 11-9.

WCHS led by as much as three points during the middle stage of the match, including a 17-14 lead when Dorsey scored at the net. The Lady Warriors last lead of the set came at 21-20 with Thomas scoring off a kill.

West Hall's Kinsey Wilson tied things up at 21-21 with a kill, and a Lady Warriors hitting mistake and a net violation gave the Lady Spartans a 23-21 lead. Cannon had a thundering kill from the left side to make it 23-22, but another hitting error gave West Hall a 24-22 lead.

Cannon and Dorsey had back-to-points at the net to tie things up at 24-24, but a pair of hitting errors gave the Lady Spartans a 26-24 win.

West Hall took a 6-1 lead to start the second set, but WCHS bounced back with a 9-0 run to take a 10-6 lead. Ash and Thomas each had kills during the spurt, and Pardue added an ace.

Aliza Johnson had a point at the net for a 12-10 lead, and Kylie Johnson and Thomas scored as the lead grew to 17-13.

West Hall cut the deficit to 19-18 on a kill from Wilson, but Ash answered with a kill of her own. Aliza Johnson scored at the net for a 22-19 lead, but West Hall won the next four points for a 23-22 lead.

Two points later, Thomas scored off a quick set from Ash to tie things up at 24-24. Cannon gave the Lady Warriors the lead off a shot from the second level, and then West Hall had a hitting error to give WCHS a 26-24 win to send the match to the third set.

In the final set, Shelby Spain scored twice at the net, Macy Boggs had an ace, and Ash had a kill as the Lady Warriors grabbed a 6-1 lead.

The Lady Warriors didn't allow the lead to fall below five points, finishing off the match with a 9-6 advantage. Cannon, Aliza Johnson, and Thomas all had points during the final push, and Burke added an ace to help the Lady Warriors close out the 15-7 win.

Cannon had nine kills and four digs to lead the WCHS attack, while Ash had seven kills, four digs, and two block assists. Aliza Johnson had four kills and two block assists, and Shelby Spain had two kills and a dig.