By Mark Turner
White County News
The White County Lady Warriors' volleyball team are heading into the stretch run of the regular season slate. The Lady Warriors (8-13) have a handful of games left over the next three weeks, before the Area 6-AAA tournament begins on Oct. 7.
The Lady Warriors came into the season an almost entirely new lineup and they have had some up and downs as they've played a very tough non-area schedule, but are still on track to return to the Class AAA state tournament. The WCHS squad is currently in fourth place in the 6-AAA standings, with a 4-3 record in area play. Dawson County and North Hall were both 6-1 in the area standings as of Wednesday, with Lumpkin County and WCHS sitting at 4-3. A Top 4 finish at the area tournament guarantees the Lady Warriors a spot in the state tournament, and they also have the safety net of the GHSA Post Season Rankings, where there are currently ranked No. 26.
On Tuesday, the Lady Warriors split a 6-AAA doubleheader, knocking off Chestatee and falling to North Hall.
The Lady Warriors posted a 2-0 win over Chestatee, taking the straight set victory 25-16 and 25-19.
Caroline Tatum led the attack with six kills and four digs, while Daylee Barrett had four kills, two aces and two digs, and Aslyn Burkett added four kills, three digs and an assist.
Kalynn Watkins had 15 assists to spearhead the offensive attack to go along with 13 digs, two kills and an ace. Kerrigan Cain had three kills, Mya Palmer had three kills, and assist and a dig.
Addi Conner had five aces, three assists and two digs, Emmy Barton added three assists, two digs and an ace, Madi Coker had a kill, and Sophia Butcher had a dig.
In the 2-0 loss to North Hall, the Lady Trojans won back-to-back sets, 25-16 and 25-19.
Tatum had five kills and a dig, Barrett added four kills and two digs, Burkett had three kills and two digs, and Watkins had seven assists, six digs, and two kills.
Conner had three digs and two assists, Palmer had a block and an assist, Bella Pilgrim had three digs and an ace, Barton added three assists and six digs, and Cain had a block and three digs.
Last week, the Lady Warriors got a big win over Dawson County, winning in straight sets 25-22 and 29-27.
Burkett had a big game, finishing with eight kills, a block and a dig, while Barrett added four kills and six digs. Watkins had 17 assists, three kills, three digs and an ace, with Tatum added two kills and two assists. Palmer had three kills and a dig, Cain had two kills and a dig, and Conner had 10 digs, two assists and two aces. Barton added two aces, two digs and an assist, Pilgrim had seven digs and two aces, and Butcher had five digs.
Lumpkin County handed the Lady Warriors a 2-1 loss in the other area matchup. WCHS won the opening set 25-15, but Lumpkin won the the second set by a 25-21 margin.
The two teams battled in the final set, with Lumpkin pulling out a 20-18 win to clinch the match.
Barrett had six kills, four digs and two assists, Watkins had five kills, 13 assists, two digs and an ace, Burkett had four kills, four digs and two aces, Tatum added three kills and a dig, and Palmer had four kills.
Barton had seven assists, two kills and an ace, Cain had four kills, a block and a dig, Conner had six digs, an ace and an assist, Pilgrim added an assist, ace and dig, and Butcher had