High school roundup: Murray rips Gordon Central in straight sets to stay perfect in area

Published 9:30 pm Tuesday, September 20, 2022

CHATSWORTH — Murray County High School’s volleyball team earned a decisive victory in straight sets over visiting Area 7-2A opponent Gordon Central Tuesday night.

Murray (20-6) won 25-14 in the first set, then ended the game with a 25-7 victory in the second over the Lady Warriors (1-19).

After some trading of points early in the first set, the Lady Indians strung together some kills to grab a 10-point advantage by the time Murray hit 17 points.

The Lady Indians pushed the first set to the brink at 24-11, before Gordon Central pushed back with three straight. Lira Lingerfelt finally tipped one over the net and into a gap in the floor, leaving Gordon Central scrambling and unable to handle it, giving Murray the 25-14 lead.

Lingerfelt could be found for much of the match soaring above the net to hammer down a spike, but her final touch of the first set was a surprise, back-handed tap that caught Gordon Central off guard.

Skyler Mahoney also flew high for a few kills, and Lily Sheram assisted some of those from her spot as setter.

Murray County didn’t leave the visitors much time to hang around in the second set.

The Lady Indians quickly reached a 13-3 lead, thanks to a pair of lengthy point streaks.

After trading points, Breanne Harrison stepped in the rotation as a server, leading Murray to several points in a row to put the Lady Indians within a point of a win at 24-6.

Harrison’s final serve clipped the net and didn’t reach the other side, finally breaking the streak, but Gordon Central’s serve into the net ended the set and match with a 25-7 Murray victory.

Murray is currently on its longest win streak of the season at six games, with its last defeat coming against Dade County earlier this month.

The Lady Indians are undefeated in Area 7-2A with two games left on the region schedule. The Lady Indians play Rockmart next week before another contest with Gordon Central the following week.

Murray’s next game is Monday in Benton, Tennessee, against Polk County High School.

Also in high school sports action Tuesday:

Volleyball

Northwest bests Southeast, loses to Sonoraville

Northwest Whitfield (11-16) defeated Southeast Whitfield (2-23-2) but lost to Sonoraville (20-15) Tuesday at home.

The Lady Bruins downed Southeast in two sets, winning 25-17 and 25-20, but fell to Sonoraville in three sets.

Southeast also fell to Sonoraville in two sets, 25-12 and 25-22.

Allie Anderson had 28 assists, eight digs and six aces across the two matches for Northwest. Mia Peña had 19 digs and four assists, Emma Wheeler had 18 digs and Caroline Buckner had 13 kills, four digs and three assists.

For Southeast, Cristiany Pineda had 10 digs and seven assists, while Trinity Burse tallied 10 digs and eight kills. Yaretzi Hernandez had 12 assists and Ann Grammer had seven kills.

Northwest plays in a tri-match at Ringgold on Thursday, while Southeast is in action on Saturday.

Softball

Fannin County 12, North Murray 10

North Murray (5-14-1) fell short in a high-scoring game Tuesday at home against Fannin County (5-6), falling 12-10.

After Fannin took a 12-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth, North Murray scored the final five runs of the game.

Angel Tant was 3-for-5 with an RBI for North Murray. Cameron Longley was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.

The Lady Mountaineers host Model Thursday at 5 p.m.

Gordon Lee 8, Coahulla Creek 1

Gordon Lee (15-4) shut down Coahulla Creek (12-6) 8-1 Tuesday night in Varnell.

Gordon Lee’s advantage in hits was 10-6 over Coahulla Creek, but the visitors converted more of those hits into runs.

Coahulla Creek’s lone run came in the third inning, when an Annie Reed single to right field brought in Caroline Reed. Caroline Reed was 2-for-4.

Coahulla Creek plays at Bremen on Thursday at 5 p.m.

Northwest Whitfield 8, Cedartown 7

Northwest Whitfield (10-9) scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to come from behind and down Cedartown (4-12) 8-7 on Tuesday.

Northwest trailed 7-3 headed into the final half inning. Abygail Jarvi had a game-winning RBI single to cap the comeback and win the game in walk-off fashion.

Laila Perry was 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Northwest. Jolie Albertson was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Eden Rann also doubled.

Albertson struck out 11 and limited Cedartown to five hits in seven innings of work on the mound.

The teams play in Cedartown Thursday at 5 p.m.