Until we meet again

Published 12:14 am Thursday, October 7, 2010

The first time Dalton and Southeast Whitfield met on the volleyball court this season, it was for an early edge in the league standings.

The second time the Lady Catamounts and Lady Raiders squared off, at stake were bragging rights at Southeast’s own annual tournament.

But if they can set up a third meeting in this week’s Area 7-3A tournament, the outcome will likely have an even bigger effect on the way each team looks back on this year.

Dalton (22-11) and Southeast (26-16) enter today’s double-elimination tourney with each a win away from a rubber match for 2010 — the Lady Raiders won 25-17, 26-24 at Dalton on Aug. 31, while the Lady Cats won 21-25, 28-26, 17-15 at the Raider Rally final on Sept. 25 — that would guarantee the winner a berth in the Class 3A state tourney, which begins next week.

“Dalton’s been playing really well lately,” said Lady Raiders coach Jake Dickey, who is aiming for a third trip to state in his five seasons leading the program. “They are always competitive, and they’re one of those teams that kind of scares you in the tournament.”

Southeast, seeded second in 7-3A, will play host to two matches today. No. 10 seed Lumpkin County and No. 7 seed Ridgeland take on each other at 5:30 for the right to face the Lady Raiders in a match to follow.

Third-seeded Dalton welcomes No. 6 seed Gilmer to the Cats’ Den at 5:30 today in a quick-turnaround rematch. The Lady Cats won 25-11, 25-17 in a non-area match on Tuesday in Ellijay, their third sweep of Gilmer this season. But as with all postseason matches, this one will matter a whole lot more. If Dalton and Southeast both win, they’ll play again at 11 a.m. Saturday, when the tourney shifts to LaFayette High.

Despite Southeast’s slightly better seed, will the Lady Cats carry an edge in confidence into the match (if it happens) because of the recent victory against the Lady Raiders?

“I don’t know that confidence is the right word, because Southeast is just a well-coached, good, disciplined team — which we think we are as well,” said Dalton coach Joey Wills, who in his second season in charge is trying to lead the Lady Cats to their seventh state appearance in eight seasons.

“But we have to be on our game and take advantage of the points we can get when we have the opportunity. It’s the same thing with Ringgold. They’re a good, solid team, but they’re beatable. As long as we play our game, I believe we can take care of some business.”

That’s the prize that will likely be awaiting the winner of Dalton and Southeast’s side of the championship bracket — a match with Ringgold’s Lady Tigers (22-7, 9-0 Area 7-3A), who are ranked seventh in this week’s Ga.PrepCountry.com Class 3A coaches poll. They’re followed by three Area 7-3A squads in the rankings as Dalton, Southeast and Heritage-Catoosa round out that top 10.

Ringgold swept each of its 7-3A matches this season save a three-game clash with the Lady Cats, and Dickey knows it’s going to take an outstanding effort for anyone to stop the Lady Tigers.

“I don’t think they’re that much better than us,” Dickey said. “But their strengths match up with our weaknesses pretty well.”

However, Dickey has been pleased with the gains made by Lady Raiders middle hitters Megan Collins, a sophomore, and Serena Ramsey, a freshman. Both are in their first year as starters, but they have shown improvement and have been tested by Dickey in practice in preparation for another shot at Ringgold.

“We’re working on defending the middle,” Dickey said. “Both of their big hitters are middle hitters, so they go over the top of us. What’s good is that in practice I can jump over the top of them and stuff, so we’re kind of working on trying to get touches on the ball at least.”

Both Dickey and Wills said serving has been a strong point lately for their teams.

“We need to continue doing that well and we just need to remain active in going after every ball,” Wills said. “All of the teams we’ll play, and in particular the (top four seeds) hit a lot of balls up and get a lot of balls down, so we have to be able to get to a lot of balls also.”

Wills is counting on the leadership of veterans Mary Faith Erwin and Joana Rosales, who are in their final area tourney, as well as strong play from Natali Rendon, a junior who has developed as a hitter this season. They’ll all be working toward the same thing.

“Our goal is to make the state tournament,” Wills said. “That’s what we’ve been looking at all year, and in order to do that we have to place well in this tournament. Gilmer is our first stepping stone to do that.”

In other 7-3A action today, No. 9 Pickens faces No. 8 Murray County in a 5:30 p.m. match at Ringgold, with the winner facing the Lady Tigers after that. Fifth-seeded Heritage-Catoosa is at No. 4 LaFayette, also at 5:30.

The tourney is double elimination until the championship match, when the format switches to a best-of-five, winner-take-all setup.

• Northwest Whitfield (5-27) will try to surprise a few of its fellow Area 7-4A teams when that tourney starts today in Marietta with matches at both Pope and Sprayberry.

The Lady Bruins, seeded seventh in the nine-team league, play at 5:30 p.m. vs. host Sprayberry, the No. 2 seed.

A win would send the Lady Bruins to a 6:30 match against the winner of No. 6 Cass and No. 3 Sequoyah at the same site and ensure they’re around on Saturday, when the tourney centralizes at Sprayberry. A loss would push them to an elimination match at the same time against either No. 8 Woodland-Bartow or No. 9 Rome, and the winner of the elimination match will play again at 7:30 to determine who’s still alive on Saturday.

“We are looking for an upset, and that is our goal,” Lady Bruins coach Richard Taylor said. “It is our goal to go in and play our best. We are playing better and better all season long. I know the wins don’t reflect that, but we would like to continue getting better.”

One plus for Taylor is that players’ attitudes have remained positive throughout a season that has featured a tough non-area schedule in addition to the mandatory — and rugged — 7-4A slate. The top seed for the 7-4A tourney is Pope, which is ranked No. 1 in the most recent Ga.PrepCountry.com Class 4A coaches poll and won last year’s Class 5A state title before moving down this season after Georgia High School Association realignment.

“We don’t have the wins, but we have played a killer schedule,” said Taylor, who has two seniors, a junior and eight sophomores on his roster. “Anyone who has watched us can tell the difference from the beginning of the year until now. We don’t have that big hitter that can finally put a point away, but the potential is there for next year.”

• North Murray wrapped up it first varsity volleyball season a win shy of a state berth at the Area 6-2A/A tournament at Sonoraville on Tuesday.

During the opening day of the tourney, the fourth-seeded Lady Mountaineers (18-24) opened with a three-game victory against Darlington, but then fell to top-seeded Gordon Lee, 25-10, 25-12.

“My girls never really recovered,” North Murray coach Mike Pritchett said.

In a late-night elimination match that also had a state tourney berth at stake, Rockmart topped the Lady Mountaineers 23-25, 25-17, 25-20. Still, Pritchett finished his first season leading the program proud of the progress made by his players, none of whom will be lost to graduation since the school is still a year away from its first senior class.

“I put us up against some tough quality opponents from Forsyth County and Cherokee County and Atlanta, but we grew throughout the season,” Pritchett said. “We played a lot of (Class 4A and 5A schools) and took some beatings, but I think because of that we’re going to grow and be better next year.”

Daily Citizen sports writer Chris Whitfield contributed to this story.