Cartersville tops Blessed Trinity to reach the Class 4A state championship match
October 26, 2024
The Cartersville Lady Canes volleyball team defeated Blessed Trinity in four sets Saturday afternoon at Allatoona High School to advance to the GHSA Class 4A state finals on Monday, Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the LakePoint Champions Center in Emerson.
The Lady Canes won 26-24, 22-25, 25-12, and 25-23 and will face Pace Academy in the state championship match. Pace Academy defeated Marist Saturday in four sets in the other state semifinal.
Cartersville opened the first set with a 7-3 lead, but that would be the Lady Canes’ largest advantage before pulling out a 26-24 win.
The Titans chipped away at Cartersville’s lead and tied the score at 19- all late in the set. The two teams traded points down the stretch with four more ties before the Hurricanes got a left-side block to go up 1-0.
Blessed Trinity bounced back in the second set for a 25-22 win.
Three kills by Destinee Chukelu and Chloe Anido of the Lady Titans built a 12-9 advantage. Cartersville then won a long rally and got a key block from Addie Rickman to end Blessed Trinity’s run and cut the margin to 12-11.
The Titans followed with four consecutive points to lead 17-11 and later led 21-16 before Cartersville surged back to tie the score at 21-all on a kill by Amara Ejieke.
However, Blessed Trinity scored four of the final five points in Set 2, and the Titans tied the match at one set each.
Cartersville controlled the flow in Set 3 and had an early five-point run to build a 10-4 advantage. Dufrene and Addison Marisko had kills in the run, and Emma Wall added a service ace.
After the Titans made it 10-5, the Lady Canes scored the next four points to go up 14-5. Adahlyn Womack had a kill in the sequence.
Cartersville held a ten-point edge at 20-10 and banked the set win down the stretch with kills from Dufrene and Marisko for set point.
Trailing by a set, Blessed Trinity battled to the final point of Set 4.
Cartersville led 3-1 on a Riley Huff kill and a service error by the Titans, but Blessed Trinity responded with four straight points to take a 5-3 lead. Anindo had a kill in the sequence.
After the Hurricanes got kills from Rickman and Dufrene, they had knotted the score again at 7-all.
Blessed Trinity won four of the next five points for an 11-8 lead with kills by Anindo and Chukelu, but Womack and Huff had kills for Cartersville to keep the Canes close at 12-10.
The Titans led 15-12 on a kill by Raquel Mina before Cartersville reeled off five straight points to gain the lead 17-15 and force Blessed Trinity to use a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Titans scored six consecutive points to build a 21-17 lead. Avery Russell's kill and dink were key plays in the scoring run.
Cartersville head coach Kyle Lundberg used a timeout with Cartersville trailing, and the Lady Canes responded with four of the next five points to tie the score 21-21. Dinks by Dufrene and Womack were key plays in the run and set up the set’s dramatic final sequence.
Riley Gilmore had a kill for Blessed Trinity to give the Titans a 22-21 lead, but Cartersville scored the next three points to set up a pair of match points at 24-22. Ansley Smith had a kill for Blessed Trinity to make the score 24-23 before a clutch block by Marisko sealed the Lady Canes’ 25-23 fourth-set victory.
Dufrene paced the Cartersville front line with 12 kills and three blocks. Marisko had six kills and eight blocks. Huff contributed eight kills with four blocks, along with two aces. Rickman finished with six kills and five blocks. Ejieke added nine kills and one block.
Mckenzie Wilkie produced 25 digs and added one kill. Aubree Barrett had ten digs, 17 assists, and one kill. Riley Jarrett contributed 14 digs and had one service ace. Emma Wall had 22 assists, seven digs, and one ace. Sydney Seigler added three digs and three aces.
Blessed Trinity’s season ends with a 29-11 record.
Cartersville improved to 33-11.
Comments