Lady Canes advance to region title rematch with Allatoona

October 10, 2025

Scott Barkley, CanesAthletics.com

After dispatching Woodland on Tuesday, Oct. 7, by a cumulative score of 75-12 across three games, the Canes volleyball team also swept Dalton on Thursday in the 4A Region 7 tournament. It didn't come without the Lady Catamounts making things interesting in the third set, though.

The 3-0 win sets up a Saturday, noon match with the host team, Allatoona. The Lady Bucs ( 34-9) handed Cartersville (39-6) a loss on Sept. 4 in a closely-contested match, 19-25, 25-21, 15-13.

All-Region honors were presented on Tuesday. Jacksonville State commit Rylie Huff was named Co-Player of the Year and First Team All-Region. Jada Zimmerman, Amara Ejike, and Kenzie Wilkie were also named to the First Team. Aubree Barrett, Holly Dufrene, and Emma Wall received Second Team honors, and Blakely Morris was named Honorable Mention.

CHS won the first and second games against Dalton by 25-12 and 25-13 scores, respectively, pulling away after the Catamounts had closed the gap to 14-11 and 13-8.

They appeared to be on the way to a similar win after Ejieke's kill made the score 11-9, and the Lady Canes built a 20-14 advantage. Dalton clawed their way back, though, to 23-20 before Zimmerman's kill finished the match, 25-22.

"I think we did pretty good," said Zimmerman, who has committed to Eastern Florida State College. "We could have done better. We need to work on our blocking a little bit more, and our defense and hitter-setter connection. We were off a little bit in that last game."

Huff, who leads the team in blocks, said she and the team need to do some work.

"We did alright in the first set, but then we kind of just lost energy and were going through the motions. I didn't hit as well as I usually do. We'll work on it in practice tomorrow, watch film, and just make sure we're locked in and ready for Saturday."

"There was low energy," said Canes head coach Kyle Lundberg. "It was just one of those days."

During such times last season, it wasn't uncommon for Lundberg to call a timeout not to talk strategy, but to order a set of burpees for those on the court to refocus. It added a layer of toughness that squad took to the state championship game.

Only once, at a tournament in Charleston, has it happened this year. There is a reason burpees have had the rare appearance, and it also has to do with toughness.

"They haven't been retired," said Lundberg. "I just haven't been calling as many timeouts this year. I want them to build that grit on their own. They don't need a timeout to get out of a bad run. They're strong enough to face it."