GC battles, but falls in three sets twice in first home match
Even on an 0-2 night, the Gordon Central Lady Warriors made history for their program and showed how far they have come in a short amount of time. And the two matches they dropped were certainly not because of lack of effort and determination.
Gordon Central hosted their first-ever home varsity matches on Tuesday as they welcomed Woodland and Murray County, and a large crowd filled the stands to witness the very competitive matches. The Lady Warriors (0-3) first took on Woodland and after dropping the first set 25-17, the light seemed to switch on quickly as they dominated the second set for a 25-8 advantage to force a decisive third set. They then got off to a slow start in the third set, which eventually cost them as they lost the set 25-18 and the match.
Gordon Central continued to stay positive despite the opening loss as they took on Murray County in the final match of the night. Once again they showed their ability to bounce back as they lost the first set to the Lady Indians 25-19 but rallied to take the second set 25-21. For the second straight match, they went to a decisive third set. After a back-and-forth battle, Murray County squeaked out a 25-23 third-set win to take the match.
Gordon Central coach Cindy Miller said the effort in the two matches on Tuesday was indicative of what kind of team the Lady Warriors have in their first year of varsity action.
“They are working so hard in practice and games to improve,” said Miller. “They don’t ever give up. They realize what they are doing, and they know what we need to correct. I think we’re going to be fine. We need to continue tweaking some things, but we’re going to be fine.”
Standouts for Gordon Central were Leslie Gutierrez, Chloe Ferguson and several others. Miller said that Savannah George also stepped up on Tuesday as she replaced a starter that had to miss the final match of the night and did a great job all around.
Miller said that one of the biggest attributes her team has is their ability to stay positive and the love they show for their teammates.
“They really keep each other up,” said Miller.
“They are really positive with each other, and it doesn’t matter if one of them has a bad shot or bad play, they keep each other up and encourage each other.”
The crowd at the first-ever varsity match was a good one as well as the upper deck of the Gordon Central gym was filled close to capacity. Miller said her team has been looking forward to playing at home and hopes that the crowds continue to grow as the season continues and her team shows improvement.
“The girls were so excited to have a home match,” said Miller. “It was a good crowd, and it was good to see people want to come watch us play. There were a lot of friends and family here for encour- agement. We want to get them excited about coming to our matches. I think we kept everyone entertained with such close matches. Hopefully, they will see how hard the girls are working and want to come back and bring more people with them.”
The Lady Warriors are on the road on Saturday to play in the Rockmart Tournament at Rockmart High School.
They will visit Cass on Tuesday at 5 p.m. for a trimatch against the host Lady Colonels and Armuchee. Their next home match will be on Thursday at 5 p.m. against Unity Christian.