Tigers turn it around
Darlington’s volleyball team wins the silver bracket at the Coosa Invitational.
Teams rarely get a chance to avenge three straight losses in one day. But in high school volleyball, the winds can shift quickly in a team’s favor.
That was the situation for the Darlington Lady Tigers on Saturday. Darlington coach Aaron Wilton saw his team rebound from three straight losses in pool play to turn around and win three straight, including the finals of the tournament’s silver bracket.
“It was a long day of volleyball that started with some really tough matches this morning,” Wilton said. “But I just reminded the girls that there was still a lot more to go.”
The Lady Tigers defeated Bremen and Southeast Whitfield in bracket play before facing Coahulla Creek in the finals.
Darlington led from the start of the first set, fighting off a determined Lady Colts team to win 25-20.
Coahulla Creek struck first in the second set, opening with a 31 lead and battling back and forth until both teams stood at 20-20.
Darlington then took advantage of some Coahulla Creek miscues to rally for five straight points and take the set and the match.
Wilton said he was proud of how his players stepped up throughout the tournament, including setter Callie Maffett, Zoe Smith, and Mary Margaret Wright.
“We were spent before this match, but they found a way to pull together and win it,” Wilton said. “Give Coahulla Creek credit. They were serving tough and making plays. We were fortunate enough to eke it out at the end.”
Host Coosa did well enough in pool play to get into the gold bracket of the tournament, but lost to Gordon Lee in the opening round, 25-18, 2521.
“We had some great moments in the Gordon Lee match, but, ultimately, we just couldn’t finish,” Coosa coach Nic Hann said. “We dug a hole to start with and fought hard to get back in it, but there just wasn’t enough
steam to close it out.”
The Lady Eagles began the day with a win over Cass in pool play before
falling to LaFayette, a match that Hann said his team never found its groove.
“It was very uncharacteristic of us,” Hann said. “We never found our identity and play like we normally do.”
Coosa (15-9) ended the first part of the day with a win over Southeast Whitfield, which gave them the No. 6 seed in the gold bracket.
Sonoraville picked up wins over Northwest Whitfield and Gordon Lee in the second half of the tournament to set up a championship match with Heritage.
The Lady Phoenix would come up short, however, as they lost to the Catoosa County squad in two sets.
The Lady Eagles travel to Temple on Tuesday for a tri-match with Bremen.
Darlington will host Chattooga and Adairsville beginning at 5 p.m.