Coosa makes a statement
Coosa finishes second in a tournament full of big schools.
The Coosa volleyball team has made it their mission this season to play big school in compete. And all Saturday long, the team proved to coach Nic Hann just how competitive they can be.
The Lady Eagles finished second in the Coosa Invitational Saturday at Shorter, winning their first five matches of the day before falling to Northwest Whitfield in the final, 25-18, 2519.
Despite only getting second, Coosa had made its presence known.
“This is really big for our team,” Hann said. “We needed to get some confidence playing against bigger schools and the battle tested and saw some awesome competition. To make it to the final was really big for us in terms of the rest of the season.”
Taylor Roberts, playing on her birthday, led the team with 52 kills and 20 blocks for the entire day, while Tori Overby tallied 47 kills and 49 digs. Debra Barker led the Lady Eagles with 62 digs, and Abigail Talley and Brinley Smith combined for 138 assists.
The only match that was too big for them was the final one, as Northwest rode behind Holly Heath and MaLane Kyler’s play to win with little drama. The Lady Bruins got a jump on both games and Coosa struggled to come back.
It finished a remarkable day for Southeast Whitfield, as it only lost one game in the six matches it played. After going three games against Sonoraville in match one, the Lady Bruins cruised through competition, including semifinal and quarterfinal wins versus Heritage and Bremen.
We just reiterate to do your job,” Northwest coach Kelsey Kirk said. “Each girl knows the role that she plays on the team and their only job is to do what we ask of them.”
In the final, Heath led the team with 10 kills and eight digs, while Kyler tallied 26 assists. Kaley Long posted seven kills and seven digs each, while Haley Cox had seven kills and three aces.
Perhaps the highlight of the day for the Lady Ea- gles (18-6) was their semifinal win against Ridge- land, a team they lost to three times already this season. But the Lady Eagles jumped on the Lady Panthers early for a 2511, 21-25, 15-9 victory.
Ridgeland coach April Lemons said she knew Coosa would be a battle, and that became apparent when the Lady Eagles jumped far ahead in the first game. After losing the second game, concentration and a lack of errors gave Coosa the elusive third game.
“It showed how much the girls have really worked,” Hann said. “We lost to them six times in three days, and so to see the girls come out to day very determined was big. That was the match they were looking forward to,
and they laid it all on the floor.”
Coosa’s quarterfinal match was thrilling as well, as the Lady Eagles were pushed to three sets against Chattooga in a 2521, 33-35, 15-9 victory. Nobody who watched the match will forget the back-and-forth second game that seemed to never end.
Hann said he expected the fight out of a talented team like Chattooga, and although he wishes to have won that second game, he was proud of his team’s response.
“Yeah we lost the second set, it was a marathon set, but we could have easily caved in that third set,” Hann said. “But the girls responded, and showed us what they are really made of.”
Coosa plays again next Tuesday when it travels to Cedartown to play the Bulldogs and Hiram.
The Rome Wolves (10-9) also competed in the Invitational, but could not make it out of pool play as they lost three straight matches. They will play again this Monday when they host Armuchee and Darlington.