Armuchee, Model, Rome battle it out in tri-match
♦ Lady Wolves take two and Armuchee takes one at a Model-hosted tri-match Thursday.
Thursday night featured a tri-match between the Armuchee Lady Indians, Model Lady Devils and the Rome Lady Wolves at Model High School. The Lady Wolves took home two wins, while Armuchee went 1-1 and Model 0-2.
The evening’s first contest pitted Rome against host Model. The Lady Devils took set one 25-16, but Rome rallied for two straight by set scores of 25-18 and 15-13.
“I think the girls really dug deep, went back to the basics and remembered their discipline training,” Lady Wolves head coach Katie Price said.
“We’ve been talking about doing the little things and they showed up to Rome,” Lady Devils head coach Kendall Roberts said. “Obviously still made a couple of errors here and there down the road. We’re not hanging our heads to that game. We played pretty well. I was very pleased with their attitude and effort throughout the entire match and we just fell short there in that third set.”
In the loss, seniors Olivia Langham and Laura Kate Cole each recorded six kills. Kate Cole also had four serving aces.
In the middle match, Rome battled Armuchee. This time, Rome would take set one by the score of 25-22.
The Lady Wolves seemed to be in control of set two up 10-6, but an Armuchee resurgence saw the score tied at 12-12, 15-15 and 2222. The Lady Indians would score three straight to take set two 25-22.
The decisive set three went back and forth, with both sides trading points. Armuchee’s largest lead was four at 106, when Price called a timeout. Rome respond with a 5-1 streak to pull within one at 12-11.
“We talked about just the confidence we were lacking and we needed to gain back and the body language we had at that point was we were already defeated. We had to address that situation,” Katie said. “Once we did that, they changed their body language and that ultimately changes the way you play.”
Armuchee had Rome on the verge with a 14-12 edge, but the Lady Wolves tied it up at 14-14, then closed out the set 3-1 to win 17-15 and take the match 2-1.
“I definitely think it was a reality check,” Price said. “Those are two good teams that we played and I think my girls kind of, honestly, didn’t come out ready to play. I think after this they’re going to come out with a new mindset. We have a target on our back (and) we have to be ready 24/7.”
“We’ve been really preaching to our girls about controlling the things they can control, especially their energy,” Decker said. “For the firs time tonight, we told them that’s the most energetic they’ve been all season. We’ve had a great region season going undefeated, but that was the best we played all night tonight and it just carried over the last match with Model tonight.”
In the finale, Armuchee
faced host Model. The Lady Indians did not let the previous match affect their play, taking set one 25-17.
Model started the second set on a stronger note, pulling within one at 7-6, but a 14-3 Armuchee run put little doubt in the eventual outcome. The Lady Indians took set two 25-11 to earn a sweep.
“Two completely different teams as far as us,” Roberts said. “We did not step out ready to play. We weren’t communicating and we were letting balls drop and fall that we normally don’t drop and fall and against a good, solid team like Armuchee is, you can’t let those balls fall like that and expect to win or be successful.”
“We keep telling our ladies what champions do is they’re consistent,” Decker
said. “We want to win region champion and make a far run and they were consistent in that they kept the energy up from the Rome match. Proud of them.”
Armuchee senior Molli Womack and junior Bailey Tomlin led the team in kills with 11 on the night. Womack also finished the evening with nine blocks.
Senior defensive specialist Mercedes Mclaughlin tallied 27 digs.
Junior setter Carlee Poole had a monster night with 33 assists, 18 digs, six kills and three serving aces.
“I feel like we have the best setter in the region,” Decker said in an emailed statement. “She has amazing hands, and her instincts for the game of volleyball are far and few between.”
As the regular season begins to win down, respective region tournaments loom on the horizon.
UP NEXT
Armuchee will host the Area 6 A/AA Public region tournament, locking up the No. 1 seed by finishing undefeated in region earlier in the week. The Lady Indians will make the journey south to Lindale for a tri- match with Chattooga and Pepperell on Tuesday.
“We told the girls from the beginning this summer, our goal is to win region,” Decker said. “Armuchee volleyball made history Tuesday night. We finished undefeated in region , which we never had done before. And we also finished as the No. 1 seed going into the region tournament, which we had never done before. Our next goal is to go into the region tournament, playing our best volleyball and hopefully make history again by winning it.”
Model prepares to battle Ringgold and Woodland ( Cartersville) on Tuesday at home.
Rome readies to host Carrollton and East Paulding on Tuesday.