Coosa came out on top of the Battle of the Counties tourney
The start of the new season proved to be a successful one for the Coosa volleyball team Saturday, even if there were some rough patches along the way.
For the first time since they began playing in it, the Lady Eagles won the Battle of the Counties varsity volleyball tournament at Rockmart High School. The team earned the title after beating Rome in a bestof-five match in the finals.
“It was an interesting day, to say the least, but it was a good day,” Coosa coach Nic Hann said.
The Lady Eagles (40) won their first three matches of the day in straight sets despite some close calls.
Coosa defeated Rome 25-15, 25-23; host Rockmart 25-17, 25-10; and Darlington 25-23, 25-10 to earn a spot in the tournament championship.
Rome’s Lady Wolves, who worked their way out of the losers’ bracket, were there waiting for Coosa and attacked first to get a 25-20 win in the first set. But the Lady Eagles regrouped and went on the win the next three sets — 25-21, 25-23, 25-19 — and finish first while Rome placed second.
“It was neat to see our girls respond today being that it was the first games of the year and we were going out playing some tough matches,” Hann said. “We’ve already seen some chemistry among our girls. They dug deep after that first set to Rome in the championship.”
Coosa rolled off 11 straight points in the second set of the finals with Kasey Thacker serving.
The freshman finished the day with 22 kills and five blocks.
Other notable players for Coosa included Taylor Roberts (38 kills, 11 blocks), Tori Overby (35 kills, 29 digs, 10 aces, seven blocks) and Cassie McFather ( 17 digs, 10 kills and six aces)
Abigail Talley had 36 assists and 19 digs, while Brinley Smith had 41 assists and 23 digs, and Debra Barker 44 digs.
Darlington finished with a 2-2 record as the Lady Tigers started with wins over Cedartown (25-17, 25-14) and Model (25-3, 25-13) before losing to Coosa and Rome.