Cartersville repeats as county volleyball champs

Cartersville volleyball won three straight matches Saturday in the 2017 Bartow County Volleyball Championship to defend their title.

The Lady Canes beat Cass 25-14, 25-23 in the championship match.

“Cass brought the fight to us,” said Cartersville head coach Dutch Cothran. “We got some momentum and finished out the first set rather comfortably, but the second set was hard fought. We made some errors, but the Lady Colonels stepped up their game.”

To reach the finals, Cartersville had wins over Adairsville 25-16, 25-18 and earlier over Cass 25-6, 25-8.

Cass (15-11) made the championship round for a rematch with Cartersville with a pair of wins over Woodland. Cass defeated Woodland 25-7, 25-17 in their first match and 25-18, 25-6 in the semifinal.

“The championship match was our most intense of the season,” said Cass coach Chelsa Morris. “Kyler Trouten did an outstanding job adjusting to the different offensive dilemmas throughout the day and Keegan Krause got into a good groove blocking and hitting. I thought the girls came together well as a team today and played the hardest they have played all season.”

"Overall, I think we played pretty well today,” added Cothran. “We made some errors early in our first match, but we were able to overcome them.”

Woodland finished third in the tournament with a victory over Adairsville.

Caitie Helman of Cartersville was the tournament MVP. “Nedu Evans would have also been a great candidate for the award,” said Cothran. “She and Heilman were great today.”

Cartersville (18-2, 4-0) hosts Sandy Creek and LaGrange Tuesday at the Storm Center beginning at 5 p.m. Like the Lady Canes, Sandy Creek is unbeaten this season in region play.

Cass won the JV county tournament, defeating Cartersville in the finals.