Wednesday, October 3, 2001
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Wednesday, October 3, 2001 |
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McIntosh volleyball team enters tourney as top seed Thursday night was Senior Night at McIntosh High School for the seven senior ladies on the Chiefs'14th-ranked volleyball squad. The last home contest for these super seniors was also an opportunity to finish region play undefeated. The last region opponent, East Coweta, was first up for the Chiefs. Game one started ominously, with the Indians of East Coweta jumping out to a commanding 8-0 lead before McIntosh seemed to wake up. Last year's region MVP, Megan Bartels, then got the serve, and served three aces among six straight points. The team then traded points until an Alice Lowery kill tied it up at 9-9. From that point, a superb blocking effort by the Indian front line shut the Chiefs down, and East Coweta stunned the McIntosh squad, 15-9. The Indians, smelling an upset, wouldn't let the ball hit the floor at the start of the second game. Bartels stepped up with an ace and two kills, and Tara Hamilton and Lisa Watkins hit winners to propel the Chiefs to a 6-4 lead. At 6-6, McIntosh started a run, with Bartels again serving 6 straight points. Jenny Dunn added two kills, and Whitney Wallis one to make the score 12-6. After trading points, Hamilton slammed home the game-winner, 15-8. Allison Cheatham started the deciding game with four strong serves, including two aces, to begin 4-0. Bartels came up with two timely kills, followed by two service winners to make it 7-1. Hustling digs in the backcourt by Cheatham and Natalie Crowley saved many points for the Chiefs, as the teams traded points to 9-4. Bartels then served six straight winners, with two aces, for the third consecutive game, to close out the match, 15-4. She tallied 21 service winners and eight aces for the match as the McIntosh Chiefs finished region play undefeated. Before the match with Woodward, McIntosh honored their seniors with a ceremony on center court. The seven seniors, co-captains Bartels and Cheatham, Crowley, Dunn, Hamilton, Wallis, and Sarah Rosetti, were escorted by their parents and received going away gifts and flowers in appreciation for their efforts during their highly successful season and McIntosh careers. Woodward, ranked seventh in the state, ran into a fired-up Chiefs team hoping to avenge an early-season loss. With the largest crowd of the season on hand to support the departing seniors, McIntosh jumped out to 5-2 lead, behind an incredible five straight blocks in the middle by Dunn. Rosetti added two kills, but the Woodward squad squashed the momentum at that point, and began to assert their dominance with textbook volleyball. Bartels had a few nice blocks, but they were negated by a string of serving mistakes by the Chiefs. The first game ended 15-7, Woodward. It was more of the same in the second game, as Woodward showed why they are so highly-ranked in the state. They were nearly mistake-free throughout the game, while the Chiefs could not mount a challenge. McIntosh was overwhelmed, 15-5. With seven victories in eight matches this week, including crucial regional victories over rivals Starr's Mill and East Coweta twice, the McIntosh Chiefs are 28-7 for the year, on pace to finish with the best record in school history. After out-of-region matches with Heritage and Shiloh yesterday, the Chiefs begin the region playoffs on Thursday at Fayette County High School as the top seed in the region.
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