The Whitewater Wildcats turned in an impressive showing at the Sequoyah Classic Saturday, finishing in third place with a 5-2 record.

Whitewater reached the Final Four, where it lost to Marietta 25-16, 23-25 and 22-25.

During Saturday, Whitewater faced a grueling schedule — seven matches — and it withstood the challenge, advancing to the semifinals. The Lady Wildcats defeated Sprayberry (22-25, 25-22, 25-19) and Blessed Trinity (25-21, 25-15); lost to Kell (22-25, 20-25); and defeated Chapel Hill (25-10, 25-5).

In the next round, Whitewater defeated West Forsyth (25-11, 25-10) to advance to the final eight, where it defeated Blessed Trinity again, 25-22, 25-19.

“All three games in the final four match against Marietta were close, and we started strong but lost our grip a little in the last two games,” Whitewater coach Ben Thacker said.

Several players stood out for the Whitewater. Brittany Woods had 58
kills (.371 kill percentage) for the day, Helen Menchinger had 51 kills
(.298 kill percentage) and 11 serving aces, and Charmaine Kehoe had 47 kills and a .198 kill percentage.

Defensively, Jordan May had 73 digs for a 4.53 average per game, along with 17 serving aces, Charmaine Kehoe had 50 digs to go along with her 47 kills, and Anna Wilson had 134 assists.

Sandy Creek also played in the tournament, finishing with a 4-2 record. The Lady Patriots defeated Rome (25-14, 25-2), Woodstock (25-13, 25-5) and Dalton (25-15, 25-19), and lost to Wesleyan (25-14, 25-13).

Creek went on to defeat Walton in two games (25-23, 25-21) in the first match of single-elimination play. Then the Lady Patriots lost in a rematch against Wesleyan (25-11, 20-25, 25-19).

“Overall, I was pleased with our performance, especially against Walton and in the second match against Wesleyan,” Creek coach Paul Collins said. “We lost to Wesleyan in two games the first time we played them and did not play well at all. We played much better the second time and did manage to take the second game from them.” 

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