VB: Lady Dawgs end season on winning note
Tuesday. (Photo by John Krueger)
CARTHAGE, Tx -- On a night when the Carthage Lady Dawgs hoped they would be building for yet another postseason run, they found themselves thanking their three seniors for a great season and battling Pittsburgh for another 20-win season.
With no playoffs on the horizon, the Lady Dawgs bid farewell to seniors Sara Williams, Macy Cherry and Sarah Clakley and they put an exclamation point on the 2011 season with a 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 straight-set sweep of Pittsburgh here in Bulldog Gymnasium.
Carthage finished the year with a 20-15 mark, posting an even record of 5-5 in District 16-3A. It was a season of ups and downs and what-could-have-beens as CHS dropped a pair of 3-2 setbacks and three other 3-1 losses that could have gone either way.
The squad also honored the junior varsity team, which, under the direction of Millie Wilkie, produced its seventh straight season of which it recorded a perfect 10-0 district mark. Wilkie's record in the past seven years against league competition is now a phenomenal 70-0 after her squad recorded a straight-set win over the Lady Pirates, 25-18, 25-16.
Williams led the varsity team in the finale at the net, producing 15 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Cherry added nine kills, three digs and a pair of service aces. Clakley also had a stellar night with five digs and an ace.
Williams finished her senior season with 326 kills (1st on team), 215 digs, 76 blocks (1st on team), 60 service aces (1st on team) and 11 assists. Cherry posted 239 kills, to go along with 184 digs, 35 aces, 27 blocks and three assists.
Clakley led the Lady Dawgs in digs with 325, while recording 48 aces.
Sophomore Kenzie Tate recorded 30 assists in the win over Pittsburgh, adding four aces, a block and four digs. She finished the year with a team-high 915 assists, 125 digs, 58 service aces, 22 blocks and 20 kills.
Carthage junior Shelby Soape picked up six kills, five digs and a block in the finale. She ended the year with 265 digs, 175 kills 43 blocks, 46 aces and 15 assists.
Junior Jordan Holmes had three kills a block and a dig against Pittsburgh. She posted 120 kills on the season, to go along with 66 blocks, 41 digs and 18 aces.
Sophomore Morgan Wedgeworth had two digs and an assist in Tuesday's match. She recorded 85 digs on the season.
Junior Chasity Traylor picked up five of her 123 digs on the season in the finale. Junior Tambra Mitchell had a kill and a block. She posted 33 kills and 21 blocks on the season.
The first set was close as the score was tied 12-12. But Carthage then went on a 13-4 run to capture the 25-16 opening victory. Soape and Cherry each had a pair of kills as the team pulled away for the win.
Carthage began the second set like it finished the first, scoring 14 of the first 19 points as Williams picked up a pair of kills.
The Lady Pirates pulled to within 16-12, before Williams recorded three kills down the stretch and Tate had four assists.
The teams traded points for most of the third set until the Lady Dawgs scored seven of the last 11 points to pull away from an 18-14 lead.
Lady Bulldog Notes
The three seniors on the Lady Bulldog volleyball squad recognized a teacher who meant the most to them during their years in the CISD. Sara Williams honored Staci Davis, while Macy Cherry honored Schelice Reyes and Sarah Clakley honored Mark Davis.
This story will appear in the Panola Watchman.