The Lady Purple Hurricanes dropped two-game matches to the host Lady Raiders (24-26, 12-25) and Gordon Lee (23-25, 23-25) before picking up their first win of the season in a three-game triumph over Northwest Whitfield (25-18, 21-25, 25-18).
"We actually played well tonight," Cartersville coach Scott Busby said. "We've really tightened up our defense a good bit. We've cut out some of our mistakes.
"By the end of the season, we should be in pretty good shape."
In the three matches, Samantha Conley totaled 28 assists and six aces for the Lady Canes; Stefanie Will had six aces and two kills; Jessica Boss had eight kills; and Janezka Cruz finished up with seven kills and three aces.
"They were all good teams," Busby said of Cartersville's competition. "Northwest Whitfield traditionally (has) a strong team; this year, they're a little young, kind of like us.
"It was a tough game on both sides. Our girls pulled together and got the win."
The Lady Canes (1-6) don't play again until next Tuesday when they travel to Calhoun. The match begins at 5 p.m.
Lady Colonels win one in quad match
Cass defeated Calhoun but lost to Kennesaw Mountain and North Paulding on the volleyball court Tuesday.
Jamie Horton, assistant coach, said the Lady Colonels defeated Calhoun 25-22 and 25-17.
It lost 20-10 and 20-12 to Kennesaw Mountain and 25-19 and 25-17 to North Paulding at North Paulding.
"We have a fairly young team," Horton said, "and it's hard for us to win unless we really focus every play on doing the things we need to do to win."
He said the Lady Colonels are beginning to play with more intensity.
"We're proud of them for the effort they're putting into this but we have to work to get better every match," he added.
Cass next plays Tuesday when it visits Calhoun.
Lady Wildcats drop
home opener
Woodland High got off to a slow start in its home tri-match with Allatoona and Hillgrove Tuesday night, falling in three games to the Lady Buccaneers (28-26, 16-25, 19-25) and in two games to the Lady Hawks (15-25, 17-25).
"We played Allatoona pretty well," Lady Wildcats' coach David Condon said. "We went to three games, but we lost to them."
Against the Lady Hawks, Woodland fared better than the score indicated, he said.
"We actually played Hillgrove better, but Hillgrove's just a better team," Condon added.
The Lady Wildcats travel to Etowah Thursday, to face the Lady Eagles and North Cobb, two Class AAAAA teams that combined to go 76-22 last season.
"It doesn't get any easier for us," Condon said.
The Woodland coach would like to see his team get off to quicker starts among other things.
"We got to get more consistent with our first passes," Condon acknowledged.
He did, however, note that the Lady Wildcats (1-5) cut down on their service errors in Tuesday's matches.