Cartersville’s Katie O’Connor (left) taps the ball over the hands of two Drew players in their game Saturday morning. The Lady Canes won the game and the match, advancing to the next round, which will be played Tuesday.
SKIP BUTLER/The Daily Tribune News
Cartersville, which survived a scare from the Lady Titans in the second game, treated its home crowd to 25-12, 25-22, 25-15 wins.
"It was a good matchup for us, as far as playing to our strengths," Lady Canes coach Scott Busby said. "(We knew) if we played consistently, placed the ball where we needed to place it, really took advantage of some of their setups and offense they were running, it'd allow us to win.
"In Game 1, the girls came out, they did exactly what they were supposed to do, played excellent defense and didn't allow the other team's athleticism to really affect the game."
Game 2 became more interesting for Cartersville after it stormed out to an 18-6 lead. The Lady Canes let Drew back into the game as the Lady Titans came back to tie it at 21-all.
"We just went a little flat, let the pressure get to us a little bit," Busby acknowledged. "We struggled with the serve. We had six service errors in the game, 12 unforced errors, allowing them to get a little bit of momentum ... I think they had about a seven-point run ... which really built their confidence, got them back in the game mentally.
"Their athleticism started to show a little bit and their size started giving us a little bit of (trouble) at the net."
Drew scored five points in a row to cut the deficit to 18-11 and then scored 10 of the next 13 points, including on a few blocks from Precious Persons and on a tap by Symone Townsend.
Persons' presence at the net, along with her Lady Titan teammates, altered Cartersville's attack briefly.
"It changed the game a little bit. It changed the way we were having to set and distribute the ball offensively," Busby said. "We wanted to finish strong in Game 2, and that was something we emphasized and did not do, to allow them back in."
Although the Lady Canes didn't close strongly, they did close, scoring four of the game's final points -- including a kill by Stefanie Will for game point -- to take a two-game advantage.
With Drew's fans suddenly feeling new life, Cartersville regained control in the final game of the best-of-five match.
"Their fans got involved in the game ... It turned into a real playoff atmosphere," Busby said. "Like I said earlier this year, our girls respond to loud. I'm loud. They're used to it, so they came out and they played exceptionally well. We hit our points on serve, picked up a lot of loose balls, Katie O'Connor came up with two huge blocks and it really took the steam out of their ... emotions.
"And we took control from the start of the game, I believe, and never really let up."
The third game featured three ties but after it was knotted at 8-all, the Lady Canes scored seven unanswered points and went on to win by 10.
Drew held its only lead of the game when it scored the game's first point for a 1-0 lead.
Samantha Conley led Cartersville (18-14) with 19 assists in the match, Jessica Boss had five kills, O'Connor came up with eight kills and three blocks, Will added six aces and four kills, and Megan Patton and Janezka Cruz each registered five aces.
For the Lady Titans, Persons paced Drew (5-12) with five kills, two blocks and one ace; Shian Williams had three kills and a block; and Lakiah Sims tallied three kills and two blocks.
The Lady Canes now await either North Atlanta, the No. 4 seed out of Area 5-AAA, or Grovetown, the No. 1 seed out of Area 3-AAA.
Cartersville would host North Atlanta, but would have travel to Grovetown, which is in metro Augusta.
Busby didn't know anything about either team following the Lady Canes' win Saturday morning.
"I made it a point this year not to look past games," he said. "I learned my lesson, and I guess I'll start researching ... and we'll go from there.
"We'll just continue to build our strengths. (We're) probably gonna open our offense a little bit, couple of minor adjustments and from there. (I'm) extremely proud of the girls, they're following through and they (are) a true team."