For Walton, a 13th state championship in volleyball was entirely expected. For Pope, which hadn’t claimed a title in seven years, getting back into the winner’s circle was a new experience for current players and coaches.
On Saturday, the East Cobb teams finished up the Georgia High School Association volleyball finals at Marietta High School with convincing performances.
The Greyhounds toppled Cobb rival Allatoona in four games, 25-17, 15-25, 25-18 and 25-21, to win the 6A championship match. Pope finished with a record of 40-9 under coach Shawn Darling, who is in his second season.
Some of the team leaders for Pope this season were Stella Dees (370 kills), Zeren Yesilova (467 digs) and Eliza Dees (855 assists). While Eliza Dees is one of four seniors on this year’s team, the Greyhounds will have many of their regular players back for the 2019 season.
Other members of the Pope team include Lily Harvey, Alyssa Linde, Madison Mims, Ella Burris, Madison Cross, Ava Vikovic, Sophie Gould, Caroline Wiseman, Adair Hutchinson, Mackenzie Kahill, Renee Bissel and Brianna Dempsey.
After that, Walton took to the court against Milton, and the Raiders won in three straight games, 25-14, 25-15, 25-14, to claim the Class 7A championship. In winning a fourth consecutive state title, Walton was 41-3 on the season and did not lose to an in-state opponent.
Walton’s seniors were dominant, especially Gabby Gonzales and Riley MacNeill, who will be attending Ohio State for college.
The other Raiders seniors this season were Riley Spurlin, Jordan Rush, Caroline Cheney, Molly Pember, Meghan Froemming and Lauryn Burrows. Other team members include Madison Morey, Phoebe Awoleye, Katie Strickland, Kendall O’Brien, Sydney Barrett, Catherine Cheney, Chandler Parker, Emery Dupes, Caroline Kiehnau, Greta Hans and Aviah Miller.
This is the seventh title for Walton under head coach Suzanne Fitzgerald, who is in her 13th season.
The Pope community had another team to celebrate this weekend, as the boys cross country squad brought home the Class 6A GHSA title at the state meet in Carrollton on Friday.
The Greyhounds collected 51 points, with Harrison coming in second with 77 points (like golf, lower scores are better). Four Pope runners finished in the top 14, led by by Will Brown (8th), KC Heron (10th), Axel Mateo (11th), Cole Heron (13th) and Anthony Parisi (14th).
Also competing in the 5K race for Pope were, Conor Krause and Nicholas Corso.
The Pope girls were 4th in the Class 6A meet, which was won by region rival Cambridge. Sophie Boice of Pope finished fourth and Lorel Golden was 11th.
The Walton boys came in third in the Class 7A cross country meet. The top finisher for the Raiders was Zac Shaffer, who was 16th.
The Walton girls also were third in Class 7A, which was won by Marietta. Abigail Robertson of Walton finished in seventh place.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
