Years ago, when many of the current players on the Cherokee Bluff girls volleyball team were not on the varsity roster, they heard the chatter — up close and personal.
“There were a lot of people a couple years ago, when they were younger, that said this group wasn’t that talented, that we should get rid of some of them,” fourth-year Lady Bears volleyball coach Tiann Myer said. “And I was like, ‘No, no, no, we’re not getting rid of anyone.’ I had watched them all play together, and I had a strong belief in them at that age.
“A lot of them were young. They were upset (to hear that). But we don’t talk about it a lot, because that’s old news. But it’s always bothered me that people doubted them and verbally said that they wouldn’t be good.”
It has certainly turned into a case of “What do you think now?” as that same group will play for the Class 3A state title on Wednesday. Bluff will take on Whitewater at 2:30 p.m. at the LakePoint Sports Complex in Cartersville.
“These kids have worked their tails off since freshman year, and I believe it’s because they wanted to prove that they can play,” Myer continued. “They have tremendous chemistry as a group. That’s what I saw back then. And here they are. It’s been a little fire in the bottom of their bellies, and now they’re acting on it, and I’m so proud of them.”
It has been a slow build to get to the title match, however. They went 19-21 and lost in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs in 2023. They improved to 27-21 in 2024 but were ousted in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs. Now, the Lady Bears (31-13) are just three games from a title.
Bluff features 11 seniors, led by Bella Sweet, Brooklyn Knight, Nora Ragsdale, and Taylor Vandiver, who have all been called on during a thrilling postseason run to spark the team to the program’s first-ever championship match.
It has not come easily as the Lady Bears have been pushed to a fifth game in three of their four playoff wins. It started with Sandy Creek in the opening round, and then they had to fight back from down 2-1 against North Hall in the quarterfinals. They were four points from elimination against the Lady Trojans before sophomore Stella Lioi closed out the final game with a 9-point service run.
In the semifinals, they had a 2-0 lead against Richmond Academy, who had knocked them out of the 2024 playoffs, before the Lady Mustangs rallied to tie the match. They trailed 10-8 in the deciding game, but like against North Hall, the Lady Bears won 7 of the final 9 points to close out the match and secure a spot in the finals.
“It was amazing. It was fun,” Myer said of the comeback win against Richmond Academy. “Beating them was nice, because they literally destroyed us the year before. The girls truly started believing that, ‘hey, we can do this.’ And they did it.”
They will get a familiar Whitewater (26-7-1) team that Bluff knocked out of the 2024 playoffs (3-1) in the first round. But Myer said neither team even remotely resembled those two squads from a year ago. She is expecting a war.
“We’re not the same team as last year. We’re more mature and experienced, but the biggest piece is probably the chemistry that the girls have all developed. They’ve stuck together through all of this,” Myer said. “Whitewater is definitely a different team, and we’re going to have to come out and we’re going to have to play absolutely solid in every facet of our game to beat them.
“We’re going to have to execute the things that we like to do. We can’t serve into the net, and we have to play really good defense. But these girls have been rising to the occasion all season. They’re ready to go.”
Since last year’s softball finals, this will be the fourth finals appearance for a Lady Bears program. The softball team lost in the championship match, but the cheerleading squad and the girls’ basketball team both walked away with state titles.
Myer is hoping they can add to the recent run of trophy-collecting.
“This would be just a huge piece in general for this program,” Myer said. “(Former coach) Laura DeLaPerriere started it and did an amazing job building it. These four years with this group that I consider mine now, they work extremely hard. And it just goes to show that working hard pays off.”
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