The Indians,

smelling an upset, wouldn't let the ball hit the floor at the start of

the second game. Bartels stepped up with an ace and two kills, and Tara

Hamilton and Lisa Watkins hit winners to propel the Chiefs to a 6-4 lead.

At 6-6, McIntosh started a run, with Bartels again serving 6 straight

points. Jenny Dunn added two kills, and Whitney Wallis one to make the

score 12-6. After trading points, Hamilton slammed home the game-winner,

15-8.

Allison Cheatham

started the deciding game with four strong serves, including two aces,

to begin 4-0. Bartels came up with two timely kills, followed by two service

winners to make it 7-1. Hustling digs in the backcourt by Cheatham and

Natalie Crowley saved many points for the Chiefs, as the teams traded

points to 9-4. Bartels then served six straight winners, with two aces,

for the third consecutive game, to close out the match, 15-4. She tallied

21 service winners and eight aces for the match as the McIntosh Chiefs

finished region play undefeated.

Before the

match with Woodward, McIntosh honored their seniors with a ceremony on

center court. The seven seniors, co-captains Bartels and Cheatham, Crowley,

Dunn, Hamilton, Wallis, and Sarah Rosetti, were escorted by their parents

and received going away gifts and flowers in appreciation for their efforts

during their highly successful season and McIntosh careers.

Woodward, ranked

seventh in the state, ran into a fired-up Chiefs team hoping to avenge

an early-season loss. With the largest crowd of the season on hand to

support the departing seniors, McIntosh jumped out to 5-2 lead, behind

an incredible five straight blocks in the middle by Dunn. Rosetti added

two kills, but the Woodward squad squashed the momentum at that point,

and began to assert their dominance with textbook volleyball. Bartels

had a few nice blocks, but they were negated by a string of serving mistakes

It was more

of the same in the second game, as Woodward showed why they are so highly-ranked

in the state. They were nearly mistake-free throughout the game, while

the Chiefs could not mount a challenge. McIntosh was overwhelmed, 15-5.

With seven

victories in eight matches this week, including crucial regional victories

over rivals Starr's Mill and East Coweta twice, the McIntosh Chiefs are

28-7 for the year, on pace to finish with the best record in school history.

After out-of-region matches with Heritage and Shiloh yesterday, the Chiefs

begin the region playoffs on Thursday at Fayette County High School as

the top seed in the region.

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