The First Round:
The Lady Lions qualified as the #4 seed in the GIAA State Tournament and were rewarded by being a host site for the opening rounds of the playoffs. The Lions drew the #13 seed St. Mary's out of Fairburn as their first opponent.
LCA wasted little time on the ladies from St. Mary's, winning the first set 25-7, and followed up the next two sets by winning 25-13 and 25-12. The Lions were in good hands with setter Madeline Bullington recording 26 assists. Jordyn Towns had 20 kills in 25 attempts. Emma Murphy, Gabie Snell, Callie Bruno, and Emerson Diaz did a great job of controlling the game with great passing and 29 digs combined.
The Elite Eight:
Moving to the second round, LCA faced the two-time defending state champs, Valwood Valiants, and their 24-6 record. The Lady Lions faced the challenge head-on, and they swept the Valwood Valiants in three sets by the scores of 25-12, 25-19 and 25-17. The game turned into a “party in the middle” with Jordyn Towns and Sydney Stewart racking up a total of 20 kills between them. Ella Morris and Maddie Husband contributed with 4 kills and 4 aces each. This decisive win would advance the Lady Lions to the state final four.
The Final Four:
The Lady Lions then advanced to the GIAA State Volleyball Final Four for the first time since 2012. This would be our girls’ first ever meeting with the #1 seed Brookstone Academy Cougars, who came in ranked #28 in the entire state of Georgia. The Lady Lions entered the game on a high, with an overall record of 30-10, an undefeated record in region 4, and a 13-game winning streak.
In the first set of the final four match, the Lady Lions came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and pounded the Cougars 25-16. This was the most complete set of the season! In the second set, the Lions continued their excellent play and stayed in control with a 25-21 win.
In the third set, LCA was in control until the middle of the game when suddenly the serve-game left us, and allowed Brookstone and their crowd to get into the game and push their team to the lead for the first time that day. The Lions didn't give up and we fought back and tied the game at 23-23, but couldn't finish them and lost 23-25. In the fourth set, the Lady Lions found themselves in the same situation, tied at 23-23, and we just couldn't find two points and fell short again by the score of 23-25.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Cougars found themselves in control 10-13, when Jordyn Towns crushed a ball to pull the Lions to 11-13. After scoring two more unanswered points, the Lady Lions were suddenly tied at 13-13. This was the third set in a row where the Lions found themselves needing only two points to finish off the girls from Brookstone. The crowd was at a feverish pitch and was so loud that you couldn't hear the person next to you. The nerves of parents on both teams were at an all-time high. Then with her 37th kill of the match, Jordyn put the Lions up by one. Madeline Bullington served her second serve over, and the Brookstone Cougars’ season came to an end when they hit the ball out of bounds by two inches. This ended the epic battle in the fifth set, when the Lady Lions were finally able to dig up those elusive two points they needed.
Throughout this five-set match, Jordyn led the way with 37 kills and 6 blocks, Ella Morris added 8 kills and 6 aces, Sydney Stewart had 6 kills and 5 blocks, and Emma Murphy chipped in with 3 kills and 3 aces. Madeline Bullington finished with 47 assists. The passing department, which consists of Emerson Diaz, Gabie Snell, Callie Bruno, and Emma Murphy, came up big with 90 serve receives and only 7 errors.
The Championship Game:
This win advanced the Lady Lions to the volleyball state championship game for the first time in school history. In the first set, the game went back and forth with both teams holding small leads. Then the Lady Lions settled down and started stretching at the end of the set to win 25-20. In the second set, the Lady Hawks’ strategy of using 3 blockers on Jordyn and our struggle to pass and serve led the Hawks to a win 14-25.
In the third set, the Lions decided to use a different strategy and use Jordyn as a decoy; that would allow the outside hitters to hit with no blockers or just one blocker. Both Ella Morris and Maddie Husband came up big with several kills, and we applied the same logic with Emma Murphy on the right side. Sydney Stewart played big in the 3rd and 4th sets with blocks and kills. The Lions won the 3rd set 25-13 to seize control of the set and the game.
In the fourth set, our girls controlled the game to win the set 25-20 and give the Lady Lions their first ever girls Volleyball State Championship! The final game was the most balanced game of the season. Jordyn had 11 kills, 7 aces, and 2 blocks; Maddie added 8 kills and 4 aces; Sydney had 8 kills and 4 blocks; Emma Murphy had her best game of the season at the right time with 6 kills, 2 blocks, and 10 digs. Emerson recorded 30 digs and Madeline finished with 29 assists. Ella chipped in with 8 kills and 13 digs. The Lady Lions appreciate the support from their dedicated fans who made the trip in person and those fans who were watching at home.
Our Lady Lions finished the season with several team and individual records in LCA history:
-Most wins in a single season: 32
-Most team kills in a single season: 1116
-Most assists in a single season: 1013
-Most kills in a single season: 502 by Jordyn Towns
-Best hitting percentage: .453 in a season by Jordyn Towns
-Most assists in a single season: 742 by Madeline Bullington
-Most serving aces in a single season: 101 by Ella Morris