GORDON LEE

skills that earned it a spot in the state finals. They rallied to tie the match, 6-6, and took their first lead of the day at 8-7 on a kill by Emoree Rogers.

Knotted up at 12, Pace scored three straight to forge a lead that they would not relinquish. Gordon Lee briefly pulled to within a point at 19-18, but got no closer as another 25-18 victory put Pace on the verge of a fourth straight state crown.

But as it turned out, the Lady Trojans had no intentions of leaving the party early.

Two incredible diving digs by senior Ashlyn Boyd early in the third set led to a Gordon Lee point to get her teammates and the crowd fired up. Pace would hold a narrow 6-5 lead after a 4-0 run, but the Area 7 champs used an ace by Brooklyn Hudson and a double-block by Rogers and senior Gracie Thomas as part of their own 8-0 run that built their lead up to 13-6.

Gordon Lee led 16-8 when Pace called time-out to try and stem the tide. The Lady Knights would chip away at the deficit, getting it down to three points on two different occasions, the last at 21-18. But three late kills by Hudson would help the Lady Trojans win the set, 25-18.

Hudson came out firing again in the fourth set as Gordon Lee built a quick 8-1 lead. Pace would eventually slice the gap down to 10-7, but another 7-1 spurt, highlighted by an ace and a kill by Rogers, briefly opened things back up.

However, Pace responded in kind with a 7-0 run of its own to grab a one-point lead at 18-17. Undaunted, Gordon Lee broke the run with a kill by Sam Cramer before Hudson went back to work.

The Area 7 Player of the Year collected six more kills down the stretch, the final one giving her team a 24-22 lead. Arilyn Lee would just miss the line with a shot to pull Pace within a point of tying the set, but Lee would come right back to bang a shot off of a Pace blocker to give the Lady Trojans a 25-23 victory and set up a final race to 15 to decide the state champion.

Lee would record three kills in the first 12 points of the fifth as the two teams stayed within a point of each other through the midway point. But a hitting error on Gordon Lee was followed by an ace and back-to-back kills by Pace as the lead grew to 11-7.

The Lady Trojans kept firing, hoping to get back in the match, but two consecutive shots missed their marks and they suddenly found themselves down by six with time running out. A block by Pace would bring the Lady Knights to match point at 14-7, but a hitting error would keep Gordon Lee alive to play another point.

However, it ultimately turned out to be the final point as one more powerful kill by the Lady Knights finally ended the nail-biter.

“We just didn’t play our best the first two (sets),” head coach Adam Crowley explained. “But then we got that spark from Boyd (in the third set) and we stepped up and really played well. That fifth set was back-and-forth and really could have gone either way.”

“By the third (set), we came back out and I told them that they had to play to win,” coach Tricia Goodwin added. “I said ‘you can’t worry about it because at this point, what do you have to lose?’ We showed up and really started playing our game after that and I really thought we were going to take them.”

“But it was a great season,” Goodwin added. “(It was) the first time in Gordon Lee history to go to the finals. They need to be super proud of what they accomplished. We’re only graduating three seniors and I think we have a chance to be right back here again (next year).”

Hudson had a team-best 23 kills and reached the 1,000kill milestone for her threeyear prep career. She also added 18 digs and three blocks. Rogers dished out 23 assists, while Lee added 10 kills and 11 digs. Defensively, senior libero Annie Mcdaniel had 19 digs, while M.K. Roberts picked up 17 digs and recorded six assists.

“These girls have been building toward this and each time we get a step further,” Crowley added. “When next year gets here, and we know we’ve been here before, hopefully we can go get it done.”

While the Lady Trojans will bring back the bulk of their roster in 2021, they will have to replace their three senior captains, Boyd, Thomas and Mcdaniel, who will leave with three area championships, three appearances in the Final Four, one trip to the state finals and a 13936 four-year record.

“I can’t say enough about them and the leadership that they provided, just like the spark Boyd gave us in that third set today,” Crowley said. “It was huge and it really turned us around. Gracie and Annie were great leaders for us also.”

Seven players earn All-state honors

The Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association (GVCA) also released its All-state Teams, Players of the Year and Coaches of the Year on Saturday and seven players from Catoosa and Walker were honored.

Hudson and Roberts were named to the Class AA/A Public School first team with Cramer and Mcdaniel picking up Honorable Mention nods.

Lafayette’s Colby Charland was a first team selection in Class AAA, while Lauren Francis and Kallie Carter represented Heritage on the first team in Class AAAA.