Lady Trojans focusing on ‘focus’ going into state playoffs

The Gordon Lee Lady Trojans are hoping to play volleyball into the early part of November and what happened on Saturday can only help them reach that goal.

Hosting the Area 7-AA/A public school tournament as the No. 1 seed, the Lady Trojans did not drop a single set as they rolled to the area title with victories over Gordon Central (25-12, 25-7) and Dade County (25-11, 25-10, 25-15).

With the victory, Gordon Lee (29-6) will enter the state playoffs as a No. 1 seed and will play host to the first two rounds of the tournament.

A new format adopted by the GHSA this season will see all four teams in Gordon Lee’s quadrant come to Chickamauga this Saturday (Oct. 20). The Lady Trojans will take on No. 4 seed Model, while the other first-round match contested that day will pit No. 2 seed Lake Oconee Academy against No. 3 seed Therrell.

“(Having) home-court advantage definitely helps and as we know from years past, being a No. 1 seed playing a No. 4 is vastly different from being a No. 2 (seed) and playing a No. 3 (seed),” head coach Tricia Goodwin said. “That gives us some momentum going in and hopefully we can keep some level heads.

“The girls know what they have to do. It’s hard when you have a lot of young kids that haven’t been here before, even if you have the talent. We just have to stay in the game, stay focused and not overlook anything.”

Area Player of the Year, Delaney Bridges - Gordon Lee’s only senior - had nine kills and two blocks on the afternoon. Maribeth Blaylock finished with 14 kills. Brooklyn Hudson had 11 kills and two blocks, while M.K. Roberts dished out 20 assists.

Blaylock, along with Madison Mayberry and Thomison were named to the All-area team, while Goodwin was named the Area’s Coach of the Year.