Lee County volleyball team looks to put South Georgia on the map

LEESBURG — For the Lee County High School volleyball team, there is no off season.

The majority of the team goes straight from the school’s season to playing for travel clubs in Georgia and north Florida. Head coach Tondra Davis said her players’ intense desire to improve and stay game ready will help them accomplish several of their goals, including putting south Georgia volleyball on the map.

The Lady Trojans are one of two Albany-area public schools who field a volleyball team, Mitchell County is the other.

So far the team is 18-11-1 with their most recent win coming in the Tennessee Choo-Choo Classic this past weekend.

The Lady Trojans are trying to build on last season’s region championship, while avenging their first round playoff loss. Davis said her squad has a lot of upside.

“We’re young, we’re eager and we’re very coachable,” she said. “They’re taking everything I’m saying and they’re doing it however I say it. With each game, we’re getting better.”

She said the team is anchored by Madison Kilgo, Taylor Brischoff and Sam Hinds, junior Morgan McWilliams and sophomore Kamryn Lane. The group’s competitive nature has been able to motivate the rest of the team. Kilgo said last year’s experience was a great opportunity to grow and Hinds echoed those sentiments while adding they want to do more.

“We really want to win the region championship again and we want to make a statement and make it past the first round,” she said. “We really trying to gel more and work together more and just be all around better.”

Davis said she’s been able to watch the program grow tremendously during her short tenure as coach. Initially, about 20 girls showed up for tryouts, but they’re now getting 60-plus including the middle school level.

As schools such as Valdosta, Lowndes and Tift County join and volleyball continues to spread, Davis said they want to remain an example of just how beneficial the sport is to young female athletes, whether it be their primary sport or helping them prepare for others such as basketball.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re the ambassador or we’re trying to spread it, but we are trying to get people to see that it is a very fun sport and there’s a lot benefits for girls,” Davis said.

As they get into the heart of the season, the seniors are not only trying to represent the sport well, but Lee County as well.

“We really want to prove to these bigger teams from these bigger places that we can keep up with them and can beat them because they really underestimate us a lot times,” Hinds said.

Brischoff said being looked down upon causes them to play with a chip on their shoulder when they face larger schools in the Atlanta-area, but she said it works in their favor.

“That motivates us,” she said. “We come in like ‘Yeah we’re from the small town of Lee County, but we can beat you.’ ”