Sherwood Christian volleyball knocks off No. 3 Georgia Christian

ALBANY – A late timeout called by Sherwood Christian’s Briana Collins helped the Lady Eagles secure a thrilling victory over No. 3 Georgia Christian in a hard-fought volleyball match Thursday evening at Sherwood Christian Academy. The matchup was a crucial region contest between the two GIAA teams.

“If we’re going to go out, let’s go out swinging big,” Sherwood Christian Academy coach Brianna Collins told her team during a timeout with the score tied at 13-13 in the final set.

And that’s exactly what they did. The Lady Eagles won the last two points to defeat Georgia Christian in a dramatic 25-16, 15-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-13 victory.

“We were down 7-3 in that final set, and that’s tough to come back from in a set to 15,” Collins said. “They (the Sherwood girls) are an incredibly coachable team, and it took two timeouts to really get us going. We tied it at 13-13, and I told them, ‘If we’re going out, we better go out swinging big.’ They stepped back on the court ready to finish what we started. I’m proud of the growth we’ve shown as a team and believe we played some of our best volleyball tonight.”

The Lady Eagles dominated the first set, controlling both the front row and backcourt. Setter Lucy Wright moved the ball efficiently, keeping the offense in rhythm. Middle blocker Jordyn Gibson led the way with four kills, an ace, and a block.

“Sets two and three got away from us,” Collins admitted. “They had strong servers that we struggled to handle. Our defense hustled, but we couldn’t connect it with our offense.”

In the fourth set, the Lady Eagles rallied. “Our only option was to fight for the win,” Collins said. “We had zero service errors and attacked the ball better than we have all season, with a total of 14 kills.”

Outside hitter Alex Collins led the charge in the fourth set with six kills, while Allie Hemmings, Ariana Whitmire, and Addie Hemmings anchored the backcourt, allowing the offense to thrive.

In the final set, the score was tied 3-3 before the Lady Generals rattled off four straight points to take a 7-3 lead. Collins called her first timeout of the set, and the Lady Eagles responded, tying the game 12-12 on a kill by Gibson. After the teams tied again at 13-13, Collins used her final timeout, and Sherwood closed out the match with two clutch points to claim the win.

Sherwood Christian will travel to face Calvary Christian and Mount de Sales in a tri-match next Tuesday before hosting Highland Christian next Thursday for senior night. The Lady Eagles have six seniors on their squad.

By Joe Whitfield
Sports EditorBy Joe Whitfield
Sports Editor

By Joe Whitfield
Sports Editor