Sherwood Christian volleyball snaps losing streak with 3-1 win over Georgia Christian

ALBANY — For a Sherwood Christian Academy volleyball team getting close to the postseason, Thursday afternoon wasn’t just about finally winning again.

It was about how the Lady Eagles responded when things started going wrong.

Sherwood watched Georgia Christian erase its early momentum and even the match at one set apiece, then came back out and dominated the final two sets for a 3-1 victory that snapped a four-match losing streak.

The Lady Eagles won 25-19, 17-25, 25-15, 25-14 to improve to 17-8 overall and 4-3 in region play with two regular-season matches remaining.

And junior setter Lizzie Hooks was everywhere.

Hooks finished with five aces, 10 kills, three blocks, 15 assists and 10 digs, filling up just about every column on the stat sheet while helping Sherwood regain control after a difficult second set.

“Lizzie Hooks had a great night of volleyball all around the ball,” Sherwood coach Braina Collins said.

For a while, it appeared Sherwood might make quick work of the Lady Generals.

The Lady Eagles jumped out to an eight-point lead in the opening set. Georgia Christian fought back and trimmed the margin to four, but Sherwood steadied itself and finished off a 25-19 victory.

Nothing came as easily in the second.

The teams traded points early, with Sherwood holding a 9-8 lead before Georgia Christian’s Jovie Copeland went to the service line. The Lady Generals put together a run and moved ahead 12-9, forcing Collins to call timeout.

Sherwood tried to answer with Hooks serving, but Georgia Christian’s Eliza James began making her presence felt at the net. The Lady Generals stretched the lead to 19-12 and eventually took the set 25-17.

Match tied.

Momentum gone.

For a team that had lost four straight, it could have been the beginning of another frustrating afternoon.

Instead, Sherwood flipped the match.

The Lady Eagles cleaned up their mistakes, took control of the third set and rolled 25-15. They were even more convincing in the fourth, pulling away for a 25-14 victory that ended any thoughts Georgia Christian had of forcing a fifth set.

That turnaround was exactly what Collins wanted to see.

“We strive to have less than 10 errors in a set, and we accomplished that in three of four sets tonight, and it was enjoyable to watch,” Collins said.

Senior libero Maddie Mallard played a major role in keeping Sherwood steady when the match turned.

“Maddie Mallard held down the serve receive and defensive line to allow for a strong show from our offensive team,” Collins said.

The timing couldn’t be much better.

Sherwood remains third in the region behind Valwood and Grace Christian and is positioned to host a first-round state playoff match in October. More importantly, the Lady Eagles have stopped a four-match slide before it could follow them into the postseason.

“We are looking forward to ending our regular-season play with more success and look forward to postseason,” Collins said.

There is still some work to do first.

Sherwood closes its home schedule Sept. 28 against HCA before traveling to Macon the following day to face Mount de Sales in its regular-season finale.

Thursday’s victory doesn’t erase the four losses that came before it.

But the way the Lady Eagles responded after dropping the second set might mean considerably more as October approaches.