Dunwoody High Volleyball Entering Area 6-AAAA Tournament

Talk about turnarounds.

After struggling for consistency for two thirds of this season, Dunwoody High volleyball players have found it just in time. The Wildcats (22-14) are winners of 11 straight matches entering Tuesday's Area 6-AAAA tournament.

"This is the best time to peak," Dunwoody coach Amber James said. "We're peaking at just the right time.

"We hope the momentum will just carry us on in (to the postseason)," she added. "Hopefully, it's the push we need to do well."

Dunwoody, the South subregion's No. 2 seed behind Lakeside, begins tournament play at home against the North subregion's No. 7 seed, likely Chamblee or Forsyth Central. Should the Wildcats win, they'll advance to Thursday and Saturday's rounds at Johns Creek, in pursuit of one of the area's four state playoff berths.

The Wildcats enter the postseason having won nine of the 11 matches on their streak in straight games. The only two opponents to push them to three games were Tucker and Southwest DeKalb, whom the Wildcats outlasted 25-19, 23-25, 25-9 and 25-19, 22-25, 25-21. Key were winning area matches against Carver, Southwest DeKalb and Lithonia on Tuesday without four seniors, who were on a field trip to New York.

Those three wins in one night -- without hitter Brianna Jones, utility player Ann Gardner, defensive specialist Melissa Kleinberg and blocker Sarah Henderson -- were perhaps the streak's pivotal moment.

"The younger players stepped up and delivered," James said. "It was of course nerve wracking at first... They kept their composure and gave us the wins we needed with those players out."

Jones was leading DeKalb County in kills last week with eight per match, while freshman setter Paige McKnight was fifth in the county with that many assists a night. Junior libero Hannah Wells was contributing six digs a match, ranking her fourth.

In addition to emerging a leader, Jones has become the most consistent server on a Dunwoody team averaging eight aces a match.

Since elimination last season by South Forsyth in the area tournament, the Wildcats want more than ever to qualify for state and surpass their best-ever second-round appearance there, against Oconee County in 2008.

Key is potentially contending with the North subregion's Chattahoochee and six-time state champion Marist, neither of whom the Wildcats have played this season. Also tough might be the North's Johns Creek, to whom they've lost twice.

"It's a tough area, but we're definitely optimistic," James said. "The teams from the North are so strong. We'd like to be in the top four (state qualifiers), but it's going to be tough."

But with new-found consistency, James considers anything possible.

"We're making smarter decisions and working better together, not giving up on rallies and letting the ball fall. We've been talking and communicating and outlasting other teams," James said.

"Before, it would be one-two (touches), and that was the point, but now, rallies have been longer," she explained. "We've kind of stepped up our game with teamwork and decision making. The girls aren't looking to us coaches for decision making, they're doing it on their own."