Lady Paladins Volleyball Team Sweeps Savannah Country Day

Submitted by John Heid, sports information director at Fellowship Christian School

The streak continues for the Fellowship Christian School varsity volleyball team.

Before a packed Paladin Gym, the Lady Paladins on Tuesday swept Savannah Country Day in the best-of-five quarterfinal match of the GHSA Single A Volleyball Tournament.

On Oct. 21, the Lady Paladins won the first game, 25-11 over SCD. The squad never trailed in the next two contests to earn the trip to the GHSA Semifinal round. Fellowship claimed the second two contests with 25-18 and 25-14 wins.

FCS (34-7 overall) has now won 15 straight contests, including the first two GHSA Single Volleyball Playoff Tournament victories in school history.

Fellowship has now earned the trip to the six-team semifinal round. The six remaining teams will be re-seeded for the semifinal round with the top two teams receiving a bye for the two matches of the semifinals to be played Saturday, Oct. 25. After those matches, the winners will face the top two seeded clubs in the semifinals to be held Oct. 29.

“Honestly tonight [Tuesday] was one of first matches that we did not have to come from behind to win,” first-year head coach Kirbie Wallace said. “Our girls were more determined tonight than any other match this year. And that is saying a lot because the girls have played so well together all season long. We have been consistent all season.”

In the second game, FCS opened up a 9-2 lead while showing some outstanding defense. They increased the lead to 16-4 and wound up winning by seven points. They showed more of the same tenacity in the third game as the club opened up leads of 16-11 and 18-13 before scoring six out of the next seven points to capture the match.

“Our defense has gotten better and better every single game this season,” Wallace said. “We are one of the smaller teams of the 12 that were left, so we need to play together. We did not get intimidated by their size. We were very determined and aggressive on defense.”

The SCD coach called for an eight-minute break following the second game, which did not slow down the Lady Paladins.

“They were so fired up that break,” said Wallace, who noted that a coach can opt for a break after the second game. “I typically never ask for them. I like to keep the match going.”

FCS is currently ranked fourth among GHSA Single A teams in the latest Maxpreps rankings. On Oct. 16, the Lady Paladins opened state tourney play with a three games to one win over Lakeview Academy.

Photo credit: Patch file