Lady Cavaliers roll to second title

Another state championship trophy belongs to Augusta Prep.

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The Lady Cavaliers volleyball team picked up its second consecutive state title over the weekend with an undefeated march through the GISA Class AAA state tournament. Augusta Prep knocked off North Cobb Christian in a three-game sweep in the finals to claim the championship in front of a home crowd.

"We needed those fans. They were amazing," Augusta Prep senior Nicole Abbott said. "The atmosphere in there was crazy. There's nothing to compare to that."

Augusta Prep fans packed Boardman Gymnasium on Saturday to watch the home team run through the state semifinals and finals without a single slip up. The Lady Cavaliers swept LaGrange and Dominion Christian during the first two rounds of play on Friday.

Saturday's play saw Region 3-AAA No. 1 seed Calvary Christian go down 25-12, 25-10, 25-15 to Augusta Prep. The Lady Cavaliers claimed the title in the next match with a perfect 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 sweep.

The state title run didn't look close, but Augusta Prep volleyball coach Rich Bland said it felt much closer than the scores indicated.

"Volleyball is such a game of momentum, and we knew that just because you win the first two games doesn't mean you're going to win the match," he said. "We were up 2-0 on North Augusta just last week, and we lost games three, four and five. I think the girls learned from that because we didn't have anything like that this weekend."

Of the four matches the Lady Cavaliers played over the weekend, the home team didn't lose a single game.

"It got pretty tough. You could tell each team wanted it too," Augusta Prep starting sophomore Mary Glenn Yort said. "This is really big. We practice so hard for so long so we knew it was ours."

The Lady Cavaliers finished the year with a 24-3 record. Their only three losses of the season came to public schools North Augusta (twice) and Aiken.