RWA junior Marion Walker Coleman (4) beats back a Lady Lions volley. (photo/Martha Ladd)
SUMTER – Richard Winn Academy’s varsity volleyball season came to a close last Saturday as the Lady Eagles battled to capture the Class-A SCISA Lower State title and advance to the State Championship game, only to fall short and be defeated by region rival Anderson Christian at the Sumter Civic Center.
The Lady Eagles went into Saturday’s competition in the driver’s seat with an unblemished 3-0 record from the first three rounds on Friday.
Round 4 on Saturday morning pitted the Lady Eagles against the Lady Lions of Anderson Christian who had risen from the loser’s bracket with one playoff loss. These two teams split decisions during regular season region play, each one winning on their home court. However, the Lady Lions had the most recent victory and used that momentum to take the next one in tournament play as well.
Following Saturday morning’s 2-0 victory over the Lady Eagles (25-23 and 27-25), Anderson Christian and Laurens had to compete next as each team had one loss. Since the Lady Eagles had not had any losses prior to Saturday morning, the winner of the AC-Laurens match would face the RWA Lady Eagles for the Lower State Championship on Saturday afternoon.
After going point for point in a three-game match, the Lady Lions emerged victorious over the Lady Crusaders and earned the right to match up against the RWA Lady Eagles for the second time that day. As it turned out, it was a Lady Lion kind of day as the RWA team just couldn’t swing the momentum back their way. The Lady Lions remained very focused and played fundamental volleyball, defeating the Lady Eagles in two games.
“Even though we had a lot of missed serves, which equals missed opportunities for points, overall, I was very proud of the way our players performed,” RWA head coach Callie Sims said.
The Lady Eagles ended the season with an impressive 23-7 record. Five of their seven losses came from the two teams playing for the state championship, Anderson Christian and Wardlaw.
In the state playoffs, Richard Winn defeated Colleton Prep of Walterboro in round one, 25-14 and 25-13; Bible Baptist of Savannah, Ga. fell victim to the Lady Eagles in round two, 25-23 and 25-23; and RWA beat Holly Hill in round three, 21-25, 25-22, and 25-17, leading up to Saturday’s final rounds of the Lower State playoffs against Anderson Christian.
Juniors Jaycie Johnson and Marion Walker Coleman and sophomore Alyssa Atkerson were named to the All Region team. Johnson and Coleman will also participate in the SCISA All Star game on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Wilson Hall School in Sumter.
