2022 GHSA Volleyball State Championships

FINALS

PAST CHAMPIONS

OPEN EVENT

Year AAAAA AAAA AAA AA/A

1998 N/A Walton Marist N/A

1999 N/A Walton Marist N/A

2000 Walton Marist Westminster Sav. Country Day

2001 Walton Woodward Acad. Riverwood Landmark Christian

2002 Walton Woodward Acad. Westminster Athens Academy

2003 St. Vincent’s Acad. Woodward Acad. Westminster Landmark Christian

2004 Starr’s Mill Woodward Acad. Westminster Wesleyan

2005 Northview Woodward Acad. Westminster Wesleyan

2006 Harrison Marist Blessed Trinity Wesleyan

2007 Northview McIntosh Columbus Wesleyan

2008 Northview Sandy Creek Woodward Acad. Westminster

2009 Pope Whitewater Woodward Acad. Wesleyan

2010 Walton Pope Woodward Acad. Blessed Trinity

2011 Walton Pope Sandy Creek ELCA

Year AAAAAA AAAAA AAAA AAA AA A

2012 Walton Whitewater Sandy Creek Blessed Trinity Lovett Landmark Christian

2013 Walton McIntosh Columbus St. Pius X Wesleyan Holy Innocents’

2014 North Cobb Sequoyah Marist Blessed Trinity Holy Innocents’ Hebron Christian

2015 Walton Columbus Buford Blessed Trinity Holy Innocents’ Calvary Day

Year AAAAAAA AAAAAA AAAAA AAAA AAA AA A

2016 Walton Harrison Buford Blessed Trinity Westminster St. Vincent’s Calvary Day

2017 Walton Harrison McIntosh Marist Pace Academy Coosa Calvary Day

2018 Walton Pope McIntosh St. Pius Pace Academy Coosa Mt. Paran

2019 Walton Allatoona McIntosh Blessed Trinity Pace Academy Coosa Hebron Christian

Year AAAAAAA AAAAAA AAAAA AAAA AAA

AA/A Public A Private

2020 Alpharetta Buford McIntosh Marist Westminster Pace Academy Holy Innocents’

2021 Walton Buford St. Pius X Marist GACS Pace Academy Mt. Paran

1993

Woodward Academy

1994

Marist

1995

Westminster

1996

Woodward Academy

1997 – Marist

CAPTIVATING REMATCHES AND STATE TITLE HOPEFULS PREPARE CHAMPIONSHIP STAGE

BY CRAIG SAGER

The GHSA Volleyball State Champion ships return to the Lakepoint Sports Complex Champions Center for two days (Nov. 4-5) of captivating champion ship showdowns. Class 1A, 2A & 3A will crown its champions on Friday before the top four classifications take center court on Saturday. This year’s finalists share a combined total of 21 all-time state titles and four of the teams will look to defend their titles in new classifications. In Class 7A, Buford has swept its way to the fi nals after achieving back-to-back Class 6A titles last season. The Wolves have four all-time championships and will be matched up with a Lambert team that is one match away from its first-ever crown. Lambert is coming off a 3-1 semifinal win over defending Class 7A and 15-time state champion Walton. Buford won 2-0 (25-21, 27-25) when the teams met on Aug. 20 and enters the rematch with a 17-game win-streak. Lambert bounced back from that defeat and carries a 19-match winstreak into Saturday.

In Class 6A, top seeds Pope and Sequoyah will clash after conquering the playoff field. When the teams met back on Aug. 25, Pope was able to win in four sets and the Greyhounds have swept the past four rounds of opponents. As for the

Chiefs, they battled past Alexander, Al pharetta, St. Pius X and North Forsyth to reach the finals and are seeking their first state title since 2014. Pope previously won its fourth all-time championship in 2018.

REGION FOES

Reigning Class 3A state champion Greater Atlanta Christian is back in the finals after jumping up to Class 5A this season and will take on Region 6 coun terpart Chattahoochee—which is one win away from finally achieving its elusive first-ever crown. GAC battled past McIn tosh in a five-set thriller in the semifinals, while Chattahoochee bounced Jefferson out with a 3-1 victory. Saturday’s battle will mark the fourth time that the Spartans and Cougars have squared off this season.

Greater Atlanta Christian won the first and third meeting, while Chattahoochee came away with a 2-0 win in between to split the series. As a result, Greater Atlanta Chris tian has a 5-4 edge in sets won in the three previous meetings.

Class 4A finalist Pace Academy will attempt to win its sixth-straight state title on Saturday. The Knights started this in credible streak in Class 3A with crowns in 2017-19 and then took the Class 2A/A Pub lic title the past two seasons. The Knights

are 41-1 this season with their lone loss coming to Class 6A Pope. This record in cludes a 2-0 win over Lovett back on Sept. 13 and a 2-1 win over the Lions on Sept. 24. Lovett won the first set in the most recent meeting before Pace Academy closed out the victory. Lovett is searching for its first state title since the 2012 season and has swept its way through the playoff bracket as the No. 3 seed out of Area 5.

MAKING HISTORY

The Class 3A championship will guarantee a first-time state champion with title-hopefuls Oconee County and Morgan County squaring off. While state cham pionships may be unfamiliar to both pro grams, the Bulldogs and Warriors are wellversed with one another after facing off on Oct. 11. In that match, the teams split the first four sets until Oconee County’s deci sive 15-10 victory in the fifth. Their epic fiveset marathon saw Oconee County sopho more Olivia Miller (18) and Morgan County sophomores Quinn Butler (16) and Haedyn Crumbley (13) lead the way in the kills de partment. Nearly every statistical category was comparable, but Oconee County did gain a 12-5 advantage in blocks that tilted the match in its favor.

In Class 2A, defending state cham

pion Mt. Paran will aim for its third state title since 2018, while Landmark Christian will attempt to win its fourth all-time state crown and first since the 2012 season. Mt. Paran carries a 27-match win-streak into Friday’s finals and is coming off a 3-1 semi final victory over Area 3 top seeded Savan nah Arts. Landmark Christian dispatched Area 8 champion Athens Academy 3-1 in the quarterfinals and then topped North Cobb Christian 3-1 in the semifinals to ex tend its win-streak to nine matches.

The Class A championship match up joins Class 3A as the only other finals that will feature two opponents in search of first-ever state titles. Area 8 champion Tallulah Falls has battled past Darlington (3-0), Galloway (3-1), Lamar County (3-0) and Mt. Pisgah (3-1) to reach the finals. On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 ranked Mt. Bethel has battled past Social Circle (3-0), Dade County (3-1), Temple (3-0) and Mt. Vernon (3-0) to reach the finals. Talulah Falls carries a nine-match win-streak into Friday, while Mt. Bethel brings a 10-match win-streak. The two teams have not faced each other this season, but Mt. Pisgah was a common opponent and Tallulah Falls’ 3-1 win over the Patriots exemplifies the talent of the Indians as they get set to face an other powerhouse to close out the season.