Last week, the Lady Cougars volleyball team brought home a region championship and competed in the first round of state playoffs.

The team put up a fierce fight, but fell just short of a win.

The team played Georgia Christian for the region championship, where they came out on top.

“It was our fifth time playing them this season, and I was just really proud of the girls,” Coach Mardi McRae said.

McRae explained this win really showed how far the team had come. Earlier in the year, Georgia Christian would have gotten in their head, she said. This time, though the girls went out there and took care of them in three sets.

Not only did the team pull out a win, but some of the girls played 100 percent and didn’t commit a single error, McRae said.

After the win on Tuesday, the team faced Alleluia on Thursday for state quarterfinals.

McRae and Coach Rhonda Wells said in the first set the team was down almost 12 points, but they called a time out and changed the momentum of the game. The team came out from the break and lost 24-26.

Keeping their momentum, they went point for point in the second set, barely losing 28-26.

The final set, the team still fought hard and ended up just losing 22-25.

McRae and Wells were still impressed by their team’s great effort, though. They recognized that Alleluia had two club players, who were great servers and extremely competitive.

Alleluia went on to play in the state finals, where they were eventually beat by Peachtree.

Regardless of the loss, Wells and McRae were so proud of the team. They realize the team has been through many ups and downs this season, with Abigail Mills getting injured and some players deciding to step back and the hurricane, yet everyone stepped up and fought to the finish.

They were especially proud of juniors, Avery Andrews, Kate McRae and Caroline Wells who really took on a leadership role this year.

They look forward to next season because they won’t be losing any players.

“I think next year will be a great year for us,” McRae concluded.