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The Grace Christian Academy Lady Cougars volleyball team is headed to state after a hard fought region battle.

The Lady Cougars first took on Trinity and won in straight sets.

“It was a great warm up game for us,” Coach Mardi McRae said.

While the first round may have seemed like a warm up, the second round against Veritas from Savannah proved tough. The team lost their first set 24-26, and couldn’t make a comeback for the remaining two sets.

McRae admitted that Vertias was a great club team and they knew one of their players was being recruited.

“We worked hard on defense and how to combat that particular player’s hits, but we just came up short,” she said.

The Lady Cougars then headed to the consolation game, where they would play against Georgia Christian and determine who would be seeded three and four.

The Lady Cougars won and were seeded three, where they will now travel to Sparta, Georgia and play number two seeded John Hancock.

McRae said the team knows John Hancock is a super scrappy and athletic team, just like them, but they have athleticism on their side.

“We have a bunch of girls who can cover a bunch of court and that’s how we win,” McRae said. “Blocking will be key in this game.”

McRae acknowledged during region it was a complete team effort with some major plays coming from Lainey McRae and a few others.

According to McRae, Lainey had super strong blocks when playing against Vertias that allowed for the speed of the ball to slow down. Along with Lainey, freshman, Mallorie Jordan had a strong game.

When heading into the game against Georgia Christian, Caroline Wells had super strong hits that gave the team the momentum they needed to finish out with a win.

Kate McRae also contributed and Brooke Tobin made sure the ball didn’t drop on their side of the court.

McRae was especially impressed with Avery Andrews who took a bad hit early on and still battled through seven sets. McRae is glad to see Andrews back on her A game and ready to compete for state.

The team is hoping for a win and to move on to the next round after this face off against John Hancock.