VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK

See today's SHSSN for this week's volleyball coverage and the Falcons' Captain in the Community.

In This Issue

Trivia

Volleyball rankings

Score Atlanta

Volleyball rankings

Volleyball notebook

Capt. in the Comm.

Trivia

Question:

How many consecutive matches has Walton volleyball won against in-state opponents?

Today's answer can be found in the newsletter!

Wednesday's Answer:

Mike Swaney has been head coach at Marion County for five seasons.

VOLLEYBALL RANKINGS

Class AAAAAA

1. Walton

2. Harrison

3. East Coweta

4. North Cobb

5. Etowah

6. Lassiter

7. West Forsyth

8. Johns Creek

9. North Gwinnett

10. Roswell

Class AAAAA

1. Sequoyah

2. Dunwoody

3. Ola

4. Grovetown

5. Northgate

6. Northside-Columbus

7. Camden County

8. River Ridge

9. Columbus

10. Cambridge

Class AAAA

1. Buford

2. Sandy Creek

3. Woodward Academy

4. St. Pius

5. Marist

6. Ridgeland

7. North Oconee

8. Northwest Whitfield

9. North Hall

10. Southeast Whitfield

Class AAA

1. Blessed Trinity

2. Westminster

3. Decatur

4. Oconee County

5. Sonoraville

6. Savannah Arts Academy

7. Rockmart

8. Southeast Bulloch

9. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe

10. Fannin County

Class AA

1. Holy Innocents'

2. Wesleyan

3. Lovett

4. Gordon Lee

5. Greater Atlanta Christian

6. St. Vincent's Academy

7. Coosa

8. Pace Academy

9. Model

10. Darlington

Class A

1. Hebron Christian

2. Athens Academy

3. ELCA

4. Savannah Christian

5. Fellowship Christian

6. Prince Avenue Christian

7. Mt. Paran

8. Walker

9. Calvary Day

10. Landmark Christian

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Thursday, September 25, 2014

SCORE ATLANTA PUBLICATION

Check out this week's publication!

VOLLEYBALL RANKINGS

By Craig Sager II

Surging North Cobb makes jump in AAAAAA

In Class AAAAAA, North Cobb entered the top 4 after successfully making it out of the All City Playdate on Saturday without dropping a set. The Warriors opened their first of four matches with a 2-0 sweep over Sequoyah. In Class AAAAA, River Ridge, Columbus

Photo by Kyle Scruggs

and Cambridge entered the poll and replaced Allatoona, Chapel Hill and Harris County. Camden County dropped to No. 7 after losing to Savannah Christian this week.

Northwest Whitfield broke into the Class AAAA poll this week with a sweep over previous No. 10 Hertiage-Catoosa and a 2-1 win over Southeast Whitfield on Tuesday. Jefferson fell to Grovetown, Lee County and Jonesboro and dropped out of the Class AAA poll this week. Fannin County debuted at No. 10 and Savannah Arts Academy took over No. 5.

In Class AA, Gordon Lee edged Coosa (25-19, 25-21) and jumped to No. 4. Mt. Paran won a thrilling (25-27, 25-23, 26-24) match over Walker and improved to No. 7 in Class A. Savannah Christian's win over Camden County moved the Raiders to No. 4 in the Class A poll.

SEE LEFT PANEL FOR RANKINGS

VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK

By Craig Sager II

Cross-state bragging rights up for grabs

The All City Playdate highlighted last weekend as 14 of metro Atlanta's top programs went head-to-head in a 30-game marathon. This Saturday will see Georgia's best take on some of the Southeast's best programs for out-of-state bragging rights. The Southern Invitational tournament will be held at the Southern Volleyball center in Alpharetta.

Walton, St. Pius, South Forsyth, East Coweta and Sequoyah will represent Georgia. South Carolina brings Hillcrest, St. Joseph's Catholic, Porter Gaud and Wando and Tennessee brings St. Agnes Academy, Ravenwood and The Webb School. The Tennessee schools

Photo by East Coweta Volleyball

are a combined 38-19 this season and Ravenwood is the No. 12 ranked team in Tennessee by Maxpreps but was crushed this past weekend by Blessed Trinity in straight sets (25-15, 25-13).

South Carolina's four teams are each in the top 5 teams in the state according to the Maxpreps rankings. The four schools own a combined 102-15 record this season. Hillcrest swept North Cobb and Woodward Academy earlier this season and owns a top seed heading into the tournament.

The brackets are divided into three pools. Sequoyah and St. Pius are in Pool A with South Carolina's St. Joseph's Catholic and Tennessee's Ravenwood. East Coweta is the lone Georgia school in Pool B and is joined by South Carolina's Hillcrest and Porter Gaud and Tennessee's St. Agnes Academy. Walton and South Forsyth are in Pool C with Wando (SC) and Webb (Tenn.). The championship match is set for 5:00 pm and pool play begins at 8am.

Walton and East Coweta head into the tournament with a lot of momentum after standing out at the All City Playdate last week. East Coweta's 4-0 finish saw victories over Chattahoochee, South Forsyth, Lambert and Roswell. Duke commit Jessica Bartholomew leads the team in blocks and kills this season and had 38 kills and 18 digs in the four matches last Saturday.

Walton's only two in-state losses this season were in August to Buford and the Raiders have won their last 14 matches against Georgia teams that includes a pair of wins over Harrison. The Raiders' performance last weekend saw the depth that the young team has been able to build as the season progresses. Junior Tai Bierria is an emerging star and the versatile 6-footer had her most productive match of the season on Tuesday.

Bierria smashed 12 kills on just 17 attempts in Walton's 2-0 win over Etowah. Ashley Miller is like Bierria and can play middle and outside at the net. Miller posted nine kills in the win over Etowah and is averaging nine kills per match in her last three outings. The combination of Miller and Bierria has been a key to the Raiders' success this season but their ability to move around is a result of the defense and passing ability of Ashley Dean, Celeste Fitzgerald and the fine-tuned lineup.

FALCONS CAPT. IN THE COMMUNITY

By Lauren Goldstein

B.E.S.T. WR/LB awarded for community efforts

Quintavious Stiggers, outside linebacker/wide receiver at B.E.S.T. Academy in Atlanta, is the Atlanta Falcons Captain in the Community recipient. Stiggers has made several contributions to his community, including volunteering at Dream Garden Community Service. In 2013, he travelled to Managua, Nicaragua for a student-mentoring program. In addition, in 2014, he volunteered at a two-week work trip in Sevilla, Spain. Stiggers already has made plans to travel to Cusco, Peru for two-week volunteer program in 2015.

"I believe that I am a good leader because I am able to positively influence people. I don't associate myself with the wrong kind of people. I know how to make the intentions of the people I'm around good. Any type of community service is important because you must always give back to your community or give back to people who paved a way for you, that's how communities flourish and continue progress. I can't save the world but I can make sure I leave my name imprinted in someone's mind. As long as I can do my part in making it a better place just by helping at least 1 person. My quote "If you around positive people with positive thinking you have no choice but to change for the BEST."

The Captain in the Community program recognizes outstanding high school football student-athletes around the state of Georgia that demonstrate strong leadership skills both on-and-off the field. Winners are selected by USA Football, the Official Youth Football Development Partner of the NFL. Additionally, each winner's high school will receive a grant in the amount of $1,000 to support community initiatives courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL's Youth Football Fund.