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MARIETTA - They're back.

Area 1AAAAA squads are again pinpointing Lassiter as the team to after the Lady Trojans went through a transition period in 2007.

Lassiter, which made the state finals in '06, is the top-ranked Class AAAAA team in the GaSports.com coaches poll after starting the '08 campaign with a perfect 19-0 record.

What's even more impressive about its 19-0 start is that all but one of its wins have come in two straight games, and includes one lofty tri-match that included wins over Pope and Marist, which were the top-ranked teams in AAAAA and AAAA, respectively, at the time.

Rewind to 2006 and the Lady Trojans were senior-laden and the most experienced 1AAAAA team. Even though Pope stopped them in the area finals, the Lady Trojans stormed through state sectionals and got even with the Lady Greyhounds in the state semifinals before falling to Harrison in the championship round.

Lassiter took its lumps last season with so many seniors graduating - most notably Hannah Lawing, who is now playing at South Carolina - and started the season 5-7 before getting into a rhythm. The Lady Trojans peaked at the end of the 2007 campaign, finishing the year at No. 9 after falling in five games to Etowah in the round of 16.

"Last year was a transition year," Lassiter coach Dottie Saye said. "We continued to improve and put things together and that gave us a bump going into this season. We finished last year strong."

The biggest difference between this season and last season is camaraderie. After a season of playing together, this crop of players has a better understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

This is a veteran team, much like the 2006 team was, with only one sophomore and one freshman. Everyone contributes greatly and Saye said there's different players stepping up in every match. One example is Rachel Jenkins, who won 20 points on serves in Lassiter's 25-4, 25-16 win over Brookwood last weekend.

Middle hitter Taylor Montgomery has a .520 attack percentage - shattering Lawing's mark in the low .400s in 2006 - with 129 kills and 33 solo blocks.

Hannah Reinke and Katy McCollister have 83 and 80 kills, respectively. Jenkins leads with 26 service aces and Emily Weissert has 321 assists. McCollister also leads in digs with 99, while Melissa Woodall has 91.

Another difference from last year is that the players say they can learn from their mistakes and move forward, which was something they struggled with a year ago. They also go into each match with the mindset of improving every single day and let the wins and losses take care of themselves.

The bigger obstacles have yet to come, however, with the Area 1AAAAA gauntlet yet to come. There's still the Cobb County tournament. And, of course, Lassiter has to make it out of the area tournament just to get into the state sectionals.

"If we can just focus on our own abilities and trust our teammates and our coach," Montgomery said, "I think that will carry us through."

acarrington@mdjonline.com

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