By Adam Carrington
Marietta Daily Journal Sports Writer
ACWORTH - The Harrison Lady Hoyas wrote the number 25 on the palm of their hands as early as last Wednesday as a friendly reminder that they wanted to play for an entire volleyball game at the Area 5AAAAA tournament.
There were times that the young squad would play strong for the first 15 points before faltering, and other times they would get into an early deficit and pick up their intensity at the end of game. The number 25 written on their hands kept telling them they needed to start strong and finish strong.
Harrison lost five starters who guided the team to its first Class AAAAAA state championship crown last year and is relying on a roster that has five sophomores and six upperclassmen - five of which entered the season with little experience - to defend it.
The Lady Hoyas struggled this season against a brutal schedule and entered the 5AAAAA tournament Saturday at North Cobb High School with a 10-29 record and one victory against 5AAAAA foes. It would have been easy to have counted out the No. 5 seeded Lady Hoyas based on their regular season performance.
But the Lady Hoyas still believed in each other, and players said the number 25 written on their palms helped them psychologically as they upset No. 2 Marietta (20-25, 25-21, 25-23) in the losers bracket for a spot in the Class AAAAA state sectionals. A win over North Cobb (25-18, 25-17) and a loss to Etowah (25-22, 25-14) put them as the No. 3 seed in state tournament.
"I thought it helped a lot because during the game when we were down; we would look at our hands that said 25 and then would say, 'guys, we can do this,'" senior outside hitter Stephanie Post said. "And, usually, it helped."
Post finished the tournament with 23 kills, three aces, and eight digs, middle hitter Nicole Dunn had 22 kills and 8.5 blocks; middle blocker Jennifer Kuroski added 7.5 blocks and setter Emily Law dished out 58 assists.
Harrison coach Clay Taylor said three players made a serious impact during the Lady Hoyas' marathon victory against Marietta - defensive specialists Valerie Croy, Ashley Gillam and Caroline Warren. He said the three of them really came together against the Lady Blue Devils. Croy and Gillam went on to finish with a combined 27 digs.
"Once we beat Marietta, we knew we were top four," Post said. "It was a great feeling. Everyone thought we were down the whole season. To beat them and to know that we were in the state tournament was an accomplished feeling."
Post, the lone returning starter from last year's championship team, said the transition from being on a championship team to leading a young squad with limited varsity experience did not come without some challenges.
"It was hard at first, but halfway through the season, I realized that this team can accomplish something," Post said. "Once I started believing and once they started believing that we can go far, it became a lot easier."
Harrison lost 13 of its first 15 games of the season against highly experienced teams such as Westminster, Walker, Marist, Lovett, Lassiter, Pope, Wesleyan, Holy Innocents'. There were a few games when the Lady Hoyas were blown out, but Taylor said they played with most of the teams.
"It was a tough stretch," Taylor said. "There were only a handful of teams that served us off the floor, but most of the games we were in them before issues started to come out."
Taylor said he was surprised Harrison couldn't fare better during 5AAAAA competition, but his Lady Hoyas did more than make up for that Saturday.
Now they're looking ahead to sectionals Saturday when they open up against East Coweta at Roswell High. Their bracket appears as if it will be extremely difficult with top-ranked Northveiw and No. 3 Pope in their bracket.
"It may be overconfidence on my part, but I would like to see Pope again," Taylor said.
acarrington@mdjonline.com
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I only saw them in one match on Saturday....it was a vastly different team than earlier in the year. Someone said they had a new setter. Good job!