The girls’ volleyball team smiled throughout the victory of the A5 Southern Challenge Volleyball Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia, clinching the title after defeating rival Dorman High School.

The tournament held on the weekend of

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Sept. 29-Oct. 1, focused on the girls working together and improving with each game.  

Senior Lexi Hellberg, an outside hitter/defensive specialist, has been a starter since her freshman year.  

“I’m just really proud of everyone for finally beating Dorman and pushing through it because it was a really long day. It was like 12 hours straight of volleyball,” Hellberg said. “We played, let’s see… six or seven games. I wasn’t nervous on the way to Atlanta, but definitely before the tournament because we played our rival, Dorman. They beat us every time we played them this year, and last year we lost to them in state, so obviously, that was a little nerve-racking. We won though.

“Traveling brings us closer because we all stay in hotel rooms,” she added, “and then we all end up in the same room. Our team is really close! We are like a family.”

Wando’s team thinks highly of Head Coach Alexis Glover. “I love our coach. I’ve had her since freshman year and she’s just really supportive of everything,” Hellberg said.

“I’ve been coaching since 1981… so, 36 years..” Glover said.

Glover, who explained how tournaments affect the team rankings.

“Tournaments don’t count against you to qualify for state. We really play tournaments for fun, but the games we play during the week count on our record. We stay in the hotels together, go out to eat… there’s a lot of togetherness. This year, we have a pretty senior-looking team. Lexi, Keeghan [Andrews] and Karen Majewski have been on the team since the ninth grade,” Glover said. “Lexi, of the three of them, was a starter in the ninth grade, so she is a four-year starter for me. You know, we played a very competitive tournament this weekend and won!”

Andrews, an outside hitter, and starter since sophomore year said, “We were excited to face some great competition before the tournament. Our team is very close. We support each other on and off the court.”

Andrews said the last point of the tournament was the best. “Our best play was the championship match point,” she said. “We had a great pass, great set, and great final kill.”

Tournament Statistics:

Wando defeated Dorman HS (Ranked 5th nationally-1st in South Carolina)

2-1 (25-18, 17-25, 15-13)

Wando Defeated Webb (Ranked 4th in Tennessee)

2-1

Wando Defeated Buford (Ranked 26th nationally-2nd in Georgia)

2-1

Wando defeated Alpharetta (Ranked 8th in Georgia)

2-0

Wando defeated Harrison (Ranked 9th in Georgia)

2-0

Wando defeated Dunwoody (Georgia) (Unranked)

2-0