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For the first time in a long time, all three public high schools in Troup County — Callaway, LaGrange and Troup — will all send their respective volleyball teams to the playoffs. All three teams will have to prove to be road warriors as they will all be on the road to start the 2024 state playoffs. 

 

Callaway @ Davidson Fine Arts

The Cavaliers will enter the 2024 AA playoffs seeded as the 29th overall and will face the no. 4 seeded Davidson. 

The two teams share recent history as Callaway won a 5-set thriller over Davidson in 2022 to book their first ever trip to the Elite Eight.

It has been an up-and-down year for Callaway. The Cavaliers have just one win over the last month — a 2-1 win over Westside in the region tournament, a win that sent the team to the state playoffs. This will be the Cavaliers third straight trip to the playoffs. 

Callaway is led by its senior trio of Ava Taylor, Raniya Mahone and Christiauna Toolsie. 

Davidson (21-11) has been one of the top teams in 2A this season and are the Area 4-2A region champions. The Titans come into the playoffs on a good run of form, having won four of their last five games. 

Both Callaway and Davidson were eliminated by Pierce County in the 2A state playoffs last season, Callaway 3-0 in the first round and Davidson 3-1 in round two.

The Cavaliers will travel to Augusta to take on Davidson on Tuesday. 

 

LaGrange @ Baldwin

When the Grangers left the court after last week’s loss to Sandy Creek in the region tournament, they thought their season was over. Instead, LaGrange got an at-large bid to the 3A state playoffs and will be seeded as the 23rd overall team and will face the no. 10 team Baldwin in the first round. 

This is LaGrange’s first playoff appearance since 2021 when the team upset West Laurens 3-0 in the first round before falling to Pickens in the second round.

The Grangers are coming off one of their best seasons in recent memory and a large part of that is due to first-year coach Mehgan Smith as well as a strong senior contingent that consists of Sophie Clough, Georgia Jamison, T’Maya Davis, Aniyah Payne and Abbie Lundy. 

The Braves are coming off a season in which they made the second round of the 4A state playoffs. The team dropped down to 3A this year and performed even better in the regular season, finishing second in the Area. 

The two teams share one common opponent this season: Upson-Lee. The Grangers beat the Knights in their only encounter this season while Baldwin beat Upson-Lee twice in the regular season. 

The Grangers will head east to take on Baldwin on Wednesday. 

 

Troup @ Oconee Co.

Much like their counterparts from LaGrange, the Tigers walked off the floor last Thursday after a loss to Fayette County thinking their season had come to a close as they missed out on one of the automatic bids. Troup got an at-large bid where they will be seeded 30th overall and will face the no. 3 team in 3A, Oconee County. 

The Tigers are coming off their best season in history as they made the 4A state quarterfinals for the first time in program history in 2023. Troup has not been able to replicate that season this year, but a youth-filled team is gearing up to get some playoff experience. 

The Tigers will rely on seniors Maddie Knight, Destiny Knight, Lanier Glisson, Asa Hall and Caydence Barnes, who all played a part in the team’s deep playoff run a season ago.

Oconee County (28-15) are one of the premium teams in 3A having finished as state runner-up in 2023. The Warriors went right back to work this season, winning the Area 8-3A region championship in dominant fashion.

The team’s share two common opponents this season: Whitewater and Trinity Christian. The Warriors got wins over both teams while the Tigers went 0-2 against their common opponents. 

Troup will travel to the Athens area on Wednesday for their showdown with Oconee County.