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The LaGrange Academy volleyball team defied expectations this season, winning the first region title and just the second playoff game in program history. The Warriors, a team with no seniors, put together a remarkable 2024 campaign and the powers that be have taken notice. Junior Georgia Martin was named the GIAA All-State team and three of her Warrior teammates —- Alivia Brown, Adelyn Cadenhead and Cameron Petite — were named to the honorable mention list.

“I wasn’t a Libero until this season. So first season, starting a new position, it was really big. I was not expecting it at all,” Martin said. “They told me at an honor’s ceremony. They called me up and I was shocked but very happy.”

Petite, the only other junior on the team, is one of the leaders for the team alongside Martin.

“It was really amazing for me to even be mentioned,” Petite said. “I know this is something that can help further down the road with recruiting. To even be talked about in that way is such an honor.”

Brown, a sophomore, and Cadenhead, a freshman, epitomize the youth movement on the team. The pair were key contributors on varsity in 2023 and had to take on even bigger roles this season and the pair were more than up to the task to earn spots on the honorable mention list.

“I never thought I would get it,” Cadenhead said. “I thought it would be just the older girls that were on the list. I thought I was too young.”

“I was the same way,” Brown added. “It was something I never expected. I figured only Cameron and Georgia had a chance.”

For these volleyball players, individual accolades mean little compared to the things that they accomplish as a team. 

“I think the biggest thing for us this season was our development as a team,” Petite said. “It was us four plus Marley (Hand) as the only girls on the team with experience, so we were not expecting the year we had, so to win the first region title and win a playoff game is special.”

The Warriors had one player —- Anna Beth Kinnersley —- make the all-state team a season ago, but she did so as the final note of her senior year. Martin and company will all return in 2025 as the Warriors will look to make even more history.

“Next year we are going bigger and better and we want to win state,” Martin said with a grin and an agreement from her fellow teammates.