Class 5A state runner-up Lexington

The girls fought all the way to the end.”

Lexington head volleyball coach Eric Shick

An opportunity for the school’s first-ever state championship in volleyball seemed far-fetched from the outside for Lexington High School.

The Lady Wildcats entered the post-season as a second seed after finishing second in Region 4-5A. They then had to win three straight road matches, including a rare victory at nemesis Wando to reach the state title match for the second time in three seasons.

Only Upper State champion Mauldin stood in the way of Lexington to successfully completing its championship journey. However, the Lady Mavericks were riding a “Jurnee” of their own in the quest for their first-ever state title.

Led by senior All-State and LSU-bound outside hitter Jurnee Robinson, Mauldin defeated Lexington in three sets to claim the Class 5A championship Nov. 5 at Dreher High School.

“She’s definitely the hardest hitting girl we’ve faced all year and that’s how she’s going to LSU,” Lexington head coach Eric Shick said. “She’s once in a 10 year outside hitter that we’ve seen all year.”

Much like the previous three-set tri-match in September won by the Lady Mavericks (32-7), the first two sets were hard fought by both teams. This time, Mauldin won both by the same 25-22 scores.

Every time Mauldin tried to stretch its lead in the two sets, the Lady Wildcats responded with defensive digs to save points from seniors like Ashley Kelley to set up kills at the net.

Throughout the match, the Lady Mavericks used their length with Robinson, fellow senior outside hitter Anna Schneider, sophomore Sarina Galyean and freshman Jasmin Buford to block strikes by Lexington. They also turned their digs into kills by Robinson who was able to score points from various angles on the court.

Mauldin jumped out to an insurmountable lead in the third set. One of the points saw a Mauldin player save a point rushing towards the bench which ultimately ended with a Robinson kill.

Fittingly, Robinson took care of match point with another powerful kill at the net for the 25-18 third set victory.

“The girls fought all the way to the end and that’s all I could expect of them,” Shick said. “Not a lot of people expected us to be here, but we kind of peaked at the end and we were playing good.”

Lexington finished the year with a 28-13 record.