Morgan County’s volleyball team will head into the Class 2A state playoffs next week in a good spot.
The Spike Dogs recently wrapped up the regular season with a 27-12 overall record and won the region championship with a perfect 5-0 mark. They dominated their competition by not losing a set in region play.
“It was one of the team goals at the beginning of the season, and it’s nice,” Morgan County head coach Alan Shultz said. “I think that’s eight out of 10 now, where we’ve won the region, so it’s great to keep that streak going. It’s also one of the first steps in moving forward and trying to do what we want to do, which is win state.”
Morgan County’s five seniors — Riley Mitchell, Camryn Scherer, E’mariona Johnson, Natalie Phillips, and Abby Dennard — all have playoff experience. They were each instrumental in helping the team win a state title last year.
According to Shultz, all five seniors missed some time due to injury or illness this season, and younger players stepped in.
“We finally got healthy. We had some injuries and illnesses that affected all of our seniors,” Shultz said. “We have five seniors, and they all missed matches over a three-week span. We had anywhere from two to three freshmen filling in for three straight weeks, so it’s nice to be healthy again. Those freshmen did a good job, and it helped prepare them for the playoffs, should we need them, so that was good. We feel like we’re ready.”
Freshmen Mallory Davidson, Miley Stewart, and Nevaeh Lloyd stepped in to fill the void created by their teammates’ absences. The Spike Dogs will depend on them, the seniors, along with junior Hailey Floyd and sophomore Riley Burke. Junior Hollis Boyer, together with sophomores Taylor Doss and Grace Cawthorn, will also contribute.
Shultz appreciates how deep and connected the team is as they head into the postseason.
“We play very clean and well overall, so we like to think we’re now coming together effectively,” Shultz said.
Morgan County faced a challenging non-region schedule in 2025, taking on teams from larger classifications, including Gainesville, Allatoona, Richmond Academy, Brookwood, Oconee County, Jefferson, and North Oconee, among others. They’ve also faced some tough Class 2A teams that they could see again.
Regardless, Shultz feels his team has a “great chance” to come out on top again due to its rigorous schedule.
“We feel like we’ve got a great chance to win it all,” Shultz said. “Our team is playing well right now.”