Coach Kathleen Goodwin knew her team could win the Class 2A state championship – and she was right as Morgan County volleyball defeated Savannah Arts Academy last Saturday in straight sets to capture the 2024 title.
The Spike Dogs’ accomplishment is made even more remarkable by never losing a set in the postseason while blazing to their second state title in three years.
Goodwin felt her team would be crowned state champion at the season’s end.
“I mean, I would say it felt like an inevitability,” Goodwin told the Lake Oconee News. “We felt really confident all season, but the stress of that pressure was the hardest part. [We have] amazing volleyball players, but we had that expectation to win, and it was put on us by others.
“That can sometimes be all it takes to make a really good team not win. So, that was the vibe I didn’t realize I was carrying with me until they won because, at first, I was excited. And then it was like an immediate release.”
Goodwin breathed a sigh of relief, watching her players storm the court after winning the final point against the Lady Panthers. It was a surreal moment for her and the girls, who worked hard to return to the state title.
Still, the state championship was never in doubt, with Morgan County winning all three sets: 25-16, 25-11, and 25-15. Seniors Haedyn Crumbley and Quinn Butler put on a show, powering the Spike Dogs to cruise to the win.
Crumbley and Butler, who are both committed to continuing their volleyball careers at the college level, combined for 36 of the team’s 41 kills. Savannah Arts Academy just couldn’t stop the talented Spike Dogs duo.
Crumbley, Butler, and fellow senior Chloe Burns, who is also committed to playing volleyball at the next level, will be greatly missed. All three have been a huge part of the program’s winning culture over the last few years.
Goodwin said they helped set the bar high for the future of volleyball at Morgan County.
“You can’t state enough how important they have been,” Goodwin said of her trio of seniors. “They’ve been the core of this team. They’re not only going to be missed from a sheer athletic standpoint, but they’re level-headed, good teammates, great kids, involved, and straight-A students. They’re all 4.0 students – just phenomenal girls.
“So, definitely, a huge, huge, lasting impact on the culture Morgan County volleyball tries to create,” Godwin continued. “They’re all student-athletes in the truest sense of the word. Their academics matter as much as their athletics, and they’re just great role models for the girls who are below them.”
Morgan County has been to the state championship three times under Goodwin since 2020, when it lost to Westminster. The Spike Dogs defeated rival Oconee County in 2022 before returning this season to win it all.
Goodwin acknowledged the program’s future remains bright despite losing those seniors. Next year, Morgan volleyball returns juniors Abby Dennard, Camryn Scherer, E’mariona Johnson, Riley Mitchell, and Natalie Phillips, among others.
“I know for a fact two [of our seniors] were in the stands as eighth graders in 2020, watching us get demolished by Westminster,” she said. “And [on Saturday], they were playing for a crowd of middle school girls who are coming up in the program, so they’ve been around for the program’s dominance. They played for each other.”