Buford volleyball calmly moves on to state final

Seniors Sydney Austin and Ashley Sturzoiu combine for 25 kills in a three set victory over North Gwinnett

SUWANNEE, GEORGIA – Cool, calm and collected.

That’s the motto the Buford volleyball team lives by and that was on full display Saturday afternoon playing in a hostile environment at North Gwinnett with a spot in the Class AAAAAAA state title game on the line.

With a chance at redemption after losing their one and only match of the season to the Wolves one month ago, it was not to be for the Bulldogs, who were unable to stop Buford’s balanced attack.

Seniors Sydney Austin (13 kills) and Ashley Sturzoiu (12 kills) wreaked havoc on the Bulldogs and the Wolves rolled to a victory in straight sets, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22 to advance to the state title game against Lambert.

Buford's Ashley Sturzoiu drives through one of her 12 kills as North Gwinnett's Mary Stephen Deas (10) Esosa Ehigiator rise to attempt a block / Photo by Colin Hubbard

Wolves (37-5) head coach Christina Lecoeuvre said that’s what made them so effective Saturday against the Bulldogs.

“That’s why we’re so successful,” Lecoeuvre said. “I think everybody anticipated us to be outside heavy today. We made sure we were really working on spreading out the ball, especially off serve receive this week at practice. It was perfectly executed.

The Bulldogs hosted Saturday’s match and had the gymnasium rocking. The hostile environment didn’t seem to faze the Wolves, however, after starting fast in the first set and racing out to an 18-10 lead before eventually winning the set 25-20.

North did its best to fight back in the first set and managed to trim Buford’s lead to 19-14 before a long rally went in favor of the Wolves. Senior Dylan Cummings seemingly out of nowhere dropped a shot into no man’s land to win the point after a long back-and-forth between the two teams.

That point gave the Wolves enough momentum to hold off the Bulldogs and win the crucial first set.

Buford senior setter Polly Cummings (10) prepares a pass while libero Alexa Flowers looks on / Photo by Colin Hubbard

“(The first set) was huge,” Lecoeuvre said. “We knew that we were going to take them down and that first set was a key part of the plan coming into today. We’ve been in situations like this before. All of the girls on the court have played in a hostile, loud, high-pressure situation and so I think to our advantage that we could just execute the task at hand.”

Set 2 became a must-win for the Bulldogs.

The set was tied at several stages, including 8-8 and 11-11, but the Wolves found a groove from there and never looked back. The Wolves mounted a quick 6-1 run that featured two kills from Sturzoiu to take a 17-12 lead.

Freshman Clara Briley then ended things for the Wolves with back-to-back kills to win the set by eight points, 25-17.

Leading 2-0, the Wolves found themselves locked in another tight battle in the third set in the early stages. The set was tied at 13-13 before building a 4-point lead and maintaining that until the very end.

Down 23-19, the Bulldogs used one last rally to trim the lead to 24-22, but the Wolves were able to close out the victory and win the set by three points.

North Gwinnett senior Joya Screen drives the ball over the net in Saturday's Class AAAAAAA state semifinal / Photo by Colin Hubbard

“Our motto is always calm and confident,” Lecoeuvre said. “We’re going to block out the noise. Clear eyes, full hearts and we can’t lose that way. It’s exciting.”

With the win, the Wolves will now look to win their third straight state championship and their first as a member of Class AAAAAAA. The Wolves won the past two years as a member of Class AAAAAA.

“We’re fired up,” Lecoeuvre said. “We’re going for the three-peat here. We have eight seniors on the team and I know how special this will be for a majority of them to clinch their third state title together. It’s very special.”

As for the Bulldogs, their tremendous season ends in the Final 4. Their only two losses on the season came at the hands of the Wolves. They will say goodbye to several seniors, including Baylor commit Joya Screen, who led the Bulldogs in kills Saturday.

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard

Photo by Colin Hubbard