Hebron Christian battles back from 0-2 deficit to advance to state title game

Hebron Christian Academy set to battle for GHSA Private state title

On day two of the Georgia High School Association Volleyball state championship tournament semifinals, the Mount Paran Eagles took on the Hebron Christian Lions in a rematch from their meeting earlier in the season in which the Eagles defeated Hebron Christian 2-1. As Wednesday’s match got underway, Mount Paran displayed dominance taking the first two sets convincingly as they won Set 1 and Set 2.

In Set 3, with their backs against the wall the Lions, looking to avoid elimination, were more settled in having led majority of the set, leading by as many as five points, however had to hold off a Mount Paran rally, as the Eagles would take a 20-19 lead, however the Lions were able to close out on a 6-3 run to win the set 25-23, extending the match to Set 4.

Looking to re-establish dominance displayed in sets one and two, Mount Paran would jump out to a 7-2 lead, however the Lions would stay within striking distance and get within one point late in the set as they trailed 22-21, forcing the Eagles to call timeout and talk things over.

Out of the timeout, Hebron Christian would take the next two points to take their first lead as they went up 23-22 and would continue to close out the set 25-22 to force a decisive Set 5. As the final set got underway, the score remained close however, Mount Paran would lead majority of the way early on in the set, going up by as many as three points.

But after trailing 5-2, a 6-1 run would help the Lions take an 8-6 lead and from there they would go on to pick up the 15-8 set win and overcoming the 0-2 hole early in the match to win 3-2 and advance to the GHSA Private state title game in which they will face the defending state champs, the Lovett Lions.

“It truly was remarkable,” Hebron Christian head coach Taylor Davis said following the Lions' advancement to the championship game, after falling behind 2-0 in the match. “What we got to witness today, we didn’t get beat, we demolished in those first two sets,” Davis said of the Lions dropping Set 1 by a final of 25-7 and Set 2 by a final of 25-14.

“We talked about the importance of being gritty and being able to have some resilience, but you don’t get those items without having to go through some hard things,” Davis said as he explained similar challenges throughout the regular season helped prepare his team for what they faced in Wednesday’s matchup with Mount Paran.

“So finally, it was like die or move on and that kind of caught wind in Set 3, but it developed throughout the season over some tight matches,” Davis said.