The Walton Raiders volleyball team has been one of the most successful programs in Georgia High School Association history, having won 15 state titles, their last coming in 2020, heading into Thursday night's Class 6A title match with two-time defending champs, the Alpharetta Raiders.
With new head coach, Ashley Jones, Walton's quest for state title number 16 got off to a start more in favor of Alpharetta as they won the opening set 25-16 to take a 1-0 lead in the match, however, Walton would settle down and bounce back in set two, winning it 25-21 to even the match one set a piece.
And while the match would be a close affair the rest of the way, it would Walton winning set three 25-21 and then after trailing 18-16 in set four, would close out the set outscoring Alpharetta 11-7 to win the set 27-25, winning the match 3-1.
"I'm just truly blessed and grateful to have been given this opportunity. Walton is the dream school to coach at so to be given opportunity and do this in the first season, it's incredible," Jones said of winning the first state championship of her coaching career and doing so in year one at Walton.
The first year coach also praised her players for not folding after finding themselves down 1-0 in sets, believing their efforts against North Forsyth in the semifinals provided them with the confidence they could overcome the early deficit. "Losing those first two sets and coming back and winning, almost prepared us to be able to do that," Jones said of the Raiders believing they could once again overcome falling behind.