This past week, the Woodward Academy Varsity Volleyball team won the GHSA 5A state championship, beating McIntosh High School in the final. The War Eagles avenged their championship loss last year to Pope High School, not only by winning this year, but also by beating Pope in the semi finals. The volleyball team faced numerous challenges, such as incorporating a host of Atlanta Girls School players into their team, losing the championship last year, and players suffering fatigue and injuries. They did this all while maintaining a 14-0 record in their region the past two years. After multiple near wins at the state level in recent years, Woodward’s volleyball team is glad to add another state title to its list of honors.
To start, we have to go back to the summer of 2023. Atlanta Girls School (AGS), an all-girls school located in Buckhead, abruptly closed in May. It was a really hard thing to deal with for many students who had expected to return to the school the following school year. Many AGS students found a new home in Woodward Academy. Jade Williams ‘26, Lotus Gyrock ‘26, Eva LeRoux ‘26 and Erin Smith ‘29 were the 4 on the volleyball team who made the switch. Woodward, who already had a good team, were now boosted by the new arrivals. However, these 4 new players had to build chemistry with the returning Woodward players.
“Everyone, like, came in kind of with open arms and were very nice to us,” Eva said. “So I think it was very easy to develop chemistry, and we became, like, very close immediately, I’d say, and over the course of that year, we began to become even closer.
Eva was right, and the team went on to win their region with a 7-0 record. In addition, the War Eagles ended the season ranked 5th in Class 5A and 63rd nationally. In the playoffs, they beat Dutchtown, River Ridge, Loganville and Sequoyah en route to the state championship. They ended up losing to No. 1-ranked Pope High School. While they unfortunately lost, the game made Head Coach Tim Grooms rethink the preparations he made during the season.
“I don’t think we played enough really hard teams last year to prepare us for the team that Pope was,” Coach Grooms said. “But Pope also had a very good middle, who is now playing for Maryland, and we could not stop her last year, Ellis Crawford.”
Coach Grooms also feels that the team was not ready mentally yet.
“I mean, everybody thinks they’re ready…” Coach Grooms said. “It’s good to be confident, but you also have to play with a little bit of fear of losing.”
During the summer, the team travelled to a tournament at the University of Georgia. Coach Grooms was undergoing surgery at the time and so was unable to go, but his assistant Coach Rhana Mitchell coached the team to victory in the tournament. That tournament was a real confidence booster for them heading into the next season, in addition to helping the squad gel together. Leah Scantlebury ‘28 got her first Varsity experience in this tournament and ended up scoring the winning point in the state championship.
“So because I was not on the varsity team last year, I think this was a really good opportunity for me to get comfortable with the team because I hadn’t played with them before, and I didn’t exactly know how they operated and how they work together,” Leah said. “So the UGA tournament was really good for me to, like, kind of see how I could fit in with the team.
The next season–this season–began very well, with the team winning the first 11 games without losing a single set. They had a tougher schedule this season than last, playing ranked McIntosh High School twice in the regular season. Their best performances came in the middle of the season. They faced injuries and fatigue, and that came with its challenges, but the coach and the team adjusted.
“For instance, Jade [Williams] is a great all around player, but I haven’t played her in the back row for the last month,” Grooms said. “So it’ll save her legs a little bit, so she’s not jumping so much. I didn’t play her in every set when we got good leads, I have her sit because I have a deep bench. Paige Drayton [‘26] and Laila Davis [‘27] filled in some at right side to give Jade a bit of a break. I have three outside hitters, but they all play, so that no one is overwhelmed. We are deep in all our heating positions. I have four middles, and I have enough DSs [defensive specialists] that they can rotate in and out. Everybody plays, basically.”
Another challenge was the second of their three against McIntosh. They were down two sets, but a realization occurred.
“We kind of realized how much this game meant because we knew Macintosh was probably who we were gonna play in the finals,” Eva said. “And like, we kind of all agreed that this game was for the seniors and it doesn’t matter the outcome. We just have to give it our all and play for the seniors.”
They gave it their all, and ended up coming back to win 3-2. The changes impacted practice, too. To prepare for the semi final against Pope, the team worked a lot on passing and serving to counter Pope’s blocking, which Coach Grooms said Pope was very good at. The team mentally seems different at practice, specifically when it comes to competitiveness.
“We have started to become more competitive in practice…whenever we play six on six… acting like it’s a game situation, instead of, like, messing around,” Eva said.
They won the region again–and again winning all 7 games. The job was not done yet, however. They comfortably beat Gainesville High School in the first round of the playoffs, before a tighter game versus Lakeside High School, with a down-to-the-wire second set, but the War Eagles still won 3-0. The quarter finals against Northgate High School were even closer.
“Even though we beat the other team soundly in the first set, the second set was very tight until probably about 13 all. And we called a time out. Everybody just talked about calming down and taking care of our business. And then we went out, and we ended up coming back and winning that one,” Grooms said.
Then came the semi final against Pope, the very team who beat them in the final a year prior. Tim Grooms felt the team was cautiously confident this year. They knew what it was like to lose to Pope, and that loss kept them more grounded. They played a great game and ended up winning 3-1.
“I feel like when we lost [last year], we weren’t really playing together,” Eva said. “We were kind of playing as individuals, and we let the pressure get to us, but we really took that loss as motivation to make it to the championship this season and win, and we just played Pope in the semi final.”
Onto the final they went. They would play McIntosh, who they were less nervous to play after beating both them and Pope this season. To build team camaraderie and ease the tension before the big game, the team did a fun outfit theme for the final practice of the season.
“Our last practice, we all did a dress as your type day,” Leah said. “So everybody was wearing, like, basketball jerseys and like football jerseys. It was really funny. But I really enjoyed that we had fun practice that day, and just the fun things that we all did together.”
As for the game itself, Woodward came out strong in the first two rallies, but McIntosh won the next two. Woodward then won the third set to win the game and the state title, with Leah scoring the winning point.
“I was just really hyped,” Leah said. “I didn’t realize it for a second that I had won it. And then when everybody started running, it was just, like, really surreal and exciting.”
McIntosh was a good team, but Woodward’s experience and superior quality made the difference.
“We just kept reminding each other, this is just another game,” Leah said. “Don’t think about last year how that went. Just play your own game. And I think that was good because we ended up winning, I think also because their seniors left, and their seniors are really good, so their team wasn’t as strong this year, but we definitely were stronger, and it was just a better mental game that we played compared to last year.”
Coach Grooms feels very grateful for the players he had at his disposal and is proud of the work they put in, making his job easier.
“We had the better team,” Coach Grooms said. “Bottom line, we had the better team. My job and our job as coaches was basically just to keep everybody focused and then stay out of their way and let them do what they do. All the credit goes to the players.”
So what next? Well, the seniors are graduating, some of them continuing their volleyball careers in college, such as Marissa Jones ‘26 at the University of Kansas, Jade Williams at the University of Tennessee, and Eva LeRoux at Kenyon College. Many players on the team are participating on club teams during the offseason. Whatever the next step in the journey is, the year should live long in the memories of many players and staff alike.
“I just think that we had a very successful year this year, and I’m really happy that I got to play with the people on my team,” Leah said.
