News
Chamblee and Druid Hills Fall in Sweet 16 of State Volleyball Playoffs
Druid Hills outside hitter Hannah Angel (10) goes up for a shot against Dunwoody earlier this season. Angel and her Druid Hills' teammates fell in the second round of [...]
Eight DeKalb Volleyball Teams Secure State Playoff Berths
Chamblee's Natalie Tsai and the Lady Bulldogs are making a 13th consecutive trip to the state playoffs. Tsai has gone over the 2,000 assists and 500 aces plateau this [...]
Chamblee’s Natalie Tsai Breaks 2,000 Career Assists Plateau
The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs volleyball team celebrates with teammate Natalie Tsai (third from right) on her eclipsing 2,000 career assists and 500 service aces. (Courtesy Photo) Chamblee senior [...]
Miller Grove, Chamblee Bring Home Spikefest Crowns
The Miller Grove Lady Wolverines won a 10-team group on their home floor to win the title at DCSD's Spikefest on Saturday. Twenty volleyball teams competed in the [...]
DeKalb’s Annual Volleyball Spikefest Returns to Kick Off Season on Saturday
Action from the 2023 DCSD Spikefest gives preview for more action to come in the 2024 event. (Photos by Mark Brock) All 19 DeKalb volleyball teams along with [...]
DeKalb Athletics and ACE Volleyball Team Up for Volleyball Clinic
DeKalb volleyball players get instruction on play at the net during the recent DeKalb County/ACE Volleyball Clinic held recently. (Courtesy Photo) A collaboration between the DeKalb County School [...]
DeKalb County Volleyball Clinic Prepares Players and Coaches for Upcoming Season
Chamblee head volleyball coach Lorri Reynolds directs a drill during the 2024 DCSD Volleyball Clinic held recently at Miller Grove High School. (Photo by Ozzie Harrell) A three-part [...]
Chamblee Sweeps Ware County 3-0 in Class 5A Opening Round
Chamblee's Nayla Norman puts one away against Ware County on an assist from Natalie Tsai. Norman had 17 kills and Tsai tallied 32 assists in the match swept 3-0 [...]
McNair Falls in First-Ever Volleyball State Playoff Game
McNair volleyball coach Gwen Edwards (in middle) goes over some strategy with the Lady Mustangs during a timeout. (Photo by Mark Brock) The McNair Lady Mustangs played hard [...]
Nine DeKalb Volleyball Programs Competing in Opening Round of State Playoffs
Several of the players representing playoff teams as they head to state include (top left clockwise) Genesis Monroe (SW DeKalb), Ty Kleffner (Lakeside), Jada Howard (McNair), Estrella Cruz (Tucker) [...]
Tucker Rallies Past Southwest DeKalb for 2-1 Volleyball Victory
Tucker's Kristan Simmons takes an assist from Karlie Drowns (4) for a kill attempt during volleyball action at Tucker on Tuesday. (Photo by Mark Brock) The Tucker Lady [...]
Dunwoody Goes Undefeated in Spikefest to Take Gold Bracket Crown
The Dunwoody Lady Wildcats went undefeated at 5-0 losing just one set to take the Spikefest Gold Bracket title on Saturday. The Dunwoody Lady Wildcats went 5-0 in [...]
DCSD Volleyball Clinic Preps Teams for 2023 Spikefest/Regular Season
DCSD Volleyball Clinic participants/coaches got together for a group shot after participating in drills to improve their games. (Photo by Ozzie Harrell) A big kickstart to the 2023 [...]
Chamblee, Dunwoody Fall in GHSA Volleyball State Playoffs Sweet 16
Chamblee's Naa Adua Annan goes for a kill in first round play of the state volleyball playoffs. Annan had a solid final match in Chamblee's Sweet 16 loss to [...]
Dunwoody Sweeps Rockdale County out of the Class 6A State Playoffs
Dunwoody's Hayley Brown comes up with a big dig during her team's 3-0 Class 6A state playoff first round win over Rockdale County. (Photo by Mark Brock) The [...]
Chamblee Rallies Past Northgate 3-1 into Class 5A Volleyball Sweet 16
Chamblee's Layla Burrell slams a kill home during the Bulldogs 3-1 Class 5A first round state playoff victory at Chamblee on Tuesday. (Photo by Mark Brock) Energy infusion [...]
Eight DeKalb Volleyball Teams Headed to the GHSA State Playoffs
Southwest DeKalb built momentum throughout the season and came out the Area 6-4A runner-up to earn a home playoff match against Lovett on Wednesday at 5:30 pm. (Courtesy Photo) [...]
Lakeside Sweeps Volleyball Matches against Clarkston and Tucker
Lakeside's Lily Kate Kenyon (17) goes for a kill against Tucker in volleyball action at Clarkston on Thursday night. (Photo by Mark Brock) A clean sweep of Clarkston [...]
Stephenson Opens Volleyball Season with Sweep of McNair and Towers
Stephenson's Addison Holloway winds up for a big serve against McNair. (Photo by Mark Brock) The Stephenson Lady Jaguars got their 2022 high school volleyball season off to [...]
DeKalb Spikefest Gives Volleyball Season Big Serve into the Season
Spikefest gets volleyball season off to a big start in DeKalb County this coming Saturday with two pools of play at both Chamblee and Redan High. The eighth [...]
History
DeKalb County Schools returned to the volleyball court in the fall of 2000 after two decades of not participating. The schools had fielded both boys’ and girls’ team from the late 1960s until the sport was dropped following the 1980 season.
The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) sanctioned the state tournament in 1993, but it would not be until that 2000 season before DeKalb County would begin fielding girls’ volleyball teams once again.
Lakeside stood out early on by winning the 7-AAAAA title four consecutive seasons (2000-2003). Druid Hills won the 5-AAAA title in 2003 to 2004 by compiling a 69-19 record. The Lady Red Devils had four consecutive winning seasons from 2001 to 2004, including at the time a county best record of 41-7 in 2003.
Improvement in the play of the DeKalb County Schools is starting to show with 9 teams finishing with winning records in 2004 following 8 teams in both 2002 and 2003.
DeKalb began to make some noise in the state tournament beginning with Chamblee’s run to the Class AAAA state semifinals in 2005. Brook Kline’s Lady Bulldogs set the county record for wins with a 56-8 record that season behind the play of 2005 Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year Nikki Hawkins before falling to three-time defending state champion Woodward Academy.
Dunwoody captured the 2005 Area 5-AAA title and just missed out on a final four appearance to go with Chamblee’s sectional championship and final four appearance. Chamblee compiled a 138-56 record between 2002 and 2005 under the direction of Kline.
The 2012 and 2013 seasons would bring two more Final Four appearances to DeKalb County. Lakeside reached the Class AAAAA semis in 2012 behind the direction of Angela Thompson to become the first team since Chamblee to reach the Final Four. Lakeside fell to eventual state champ Whitewater in the semifinals as the only non-Area 4-AAAAA team left in the state tournament. The Lady Vikings finished 29-7 on the season as area champions and were one of five DeKalb teams to earn playoff berths.
Dunwoody gave the county its first back-to-back Final Four appearances since returning to action in 2000. The Lady Wildcats, under the direction of Coach Doug Friedlander and assistant coach Nikki Hawkins (Chamblee’s 2005 Player of the Year), finished the regular season 22-23.
The post season got off to a roaring start with the Lady Wildcats bringing home the area championship during a seven match win streak to reach the Class AAAAA Final Four in 2013. Dunwoody fell to eventual state runner-up Sequoyah in the semifinals to finish 29-24 on the season.
The Lady Wildcats would extend their Final Four streak to three consecutive seasons advancing to the 2014 and 2015 Class 5A Final Fours falling in close semifinal matches both years.
Gatorade Player of the Year (2)
2005 – Nikki Hawkins, Chamblee, S/OH
2014 – Paige McKnight, Dunwoody, S/RS