It took all five sets to decide the region 2-7A volleyball champion on Thursday, but ultimately the Carrollton Trojans came out victorious, defeating East Coweta 15-8 in set five to win three sets to two.

This is the Trojans’ first region volleyball championship since 2020. The Trojans entered Thursday’s region tournament as the two seed after falling to East Coweta 2-0 in the regular season.

“We had an incredible night,” Carrollton head volleyball coach Morganne Harper said. “That is, I will say, the best we’ve played in a long time.”

The championship match was a back-and-forth affair, with each win seeming to mirror each loss through the first four sets.

The Trojans had a commanding start to the best-of-five set series, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the early going and holding the lead for the remainder of the set to win 25-19.

It was the opposite story in set two, with East Coweta jumping ahead 5-1 early and eventually building that to ten points, 18-8, which was enough to hold the Trojans off for a 25-16 decision, evening the match 1-1.

In set three, Carrollton found themselves behind 8-3, but they went on a 6-1 run to tie it up 9-9. A kill by Aniya Flournoy gave Carrollton their first lead, 10-9, and the Trojans went on to win 25-15.

Carrollton then climbed ahead 7-3 in set four, but East Coweta clawed back into the game, eventually tying the set 11-11. After a long period of exchanged points, Carrollton eventually topped out at 14 points while Coweta pulled ahead. The Trojans scored twice late, but the Indians won 25-16 to force a fifth set.

Set five was close in the beginning, but the Trojans scored five unanswered to get to match point, and they closed it out 15-8 to seal the championship.

“We’ve talked a lot about mental toughness and how it comes down to which team is going to be mentally tough in these moments,” Harper said.

When asked what the difference was between their regular season loss to East Coweta and Thursday’s win, Harper said, “Playing them in the regular season was kind of a learning experience. We were able to see what we needed to do, and we’ve also grown a lot as a team since then.”

To begin the evening, Carrollton first had to get past Westlake to advance to the finals. The Trojans cruised to a 25-15 win in the first set against the Lady Lions, but the plot got interesting in set two.

Carrollton led by as much as eight points, 19-11, but Westlake fought back late, eventually tying it up 23-23. Carrollton called a timeout, and a kill by Mallory Williams followed by a match-point ace ended the set with a 25-23 Carrollton victory for the 2-0 match win.

“It all comes down to energy,” senior Izzie Fortner said after the game. “We have worked so hard as a team just to build our energy and serve receive. We’ve come so far from the beginning of the season.”

And along with the long-term development, Fortner says the team even showed improvement from the beginning of the week.

When asked how winning a region championship feels, Fortner said, “I don’t even have the words. It’s a dream come true. I’m proud of every single person on our team. We’ve worked so hard, and for it to be my senior year, I am so blessed and so thankful for everyone on the team.”

Seniors on the team include Rae Newbern, Flournoy, Regan Kelley, Fortner, and Charli Colquitt.

Carrollton will now host the first round of state volleyball playoffs on Oct. 18.