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Huge Victories For Varsity & JV Volleyball!

Junior Varsity beat Ashley Hall 2-0 to improve their record to 5-0.  "This was a huge mental win for them because of how they performed against Ashley Hall last year," Coach Fort says. "I am proud of their determination and focus".  

The Varsity Volleyball game against Ashley Hall could not have been more thrilling! If you missed it, here is the recap. PCA beat Ashley Hall in the first two sets. Ashley Hall then rallied to take Set 3 and Set 4. In the 5th (and Final) Set, PCA was down by score of 9-14.  Ashley Hall needed one more point to win the game. 

"The reality of this could have been daunting", says Coach Fort, "Any mistake or error from us and the game is over".  But that isn't what the team focused on. They focused on controlling the controllables. PCA won the next point, making it 10-14. Senior Ansley Gresh went to the line to serve. The next two points were won when Ashley Hall tried to attack and Junior Charlee Olson blocked them bringing the score to 12-14. 8th Grade setter, Lexi Duplessis got PCA the next point with a kill. PCA clawed their way back to 15-15. In Volleyball, you need to win by 2 points. Senior Captain Katelyn Howard stepped to the serving line. The ball was set to 8th Grade Outside Hitter Cokey Suddeth for the kill. Katelyn served again and this time, served an Ace! PCA came back to win 17-15.  

"As I was watching this unfold, all I could think of was, win or lose.. these girls did something that I have never seen before. They didn't let the emotion of the game make them lose focus. They didn't give up. They just kept pushing.  Winning was an added bonus, but I am so proud of their GRIT and focus under pressure." 

 PCA Varsity is now 6-0. This week PCA takes on Conference opponent Lee Academy (away) on Tuesday at 4 pm and will play 3A First Baptist at home on Thursday at 4:30 pm.

Epic Ending in PCA's Come From Behind Victory Over Laurens Academy

In a see-saw battle that had 4 lead changes in the final 8 minutes of game, PCA came up big on its final drive of the game. After Laurens took a 38 - 36 lead with 1:29 seconds on the clock, it looked as though our mighty Eagles might fall. However, through guts and grit, they kept battling, even on a 4th and 11 pressure packed situation, the guys executed flawlessly. With a nice throw from Connor Rourk, Wyatt Shogren made a clutch catch for 11 yards to set our Eagles up with a 1st and 10 from Laurens 33 yard line. On first down, with 15.7 seconds on the clock, Connor Rourk dropped back and lofted a long spiral into the air to Carson Rourk, who made a nice move to beat his man deep and make the game winning catch.

"What a great win and epic come back by guys who refuse to quit or get rattled. We always talk about controlling what you can control during a game... meaning if you focus on doing YOUR job and only YOUR job, slowly and surely, you will overcome any obstacle in your way. When I looked into this teams eyes when we started our last drive with 1:29 left in the game...all I saw was determination and a quiet confidence that they were going to go get this win".

Offensively, PCA was paced by Connor Rourk's 176 yards rushing w/3 TD's and 183 yards and 3 TD's through the air. Wyatt Shogren added 5 catches for 111 yards including a long TD catch of 69 yards. Carson Rourk has 5 catches for 64 yards with 2 TD's. Kendall Chakeris rounded out the scoring with 1 TD and 67 yards rushing.

Defensively, Wyatt Shogren has a big night with 9 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack and a huge blocked punt. Carson Rourk led the team in tackles with 15. He also had 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 pass breakup. Joe Pascutti had another great game with 9 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 pass breakup. Colson Gunn continues his great play with 8 tackles and 1 pass breakup. Kendall Chakeris and Jamison Howard were big contributors with each recording 6 tackles and 2 sacks. Kendall also recorded 2 tackles for loss.