The Grace Christian Academy Lady Cougar Volleyball team defeated the Emmanuel Lady Warriors of Dothan, AL in the Eastern Regional of the Panhandle Christian Conference on Friday, October 10th, to advance to the Final Four Championship. The Eastern Regional was hosted by Covenant Christian School in Panama City, FL.

Pictured left to right are: Coach Betsy Flowers, Melissa Mills, Danielle Rutten, Haley Smith, Coach Erwin Harrell, Emma Heard, Jessica Register, Alex McLendon, Morgan Baker, Sydney Harrell, Brock Bailey and Stephanie Mills. The bandanas with the initials "BP" were worn by the players in memory of Brian Powell, former baseball coach at Grace.

During the regular season, the Lady Cougars and Lady Warriors were 5-3 in conference play and tied for second. In order to seed the teams for the tournament, tiebreaker procedures were used. The first procedure was head to head in sets, which both teams had won four. The next procedure was points; the Lady Warriors had the edge 184 to 183. So it seemed fitting these two teams would battle one more time to see who advanced to the championship.

The Lady Cougars won the first set 25-23, but dropped the next two sets 20-25 and 12-25. With their backs against the wall and their season fading, the Lady Cougars fought back to win the final two sets 25-22 and 15-12.

"It was a great win for the ladies", said Coach Erwin Harrell. "After that third set, I thought our tanks were empty, but the ladies dug deep and fought, just like they've done all season and found a way to win".

At the tournament, the All-Conference teams were announced. Senior Morgan Baker (setter) was selected to the first team and Juniors Brock Bailey (outside hitter) and Sydney Harrell (middle hitter) were selected to the second team.

The Final Four Championship will be Friday and Saturday, October 16th and 17th and will be hosted by Aletheia Christian Academy in Pensacola, Florida.