Championship game. Third set. Down to the wire. The Lady Knights volleyball team came close, but couldn’t catch their arch-rivals from North Atlanta, finishing second place in the Sept. 29 APS Volleyball tournament.

The team played 13 games against nine APS high schools at Mays High School compiled an 11-2 record. After losing their first game to Mays, the girls re-evaluated and won their next 11 games.

“We weren’t into the game mode yet,” senior Annie Mason said of their opening loss.

The Lady Knights defeated Mays in the semifinals to advance to the final round. Mason said that despite the fact that the team was at a disadvantage going into the tournament because of the absence of one of their best players, sophomore Grace Dusenbery, they played hard enough to make up for it.

In the final game, every member of the team scored and senior Qri Montague had several good blocks. The game was close throughout as both teams surpassed 25 points, with a final score of 28-26.

“It was sad we didn’t get first but looking back on it, when our coach was talking to us, she wasn’t upset about the loss because that was the best we played,” Mason said.