After a 12-year absence, Darlington’s volleyball team has returned to the second round of the state playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Darlington, the No. 9 seed in the Class 1A-3A Private tournament, beat No. 24 Whitefield Academy 3-1 on Wednesday night to make it out of the first round.
“It’s awesome to be able to have this great win at home,” Darlington coach Sam Clark said as a fully packed student section sang the school’s alma mater. “With the fans cheering, the girls feed off that energy. It was a huge help, especially as it helped us to keep some of these serving rallies going.”
The Tigers will play at No. 8 Greater Atlanta Christian in a match tentatively scheduled for Saturday in Norcross.
“I am feeling excited and really proud of everybody,” Darlington senior Ruthie Brinson said. “We’ve never made it this far since I’ve been in high school, so it really means a lot. We’ve all put in so much work to get here.”
Darlington’s 25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 25-15 win came with relative comfort in the first two sets, but Whitefield temporarily shifted the tide in the third set. At one point, the Wolfpack led 20-8, which prompted Clark to call a timeout.
That break was all Darlington needed to retake all of the momentum. While a comeback effort began just a little too late, the Tigers outscored Whitefield 11-5 the remainder of the third set and rolled to a match-best 10-point victory in the fourth set.
“When we have the passion and the fight in us, we can win against anyone,” Clark said. “We took (the deficit) as a chance to play as hard as we can and try to pull it out. We didn’t, but we kept that momentum going into the fourth and I think we really showed them who we are.”
Brinson finished the match with 16 kills — matching her season high — on just 22 swings. Senior Sophie Piller and junior Nora Knaak each added 10 kills of their own.
At the service line, senior Bryn Merritt made six aces, followed by Brinson with four and seniors Isabella Rogers and Bradford Middleton with three each.
Rogers also played a big defensive role, making a team-best 13 digs, while Merritt and senior Sidney Rush aided their hitters with 24 and 13 assists, respectively.
This article was originally published by Zeke Palermo in the Rome News-Tribune on Oct. 16, 2025.
