In 2009, Walton High School of Marietta, Georgia, had a stacked team and the state championship in their sights. The Raiders got so close that the girls -- and head coach Suzanne Fitzgerald -- could taste it. They were up 13-8 in the fifth set of the state final against fellow Cobb County school Pope, but blew the lead and lost 15-13.

"The big studs were sophomores that year," Fitzgerald recalled. "And that loss was so painful that that group of girls and I committed to never having that feeling again."

The next four seasons, 2010 to 2013, Walton won the state championship. Then, after being upset by North Cobb in the second round of the state playoffs in 2014, the Raiders kicked off another streak, winning state in 2015 and 2016.

This year, Fitzgerald's 12th with the team, Walton has yet to lose a match and has won two big national high school tournaments: the Louisville Invitational Volleyball Tournament and the Berkeley Premier Tournament.

Watch Walton compete at the 2017 Nike Tournament of Champions, September 29-30, LIVE right here on FloVolleyball.



The team's defeat of national powerhouse Assumption High School of Louisville in the championship match of the LIVT and Assumption's subsequent title run at the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas, paired with Walton's Berkeley Premier crown, made the Raiders the unanimous No. 1 girls high school volleyball team in the country in last week's rankings.

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All eyes are now on Walton, waiting to see how good they can get and how far they will go, including those of the members of that 2009 state runner-up team.

"Those girls that were part of that initial loss have also reached out to me recently and were like, 'OK, it was worth it for this,'" Fitzgerald said. "They understand legacy and they understand that whole investment that they had way back when."

The investment Walton has made in volleyball also includes building a feeder system -- creating an elementary school program, four competitive middle school teams, and a boys program, just for good measure, all of which Fitzgerald oversees.

"When you look at where we are now, this started probably 10 years ago," the five-time Georgia state coach of the year said. "It's not like all-of-a-sudden from my perspective."

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Fitzgerald's No. 1-ranked 2017 Raiders team includes junior Ohio State recruits Gabby Gonzales and Reilly MacNeill, setter Caroline Cheney, and liberos Molly Pember, an Auburn commit, and Emery Dupes.

"We always knew Gabby was going to be a superstar," Fitzgerald said of her starting outside hitter and kills leader. "She's so special that she's [6-foot-4], and she can legit play all six rotations. She is one of our best passers on serve receive. The one thing I continue to wait for is how hard can she play in the backcourt, and she is doing such an outstanding job on defense this year. It pushes everyone else to work harder when they see her getting on the ground and going after everything, everyone around her wants to work harder. The obvious stat is the attacking, but for me, my great joy in watching her play this year is her backcourt defense."

MacNeill, the team's No. 2 attacker and top blocker, is a 6-2 middle blocker, who Fitzgerald says has embraced a learning mindset this season.

"It's almost like she finds joy in the work now. Reilly is like really excited about that day, and it's really fun to coach a player like that. The better they get, it's almost like the more of a beginner's mindset they have."

Heading into this weekend's Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Arizona, an event where Walton could complete its triple crown of national tournament titles, libero Pember is out with an injury, so freshman Dupes and sophomore Madison Morrey will be splitting time in the position.



Dupes rocked the libero jersey in Walton's defeat of Assumption at the LIVT and is the team's digs leader, so the injury certainly doesn't change the expectation for Walton, but as Fitzgerald points out there's a shift in the tangible parts of the game with substitutions and lineup changes.

"Our strength is our back court, and we do have five really good DS/libero types, so we're hoping we can just transition the next girl in seamlessly," Fitzgerald said. "But it's still chemistry, you know? You still don't know if the chemistry is going to be the same."

That team chemistry has been a key component of Walton's success over the past few years. Fitzgerald, a former Marine Corp aircraft firefighter and rescue crew member, brings a unique perspective to that particular aspect of coaching.

"A lot of the Marine Corp stuff is basically if you don't work as a team, it could cost you your life," Fitzgerald said. "Obviously, they're not in that environment in volleyball, but it applies where you're always looking out for your teammates and the discipline and kind of understanding the routine and tradition of things.

"These girls are so committed to each other that there's an accountability level that I have never seen before with any team."

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Whether that commitment, accountability, and, of course, the Raiders' generous dose of talent, will result in a Nike Tournament of Champions title and/or a 12th state championship, is yet to be determined, but Walton has already put together an impressive resume and will be a team to beat for the remainder of the season.

And, as Fitzgerald knows all too well, it's not really about volleyball in the end.

"I was the first female ever in the Marine Corp to do aircraft firefighting and rescue and that was a really cool part of my life, but it was also one of the toughest parts of my life," she said. "To be a woman kind of alone in that environment, I think it drives me every single day to help these girls recognize their potential and their strength."

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